NEW DELHI—Thousands of farmers are protesting in New Delhi, blocking the city’s streets. Among their demands is the repeal of an air quality management act that penalizes stubble burning, which happens to be a major cause of air pollution in India’s national capital region. The protests, the air pollution due to yearly massive burning of husks in the northern state of Punjab , and the impending public health crisis that yearly takes away 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 the 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 by the …