68-year-old farmer dies of cardiac arrest at Shambhu

Aman Sood

Shambhu, February 16

The ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest witnessed the first casualty today when a 68-year-old farmer from Gurdaspur district, who was protesting on the Shambhu border near Ambala, died of a cardiac arrest.

Felt uneasiness on february 14

• Gian Singh, a resident of Chachoki village in Batala, complained of chest pain on Friday morning
• He was referred to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala where doctors declared him dead at arrival
• On February 14, he felt uneasiness due to tear gas and was rushed to the Rajpura Civil Hospital

Gian Singh, deceased farmer, complained of chest pain in the morning and was taken to the Civil Hospital in Rajpura. He was referred to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala where doctors declared him brought dead, they said.

He is the first farmer who died this year’s farmer protest.

Reacting to the death, farmer union members declared that more farmers would die if the agitation continued for long and again requested the government to provide a solution to the issues raised by the farmers.

“We will keep Gian Singh’s body at Shambhu where all farmers can pay their last respect to the departed soul,” said the leaders.

Farmer leaders said, “They have no choice but to continue with their agitation if the Central Government does not accept their demands.”

Barring a couple of incidents of tear gas shells being fired, when some youngsters tried to get close to the barricades placed by Haryana cops, things were calm on the Punjab-Haryana border.

Meanwhile, on the fourth day of the ‘Dilli Chalo’ agitation at Shambhu, there was no confrontation between the police and the agitating farmers.

Late on Thursday night, two agitators brandished swords and went close to the barricades following which the police started firing tear gas shells. The two were later taken away from the spot by the farmers and rushed to the hospital with minor injuries.

In another incident, a few youngsters tried to reach the barricades and raised slogans this evening, following which the cops fired some smoke bombs and tear gas shells to disperse them.

Today farmers sat peacefully and raised slogans against the government. Youngsters were seen helping the elderly in preparing langar for thousands of farmers who are camping at the Shambhu.

Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said over 200 farmers had been injured while a few of them had lost their vision due to the firing by the cops.

Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta- Sidhupur) chief Jagjit Singh Dallewal said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi often visited foreign countries and claimed that India is one of the largest democracies. “However, in reality, our social media handles have been banned and farmers across many states are being arrested,” he said. He, however, added that their agitation was non-political and the protest was only to highlight the issues faced by the farmers.

The union leaders will have another round of meeting with the Central ministers on Sunday evening.