Debt-ridden farmer commits suicide in Kalaburagi
The Hindu-April 28, 2015
Two more farmers commit suicide over crop loss
Daily Mail, April 28, 2015
Cotton farmer commits suicide in TN
Business Standard, April 27, 2015
Another farmer commits suicide in Haryana
Chandigarh Tribune, April 27, 2015
Ninth Rajasthan Farmer to Commit Suicide in 1
Week
NDTV, April 26, 2015
Unable to pay loan, farmer hangs self outside DM
office
Indian Express, April 26, 2015
Under debt, farmer commits suicide
Chandigarh Tribune, April 25, 2015
These are also some of the headlines since
Saturday from India – a Saturday when Nepal's devastating earthquake enveloped
a part of Himalayan range, including many districts of Nepal, 39 overall and 11
severely damaged, and many parts of India and some parts of other neighbouring
countries - China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
It's an unending human misery and Nepal will take
long to come back to normalcy in spite of the overwhelming international aid
including from India.
Farmer suicides in India are also an unending
human misery and no foreign aid is coming to curb them.
Governments here, including the Union Government
try to do all to the hide behind the data when it comes to farmer suicides.
Though Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has
revised the estimates to 189 lakh hectares from 94 lakh hectares, many states
affected have not reported farmer suicides due to unseasonal rains and the
subsequent crops loss or have reported he same in highly disproportionate ways.
And even the Centre, though accepting, is not attributing almost of these
distress deaths due to some agrarian crisis.
The Nepal earthquake comes to the rescue of
governments we can say, especially one government - Arvind Kejriwal's
government in Delhi.
Arvind Kejriwal has found himself in a trap after
a farmer allegedly committed suicide in his rally. Kejriwal had launched the
rally to take over the mantle of farmers' fight against the National Democratic
Alliance government’s land acquisition ordinance. He was claiming to offer the
maximum compensation to the farmers in the country who were victims of
unseasonal rains.
But Gajender or Gajendra's alleged suicide washed
down his efforts. When Gajender made the move to climb the tree at Delhi’s
Jantar Mantar, when he was trying to scale up and down the branches of the three,
when he was waving his turban, the crowd below there, consisted mostly of the
Aam Aadmi Party volunteers mainly, cheered him up.
When his alleged suicide, which was caught on
many cameras, took place, Kejriwal promised he would visit the hospital after
finishing the rally. He kept on speaking. The rally went on.
Meanwhile, Gajender was declared 'brought dead'
by the doctors of Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Delhi.
And Kejriwal and the AAP’s plans went to the awry
after it.
After it, Kejriwal's proposed visit never
happened. He spoke on it, but only on third day, on April 24, defending and apologizing
at the same time. His party's spokespersons were speaking rubbish all this
while. Sanjay Singh even visited Gajender's village in Duasa district in
Rajasthan.
Gajender's village became a talking point. Every
major political party, along with some senior politicians, saw it its duty to
register its presence there. When Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Rajasthan’s chief
minister, from the Bhartiya Janata Party, made a controversial statement about
visiting Gajender's villages, it created a political storm. She ultimately did
not visit the village.
Gajender's family too changed its stance after
meeting Sanjay Singh. In words of Sanjay Singh, the family demanded ‘martyr
status for the cause of farmers’ and jobs for dependent of Gajender, along with
other demands.
In all, a political storm was brewing and farm
suicides were at the forefront of every discourse in this country, something
that seldom happens, even if tens of thousands of farmers commit suicide each
year. Everyone was trying to squeeze in the maximum political mileage of this ‘Peepli
Live’ sort of situation.
All this while, Gajender's suicide and suicide
note, both were under scanner. There were doubts based on the probe so far and
it was told to us that Gajender did not intend to commit suicide and his
suicide note was forged. Questions like who invited him from Rajasthan and his
call details are part of investigation now. And the AAP was clearly on back
foot.
Kejriwal was feeling uncomfortable with these
questions. He was at the centre of every criticism and he had no answers but
lame excuses. Also, the incident came after almost expulsion like situation of
two senior-most AAP founder-members, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. The
AAP is staring at a credibility crisis.
And then April 25 Nepal earthquake happened. The
whole nation since then is talking about it. It got round the clock coverage
till Monday. Even yesterday, it got the maximum amount of coverage.
And the AAP got the breather that it desperately
needed.
April 25, 26, 27 and 28 – no one talked about
Gajender.
But Gajender’s issue is not dead. As coverage
from Nepal will return to normal, the AAP agenda will be back in political circles.
Kejriwal realizes it or not, we need to see that.
Though he has softened his tone towards Delhi Police saying even Delhi Police
officials present there could not think that Gajender was preparing to commit
suicide, Gajender did die.
Farmers are dying daily in this country the
headlines tell. Unseasonal rains have only added to the numbers. But they don’t
pull attention, until someone like Gajender commits an
intentional/unintentional suicide in India’s national capital in a rally called
by its newest political party that is running the show in Delhi and is trying
to take on the whole political class including the BJP in the centre.
Commonplace ironies of world’s largest democracy
continue.