A 70-year-old farmer from Rampur district in Uttar Pradesh allegedly ended his life by hanging at the Ghazipur border on Saturday morning, police said.
Braving a cold wave, hundreds of peasants from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have been protesting against the farm laws at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border for more than a month now.
Rajvir Singh, national vice-president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) said the farmer had been identified as Kashmir Singh from Pasiapur village of Bilaspur block in Rampur. “He and his family have been actively participating in the protest for many days. In the suicide note written in Gurmukhi, he has held the government responsible for the current state of farmers as it [the government] has not been listening to their demands.” BKU worker Manoj Sharma said Kashmir Singh was a well-to-do farmer and was contributing to the langar community kitchen.
A translation of the note released by the BKU said the laws made by the government were not in the interests of farmers but the government was not taking the laws back. It said: “Forty farmers have died during protests in Punjab but none has laid his life from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. So, this servant is offering his body for the cause of revocation of the three laws.” He also mentioned that he had served at the Guruwara Hemkund Sahib in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
Also read: Farmer from Baghpat dies at Ghazipur border, says BKU
Anshu Jain, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Indirapuram said, “The family and coordination committee did not want a post mortem to be done. Keeping their sentiments in mind, we have sent the body to his native village. The body and the suicide note were recovered from a mobile lavatory stationed at the protest site. Prima facie, it seems like death by hanging. In the note, he hasn’t held anybody responsible for his death,” she said.
This is the second death at the Ghazipur border in two days. On Friday, a 57-year-old farmer from Baghpat died because of cardiac arrest.
Ms. Jain said the law-and-order situation was under control. “We are in touch with the coordination committee and are ready to provide every possible help to counter the cold wave,” she added.
Those who require assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts may contact Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health suicide prevention helpline 011-4076 9002 (10 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., Monday-Saturday).
