NEW DELHI—Farmers are protesting by the thousands in New Delhi, blocking the city’s streets to demand the repeal of an air quality management measure that, among other things, penalizes the burning of agricultural stubble, which is a major cause of air pollution in India’s national capital region. The protests over the pollution caused by the massive annual burning of husks in the northern state of Punjab, and the resulting public health crisis that affects so many lives are deeply rooted in the country’s socialist agricultural policies that the current government is trying to change, according to an analyst. The protests started on Nov. 26 against legislation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi enacted in late September to deregulate India’s agricultural industry and to provide the farmers with more autonomy to sell their goods outside the government-sanctioned buyers to independent buyers. The government-sanctioned markets were a major feature of India’s green revolution supported …