45-year-old farmer dies of suicide at protest site in Delhi

“It is a political murder. Our Andolan will be strengthened further, we will not lose hope” says a fellow farmer


Farmers have been camping since last November. A 45-year-old Punjab farmer died by suicide at one of the protest sites in Delhi said the police. The farmer is from Fatehgarh Sahib district and has been identified as Gurpreet Singh and had been camping at the Kundli-Singhu border near Delhi.

 

“Gurpreet had been staying alone in a tractor-trolley near Sushant City for the past few days. The body was sent to the civil hospital at Sonipat for post-mortem examination. The police are recording statements of eyewitnesses,” said a spokesman of Kundli police. "Reason of death not known, but we've been told that he was mentally disturbed. Dead body brought to Civil Hospital," said Pradeep Kumar, Investigating officer, Kundali Police Station. His family has been informed and will be arriving soon.

 

"He died by suicide. We found his dead body. We say the stubborn attitude of the government, the abandonment of talks is the reason that another farmer has died by suicide. Instead of helping us, the government is trying to break up farmers' protest which is against democratic norms,” said Ujagar Singh, a farmer at the same protest site. He further added that, “This is political murder. The government should tell us how many lives it wants. It is killing farmers. The farmers have been on the road for a year. Our andolan (agitation) will be strengthened further; we will not lose hope.”

 

They affirmed all this will only fuel the movement and unite the farmers further. The farmers have been protesting since August 2020 against the three farm acts which were passed by the Parliament of India. The protests have shown no signs of waning, but shifted to the outskirts of Delhi.

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