Disheartened by the Centre's apathy to their demands, one of the protesting Tamil Nadu farmers attempted to take his own life in Delhi.
Subramani, 61, consumed 10 sleeping pills and lost consciousness at the Jantar Mantar protest site in the capital.
"He was saying let me die, we are not going to get any help from the Central government by protesting. If I die, the Centre might listen to our plea and do something about it,” said Premkumar, a member of the Association for Interlinking National-South Indian Rivers.
Subramani was admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in New Delhi.
It has been nine days since the farmers from Tamil Nadu started their protest demanding the Central government accept their demands.
“We want the government to waive the loans of the farmers, we should be paid the right price for our yields and be provided insurance. Farmers above the age of 60 years must be provided with a pension of Rs 5,000, and all the rivers in India must be inter-linked,” Premkumar had earlier told The News Minute.
On Thursday, the farmers hit themselves with slippers in front of the media against the announcement of a massive pay hike for MLAs of Tamil Nadu. They also expressed regret for electing such a government to power.
On 23 April 2017, farmers had suspended their first round of protests in Delhi after meeting Chief Minister Edapaddi Palanisamy. They had protested for 41 days and had said that they will restart their protest on 25 May if their demands are not met.
They had taken various desperate steps to get the attention of the central government, like shaving half of their moustache, tonsuring their head, putting dead snakes and rats in their mouths and carrying skulls which they said were of dead farmers.
(With inputs from IANS. The story first appeared on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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