Widows, Sisters & Mothers of Farmers, Who Died by Suicide Due to Debt Issues, Join Protest at Tikri Border

Several family members, including widows, mothers and sisters, of Punjab farmers who committed suicide due to rising debt, joined the protesters at Tikri border on Wednesday. Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and elsewhere have been protesting near various border points of Delhi, including Singhu and Tikri, for over a fortnight demanding that the Centre repeal three new farm laws.

At the protest site near the Delhi border, the women carried the pictures of their male family members who had ended their lives after being caught in the debt trap. Around 700-800 women whose family members had ended their lives due to farm debt took part in the protest, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) vice president Harinder Kaur Bindu said.

They came from several districts of Punjab, including Mansa, Bathinda, Patiala and Sangrur. We wanted to highlight that the new farm laws will lead to a rise in the number of farmer suicides in the state as these legislations are not in the interest of the farming community. They will ruin the farming sector, Bindu claimed.

Paramjit Kaur (50), who hails from Patiala district said, The new farm laws brought by the central government will further push farmers into debt trap. Kaur's debt-ridden husband had committed suicide nine years ago. The family had negligible land holding.

Mohinder Kaur (65), who also hails from Patiala, said her 19-year-old grandson ended his life five years ago as the family could not afford to pay for his education. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said they also wanted to highlight how debt was forcing farmers in Punjab to end their lives.

According to an estimate, over 50,000 suicides have taken place since 2006 in Punjab, he claimed. The Centre's new farm laws are anticipated to bring reforms in the agriculture sector by removing middlemen and allowing farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The farmers, however, worry these laws will eliminate the safety net of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), do away with mandis that ensure earning, and will leave them at the mercy of big corporates.

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