GlobalVillageSpace
Media Partner
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2017
- Messages
- 993
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- Location
Starving Indian Farmers Eat Rats as Protest in Delhi
Global Village Space
(Reuters) Indian farmers hit by drought and debt displayed the skulls of fellow farmers, believed to have committed suicide, and placed live rats in their mouths at a protest on Monday calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save them from starvation.
The farmers, who traveled to the Indian capital from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, say lack of rains over the last year have led to crop failure, forcing many to take loans from banks and moneylenders to survive. “These skulls are all that remains of our brothers who killed themselves because they could not repay their debts,” said P. Ayyakannu, president of South Indian Rivers Linking Farmers Association, sitting by a row of eight human skulls.
More than 12,600 farmers and agricultural laborers committed suicide in 2015 alone – making up almost 10 percent of all suicides in India
“It has come to the stage where hundreds of farmers are committing suicide due to the pressure of not being able to repay these loans, yet our prime minister is doing very little. We are here to demand Modi help us and write-off these debts.”
Read more: BJP wins India’s biggest state Uttar Pradesh, strengthens Modi’s grip on power
It was not, though, verified if the skulls on display at the protest in Delhi’s city center belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. Tens of thousands of Indian farmers have killed themselves over the last decade – by drinking pesticides or hanging themselves from trees – as unseasonal rains and drought combined with lower global commodity prices have hurt farm incomes.
Read more: Starving Indian Farmers Eat Rats as Protest in Delhi
Global Village Space
(Reuters) Indian farmers hit by drought and debt displayed the skulls of fellow farmers, believed to have committed suicide, and placed live rats in their mouths at a protest on Monday calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save them from starvation.
The farmers, who traveled to the Indian capital from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, say lack of rains over the last year have led to crop failure, forcing many to take loans from banks and moneylenders to survive. “These skulls are all that remains of our brothers who killed themselves because they could not repay their debts,” said P. Ayyakannu, president of South Indian Rivers Linking Farmers Association, sitting by a row of eight human skulls.
More than 12,600 farmers and agricultural laborers committed suicide in 2015 alone – making up almost 10 percent of all suicides in India
“It has come to the stage where hundreds of farmers are committing suicide due to the pressure of not being able to repay these loans, yet our prime minister is doing very little. We are here to demand Modi help us and write-off these debts.”
Read more: BJP wins India’s biggest state Uttar Pradesh, strengthens Modi’s grip on power
It was not, though, verified if the skulls on display at the protest in Delhi’s city center belonged to farmers who had committed suicide. Tens of thousands of Indian farmers have killed themselves over the last decade – by drinking pesticides or hanging themselves from trees – as unseasonal rains and drought combined with lower global commodity prices have hurt farm incomes.
Read more: Starving Indian Farmers Eat Rats as Protest in Delhi
