47 dead so far: BKU (Ugrahan)

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 10

The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) has listed 47 farmers who have died due to health emergencies in biting cold, road accidents and suicides during the ongoing agitation against the farm laws enacted by the Centre last year.

Secretary of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) Shingara Singh Mann said, “Our list has 47 confirmed names of the dead. We got fresh inputs on more deaths, so we are updating our list which should be out by the weekend.”

There is no official compilation of data on deaths. Most farm unions participating in the agitation agree with the figure of about 65. However, BKU (Dakaunda) puts the figure of farmer deaths at about 80 since September 2020.

Pneumonia cases high

The number of pneumonia cases is high, particularly among the elderly. At the same time, there are farmers who have been killed in accidents. —Sahildeep Singh, Farmer activist

Veerpal Singh Dhillon, a spokesperson of the BKU, said, “The night weather is cruel, particularly for the elderly. When they get down to relieve in the open at night or in early morning, they are exposing themselves to extreme weather. Pneumonia is common and a lot of deaths have been caused due to cardiac arrests in the cold weather.”

BKU (Dakaunda) president Harmeet Kadian said, “We appeal to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandkah Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee to help the poor farmers with medical expenses. For instance, an elderly farmer was taken to a Delhi hospital late in the night last week when he complained of uneasiness. We gave him around Rs 30,000. We came to know the next day that he had died on way his home in Punjab. Actually, when he was rushed to the hospital, the staff there said he needed to pay more than Rs 2 lakh. He did not have the required money.”

“The farmer called his family back in Punjab who asked him to return to his village. He died on way back,” Kadian added.