The barricading of the Shambhu border in Haryana to prevent farmers from travelling to Delhi raises a question larger than the protest itself. A government is entitled to regulate demonstrations and protect public order. But when citizens seeking to oppose an important economic policy are prevented from reaching the national capital even before a peaceful gathering can take place, regulation begins to resemble pre-emption of dissent.

Farm organisations from Punjab and Haryana are protesting against the proposed India-US trade arrangement because they fear greater access for American agricultural products could expose Indian cultivators to competition that they are poorly equipped to withstand. Their apprehension cannot simply be dismissed as resistance to reform. American agriculture operates with enormous scale, sophisticated supply chains and substantial government support. Indian farming, by contrast, sustains millions of small and marginal cultivators whose ability to absorb prolonged price shocks is limited. That does not establish that a trade agreement with Washington will necessarily damage Indian agriculture.

Much depends on precisely which products receive greater market access, how tariffs are reduced, what safeguards remain available and whether politically sensitive sectors........

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