Tamil Nadu farmers at Jantar Mantar on Friday staged another unique demonstration by hitting themselves with brooms to depict their "disadvantaged" status.
After their 40-day protest in the national capital earlier in 2017, farmers from Tamil Nadu on Monday returned to Jantar Mantar for a second round of agitation for loan waiver and a drought-relief package.
The farmers continued with their stir for the sixth day and demanded a farm loan waiver, crop insurance for individual farmers and setting up of Cauvery Management Board by the Centre.
"This time we are determined and would even dare to die, instead of being cheated. Rain or sun, our agitation will not stop," declared P Ayyakkannu, who is spearheading the agitation, as around 50 farmers sat on the Jantar Mantar road shouting slogans.
The farmers, who arrived in New Delhi on Sunday, were detained by the police after they tried to stage a demonstration near the Prime Minister’s residence. They will join an indefinite protest after their counterparts, taking part in a ‘Kisan Mukti Yatra’, reach Jantar Mantar on Tuesday.
The farmers are demanding loan waivers, setting up of Cauvery Management Board, crop insurance for individual farmers and remunerative prices for their produce.
They had grabbed eyeballs earlier this year with their innovative, and at times increasingly desperate, modes of protest.
(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 atbol@thequint.com or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)