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Price of people at exhibitions of Indian farmers | Agricultural Issues

Fatehgarh Sahib, India – On the morning of November 10, a tall body of Gurpreet Singh was found hanging from a tree in Singhu outside the Indian capital, New Delhi, where thousands of farmers have set up camp. more than a year against the agricultural laws imposed by the government.

Gurpreet, a 45-year-old homeless farmer, did not commit suicide, but the word “zimmedar” (supervisor) was found written on his left lifeless hand.

Gurpreet returned to the exhibition just two days ago from Roorkee, his home village of Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab province where he rented 1 hectare (0.4 hectares).

During his final days, he told his fellow protesters that he was confused between his time in the village and the protest area, 250km (155 miles) away. Unable to support themselves financially, she became very depressed.

“No one thought it was a big deal,” said Lovepreet Singh, her 20-year-old son, who received a picture of his father’s body on WhatsApp the same morning.

“It crushed me. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. ”

Mandeep Kaur and his son Lovepreet in front of their home [Sukhman Billing/Al Jazeera]

Farmers’ organizations claim hundreds of deaths

Gurpreet committed suicide just 10 days Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a wonderful U-turn, announced that the laws against the farm had been removed. On Monday, the Indian Parliament passed a resolution repeal the three rules was released by the Modi government in September last year.

The government said the legislation would help farmers sell their produce and promote agriculture through their businesses.

But farmers – especially the “brothers” of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh – have rejected the rules, saying they have forced corporations to take up agricultural shares and deprive them of lower value (MSP) for their guaranteed yields. and government.

In an effort to enforce their demands, thousands of farmers began their journey to New Delhi in November last year. After being denied entry to the capital, he decided to set up camp at three locations around the city, where he still lives, despite the fact that farm regulations were abolished. They now want the government to enact legislation to certify the MSP and address some of the challenges it faces.

At the annual exhibition, Gurpreet’s death was not unique. He was the ninth farmer to commit suicide, according to Samyukt Kisan Morcha (United Farmers Front or SKM), a farmers’ organization leading the riots, which also claimed that about 700 farmers had died as a result of the riots. cold, record rain, smoke and heat.

But the Modi government says there is no record of the deaths of farmers, which leads to resentment and the desire to reunite the families of the deceased, whom the farmers call “shaheed” (martyrs). SKM is also looking for a site to donate to commemorate the Singhu massacre.

But the Gurpreet family has a different view. “I wish they had waited a few days to do this,” his 40-year-old widow Mandeep Kaur told Al Jazeera.

“Everyone calls my husband a martyr but what about us? What would we do without her?

Mandeep Kaur is preparing breakfast at his home in Fatehgarh Sahib state, Punjab [Sukhman Billing/Al Jazeera]

The Gurpreet family says they began evading phone calls from them and began to isolate themselves after participating in protests in early November.

“The day before he died, at about 12 noon, he turned off his cell phone after talking to us. The next day, we received a call from his cell phone and the foreman of the farmers told us it was not there, “Mandeep told Al Jazeera.

“If we had a small idea, we would have stopped him. I would go alone there. I would have asked for help, but it was not in our power. ”

Landless smallholder farmers paid a lot of money

Karnail Singh, a 75-year-old homeless farmer in the village of Sherpur in Punjab, died in December last year after a long illness in Tikri, one of three protest sites outside New Delhi.

One month later, 45-year-old Nirmal Singh, also a homeless farmer from Punjab village in Dhaula, committed suicide in the same area. He is survived by his wife and two children.

In March, Sukhpal Singh, 40, a homeless farmer from Baalianwali village in Punjab, died of food poisoning during a protest rally. His family now has more than $ 6,700 in debt to repay.

Contrary to the government’s claim that mainly “big farmers” are the main causes of farmers’ protests, Punjabi University research, Patiala found that almost all farmers who died during this period were landless or small-scale farmers with less than 3 acres (hectares). 1.2)) of the country.

The farmers who died were small or landless farmers who were the lowest farmers in India. Their death means poor families, many of whom are now in debt.

The Gurpreet boy is said to have owned 4 acres (1.6 hectares) in 2000. “In 2007, all our vegetable crops failed due to natural disasters. My father was forced to sell our ancestral land to pay off huge debts, “Lovepreet told Al Jazeera.

The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) -Siddhupur, a Gurpreet farmers’ association, helped him rent a car, which enabled him to double his milk and a taxi driver’s income. He then rented a place to grow vegetables and fodder for his animals.

Although my husband repaid all debts, we did not get enough materially. It was always just verbal communication. Now that he is gone, we are in God’s mercy, “said Mandeep.

The Punjab government has announced that it will provide financial assistance to the family of the deceased for charitable purposes while other non-governmental organizations provide financial assistance.

But the Gurpreet family did not receive any help because of the delay in issuing the death certificate. “At the funeral, BKU-Siddhupur gave us 50,000 rupees [$672] as an aid along with other foods to take care of, ”Mandeep told Al Jazeera.

‘Death will be no more’

Gurjinder Singh, a 28-year-old collector from BKU-Siddhupur, was one of the first to visit Singhu after Gurpreet’s death. “I received a phone call early in the morning. “I was told that a man from Rookee village was found hanged on the Singhu border,” he said.

“I have seen so many deaths last year that I am not at all scared. But it was hard for Lovepreet who was crying all the time. We agreed not to let him see his father’s body until he came home.

Lakhwinder Singh, a professor of economics at the University of Punjabi, who wrote about the deaths of farmers during the protests, stated: “In Punjab, place is traditionally considered ‘mother’ when agricultural work is associated with worship. Many of the farmers who participated in the protests agreed with this idea and were filled with concern and insecurity over the government’s provision of agricultural regulations. This attitude was a burden to many and a deplorable state of affairs during the protests. ”

Lovepreet is now planning to take his father’s place at the show. But Mandeep’s mother is worried. “I have no way of paying for the show. My son is all I have. As a woman, I have lost. Now I can’t lose it as a mother. ”




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