Farmers' protests | Another farmer from Haryana dies by suicide near Tikri border

The farmer, who supported the agitation against Centre’s new farm laws, has purportedly left a suicide note, police said

March 07, 2021 03:55 pm | Updated 08:17 pm IST - Chandigarh

Thousands of farmers have been protesting since November last year at Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Centre’s farm laws. File

Thousands of farmers have been protesting since November last year at Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Centre’s farm laws. File

A 49-year-old farmer from Haryana’s Hisar district on March 7 allegedly hanged himself from a tree, some 7 km from the Tikri border protest site, police said.

“The victim, Rajbir, hailed from a village in Hisar district. He was found hanging from a tree,” Bahadurgarh City police station SHO, Vijay Kumar said over the phone.

His body was found hanging by some farmers who informed the police.

In a note purportedly left behind by Rajbir, it is mentioned that the three farm laws were responsible for him to take the extreme step. He also said that the Centre should fulfil his last wish by repealing the legislations, police said.

Last month, a farmer from Jind in Haryana who was also supporting the agitation against the Centre’s farm laws had allegedly hanged himself from a tree, merely 2 km from the Tikri border protest site.

Earlier, another farmer from Haryana had allegedly consumed a poisonous substance at the Tikri border. He had died during treatment at a Delhi hospital later.

In December last, a lawyer from Punjab had allegedly killed himself by consuming poison a few kilometres away from the protest site at the Tikri border.

Earlier, Sikh preacher Sant Ram Singh had also allegedly died by suicide near the Singhu border protest site, claiming that he was “unable to bear the pain of the farmers”.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting since November last year at Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

However, the Centre has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.

Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling any of the following numbers:

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.