My Father, a Farmer Suicide Statistic: Children of the Farm Crisis

In Photos | “Dear farmers, my father committed suicide. For the sake of your children, please don’t do the same.”

“We are the children of farmers who committed suicide and we have a message for you.”

(Photo: Meghnad Bose and Liju Joseph/The Quint)

When a farmer goes to sell his produce, those buying from him bargain for even a difference of two rupees. When he comes home, his children ask, ‘What do we have today, Papa?’ Papa says that even today, ‘We have nothing’. It breaks him to say that to his family. One day too many, and he ends up taking his own life

Pallavi Dinesh Pawar, 14-year-old daughter of a farmer who committed suicide

It’s not everyday that you see children protesting at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. But on Tuesday, 14-year-old Pallavi Dinesh Pawar was one of a few dozen kids from Maharashtra who took the centrestage at a protest meet held by farmers from across the country.

“Suicide won’t solve this crisis of ours” reads a placard held up by children of farmers who took their own lives.

The common thread that binds these children together is that they have all lost their fathers to India’s agrarian crisis.

For many of us, farmer suicides are often little more than statistics. For these children though, they are stories of lost families. Of fathers, who are no more.

Fatherless. 

At the culmination of the ‘Kisan Mukti Yatra’ from Mandsaur to New Delhi, the children of farmers who committed suicide made an earnest appeal to all those present at the gathering.

Suicide is not a solution, they said. Do not leave more children fatherless, they begged.

'Dear Farmers, Please Don't Repeat My Father's Mistake'

14-year-old Pallavi Dinesh Pawar urges farmers to shun thoughts of suicide.

I was three or four years old when my father committed suicide. I only remember him vaguely. Sometimes, his face comes to my mind. I want to tell all the farmers here, for the sake of your children, please don’t repeat what my father did.

Since her father’s demise a decade ago, Pallavi Pawar has lived in an ashram in Nashik, Maharashtra, away from her mother and the rest of her family. At home in Jalgaon, more than four hours away, Pallavi’s mother toils on others’ farms to make ends meet.

When asked about the protest she is attending, Pallavi says, “I want to urge the government to focus on the dire plight of farmers and to spare a thought for their children too.”

She herself doesn’t wish to pursue farming though. “When I grow up, I want to become an IPS (Indian Police Service) officer”, the ninth-standard student tells us.

Pallavi’s 8-year-old brother, Dnyaneshwar, is also present at the protest.

Eight-year-old Dnyaneshwar at the ‘Kisan Mukti Yatra’ farmers’ protest in Delhi on Tuesday.

For Your Children's Sake

Six-year-old Karishma from Palgarh, Maharashtra.

“Kisanon, khudkushi mat karo (Farmers, don’t commit suicide)” reads the cap on 6-year-old Karishma’s head.

Most questions to her are met with a diffident smile. Even as I smile back, I am pained to remember that Karishma too has lost her father to the agrarian crisis.

Karishma at the farmers’ protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

A Suicide Tears a Family Apart

10-year-old Vidya Deepak Kamble hasn’t been home since last Diwali.

Vidya Deepak Kamble’s father committed suicide five years ago. Her life hasn’t been the same since. Her mother works on others’ crops for a living. And 10-year-old Vidya stays away from home, in an ashram in Nashik.

She couldn’t even visit her mother since last Diwali.

The pain in her voice is unmistakable when she pleads, “Please don’t commit suicide.” The pain of being separated from one’s family.

'Make Farmers a Political Priority'

Thirteen-year-old Nishant lost his father when he was just 3.

Thirteen-year-old Nishant Kale hails from northwest Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district. His father committed suicide when he was just 3. An aspiring engineer, Nishant lives with his mother and grandparents. His demand of the powers that be is that they prioritise the needs of the farmers and provide as much aid as is required to alleviate their woes.

“The government must help farmers and their children as much as possible.”

‘Suicide No Solution’

Thirteen-year-old Prateek Gunjar from Buldhana, Maharashtra holds up a placard that reads “Suicide is not the solution”.

“Suicide is not the solution to our woes.”

Of all the placards at the protest, this one raised by 13-year-old Prateek Gunjar from Buldhana, Maharashtra is possibly the most compelling. Prateek’s father killed himself two years ago.

Nine-year-old Suraj perspiring in Delhi’s midday heat as the protest continues at Jantar Mantar.

'No Recollection of Papa'

Nine-year-old Bharat Ramesh Vaishnav from Solapur, Maharashtra does not have any memories of his father. “When my father took his life, I was too young to remember anything.”

Nine-year-old Bharat has no memories of his father. 

My father killed himself when I was very small. I do not recall anything about him

Pooja Dattu Mutadak, 6-year-old protester

Children took centrestage at the culmination of the ‘Kisan Mukti Yatra’ in Delhi.

Children of farmers who committed suicide protest at Jantar Mantar.

6-year-old Pooja Dattu Mutadak has no recollection of her father.

Will the voices of these children resonate with farmers in distress? Will they heed the plea to shun thoughts of suicide, no matter how great the crisis – for the sake of their younger ones, for whom it’ll be greater if they leave.

(We all love to express ourselves, but how often do we do it in our mother tongue? Here's your chance! This Independence Day, khul ke bol with BOL – Love your Bhasha. Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL [e-mail] or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)