The 65-year-old had shot himself, the police said.
New Delhi:
The priest of a Gurdwara from Haryana, Baba Ram Singh, who had joined the farmers’ protest, died by suicide today at the Delhi border, where he reached last evening. In a note, he said he was sacrificing his life “to express anger and pain against the government’s injustice”.
“I feel the pain of farmers fighting to ensure their rights… I share their pain because the government is not doing justice to them. To inflict injustice is a sin, but it is also a sin to tolerate injustice. To support farmers, some have returned their awards to the government. I have decided to sacrifice myself,” read the note he left.
The 65-year-old had shot himself, the police said. “He was rushed to Park hospital in Panipat and was declared dead on arrival by the doctors,” said Shyam Lal Poonia, the Deputy Police Commissioner of Sonipat. His body is now on way to Karnal, where he lived, the officer added.
Since the end of November, tens of thousands of farmers have gathered at the Delhi border from Punjab and Haryana, demanding that the three farm sector was passed by the government in September, be scrapped.
More than 20 of the protesters have died, the farmers’ representatives said yesterday. A farmer leader from Maharashtra, Rishipal, said one farmer has died every day on an average since the protest started.
“A Homage Day (Shraddhanjali Diwas) for all the farmers who lost their lives and became martyrs in the ongoing protest will be organised across the country in villages and tehsil headquarters on December 20 from 11 am to 1 pm,” he said.
