In an attempt to pressurize the government to withdraw the contentious farm laws, another farmer died on Saturday by suicide on the Delhi-Haryana border.
Amarinder Singh, a 40-year-old farmer protesting along with thousands of other agriculturists at the national capital, consumed a poisonous substance at Singhu while becoming the second known person who died by suicide in the ongoing protests.
He allegedly told his friends before taking the drastic step that he was forced to do this as the Centre stayed adamant on not to repeal the laws. With the government declining to listen to the woes of the farmers pleading for legal guarantees to be furnished for MSP and other demands, he hoped his death will turn the tables and lead to the decision being taken in farmers’ interest.
After consuming the poisonous substance, Mr. Singh was rushed to the FIMS Hospital in Sonipat where he, unfortunately, died while undergoing treatment.
The body was shifted to the Government Hospital’s mortuary and his autopsy was due to be started on Sunday morning. As the family members of Mr. Singh haven’t been found by the police, the body will probably be given to the protesting farmers at the site.
Previously, a 75-year-old farmer named Kashmir Singh Ladi became the first known protesting farmer to have died in this month. He was found dead last week close to the Delhi-Ghaziabad border where the protest is going on.
A note was recovered from the body of the farmer who hailed from Uttar Pradesh. It read, “Till when shall we sit here in the cold? This government isn’t listening at all. Hence, I give up my life so that some solution emerges.”
According to farmers, several have died- many due to suicide- during the protests that began in November 2020.
All 8 rounds of talks between the farmers’ representatives and the Centre have not yielded any fruitful results as both parties are unwilling to budge from their stand.
The agriculturists remain on the borders of the national capital in installed tents and camps in the freezing cold, braving shells of tear gas and lathi charges on people of all ages.
The central government refuses to believe that the laws proposed allegedly for the benefit of the farmers will do them more harm than good, despite several requests and explanations from them.
According to the Centre, the laws will help the farmers gain more profit by removing the existence of middlemen, leaving them to sell their harvest directly in the market at the prices they want. However, farmers say this will steal the MSP from them that would ensure they get the minimum price at least for their produce. With the laws implemented, they will be left at the mercy of bi corporates who will exploit them endlessly.
The consistent demands for legal guarantees on MSP and removal of the 3 laws have been dismissed by the Centre, which has instead proposed the formation of a committee to evaluate other complaints with the laws staying intact- an offer rejected by farmers.
The deadlock has made the growing impatience of the farmers more obvious as they came carrying placards with phrases, “We will (succeed in repealing the laws) or die”, during the 8th round of talks with the Centre’s ministers.
With the tractor rally scheduled for the Republic Day to enter the national capital Delhi, the 9th round of talks has been set for January 15th.
