Shambu Border, 9 January 2025: A 55-year-old farmer from Tarn Taran died on Thursday after allegedly consuming poison at the Shambhu border, where protests demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops have continued for nearly a year.
Sarwan Singh Pandher, convener of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), said the farmer ingested the poison around 9 a.m. while a community kitchen meal was being served.
“He was taken to the civil hospital in Rajpura before being referred to the Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, where doctors declared him dead,” Pandher said.
Tejvir Singh, a farmer leader, attributed the suicide to frustration with the central government's inaction on farmers' demands despite the prolonged agitation.
"The KMM and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) have called for the registration of an FIR against the Centre for abetment to suicide," Pandher said.
He also demanded ₹25 lakh in compensation for the farmer's family.
This is the second such incident at the Shambhu protest site in three weeks. On December 18, a Ludhiana farmer ended his life, reportedly distressed over the deteriorating health of 70-year-old Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike at the Khanauri border since November 26.
Farmers under the banners of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been protesting at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, following the police's blockade of their march to Delhi.