Indian farmer consumes poisonous substance at protest site, dies in hospital
A 55-year-old farmer Resham Singh on Thursday allegedly committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance at a protest site in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
Multiple local media reports said.
Singh is the second farmer who has committed suicide to express disillusionment against the federal government’s apathy towards ongoing farmer protests.
According to available details, Singh consumed insecticide at the Shambhu border, a point between Punjab and Haryana, after which he was rushed to a government hospital in Rajpura.
“At the hospital, his condition deteriorated further and he was later referred to Rajendra hospital in Patiala, where he was declared dead by doctors,” a farmer leader said.
Earlier, in December, 57-year-old Ranjodh Singh consumed insecticide during a farmers’ protest at the Shambhu border and later died in hospital. He was distressed by the deteriorating health of 70-year-old farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who had been on a fast-unto-death since November 26, 2024 at the Khanauri border.
Hundreds of farmers have been protesting at the Punjab-Haryana border since February 13, 2024 to press for their demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price for their crops.
Their multiple efforts to march to India’s national capital last month were met with strong force from the police, who fired tear smoke shells and resorted to baton charging to dispel the protesting farmers.
Meanwhile, Dallewal’s hunger strike entered its 45th day on Thursday. He has urged his fellow protesters to carry on the protest even in the event of his death.
In September 2020, the Indian government passed three contentious laws aimed at “modernizing” the country’s agriculture sector.
However, farmers feared the new laws would weaken their position and make them dependent on corporates.
Seeking revocation of the laws, thousands of farmers went on strike on the borders of the national capital.
The strike lasted for over a year, after which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his government was repealing the laws.
(Xinhua/NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Heading 3
Troops kill two terrorists, rescue three victims in two-day raid of Benue hideout
Mr Zubairu stated, “The operation commenced at about 0300 hours on 16 July and concluded on 17 July 2026.”
NationWide
Institute, AFFCN sensitise grassroots to tax, electoral, reforms
Mr Adebayo stated that the unique strength of the initiative was the strategic involvement of former councillors drawn from the six South-South states.
NationWide
Nigeria’s energy crisis biggest obstacle to industrialisation: Sanusi
Mr Sanusi said addressing the country’s estimated 100 billion-dollar power infrastructure funding gap would require deep structural reforms.
States
NISO announces planned outage on Jos-Bauchi-Gombe transmission line
The system operator commended electricity market participants and electricity consumers in the affected areas for their understanding and cooperation.
Showbiz
Tems emerges first African female artist to clinch Diamond single in US
Grammy-winning Nigerian singer,Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has become the first African female artist to earn a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Diamond-certified single
World
Seven die, over 40 injured as Ukraine bombs Russian warehouses in overnight reprisal
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a post on X, said the attack was a response to Russia’s earlier attack on its civilian infrastructure.
