20 dead in stir, families send other members to Capital

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, December 16

Farmers are paying a heavy price for the Delhi protest as around 20 of them have lost their lives due to various reasons since November 24. Some lost lives due to accidents while others succumbed to health problems, but neither the farmers are willing to backtrack nor the families of the deceased.

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“My father Baldev Singh (76) died of cold. After Haryana cops used water cannons, he caught fever and other health problems. He was brought to Balian village on December 8 and died after some time. My father has laid down his life to save farming and we are proud of him. A member of our family will join the protest after the ‘bhog’,” said Raghuvir Singh.

In all, seven farmers have lost their lives in accidents, two due to cold and 11 due to cardiac arrest. With the start of intense fog and dip in temperature, the protesting farmers are likely to face more problems as there are many elderly in the protest who are already facing various health problems. The intense cold will make things tougher for them. Since families are sending their members to participate in the protest on rotation, fog will create problems in their movement.

“Even after losing their kin, families of the deceased farmers are sending other members to join the protest as they know that black laws will kill farming,” said Karmjit Singh, a BKU (Dakaunda) leader from Sherpur.

As per details, On December 10 night, Bhag Singh (75) from Baddowal village of Ludhiana died at the Singhu border due to alleged cold that he suffered after excessive use of water cannons by the Haryana police during his march towards Delhi. Balbir Singh (57) from Bagga village lost his life when on December 11 after he was hit by a vehicle near Tangra in Amritsar. Makhan Singh, a labourer from Bindar Kalan village of Moga, died on December 14 of a cardiac arrest. Gurpreet Singh (24) and Labh Singh (60) from Sapeda village of Patiala were killed after a truck rammed into their tractor-trailer near the Taraori flyover in Karnal.

They were coming back from the Singhu border. Apart from it, 15 farmers from various parts of Punjab have lost their lives till from November 24 to December 9.

“Neither Punjab nor the Centre are serious towards the plight of farmers. We have to launch a protest even for the well-being of the families of our martyrs,” said Harjeet Singh, a BKU (Ugrahan) leader.

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