NGO Punjabi Cultural Council releases list of 149 dead farmers

Chandigarh, January 24

The Punjabi Cultural Council today released a list of 149 farmers who died during the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the agricultural laws on the Delhi borders since November 25. The council released a separate list of 13 farmers who died in the state during the ‘rail roko’ stir since September 2019.

Council chairman Harjeet Singh Grewal said the list comprised 22 farmers from Sangrur; 14 each from Mansa and Patiala; nine each from Barnala and Ludhiana; eight from Bathinda; seven each from Fatehgarh Sahib and Fazilka; six each from Muktsar and Amritsar; five each from Moga, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur and SBS Nagar; three each from Mohali, Rupnagar, Gurdaspur and Jalandhar; and two from Tarn Taran district. He said nine farmers from Haryana died, three from UP and one from Madhya Pradesh.

The list has been prepared on the basis of the reports that appeared in the leading newspapers of the region, including The Tribune, a press release said.

The council has asked the Centre to provide ex gratia benefit to all farmers who died during the agitation. Council vice-chairman Tejinderpal Singh Nalwa said the council had written to the Union Agriculture Minister seeking repeal of the controversial farm laws.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunil Jakhar said, “The sheer number of farmer deaths is a slur on the face of the Narendra Modi government.” — TNS