A 65-year-old farmer from Punjab, who was part of the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest died early Friday morning after he suffered a heart attack. Gyan Singh from Chacheki village in Gurdaspur district died in his trolley at Shambhu, the border between Punjab and Haryana.
During the farmer protest in 2020-2021, nearly 700 farmers died in the stir as they weathered the bone-chilling cold, record rains, smog and heat. The first death within less than a week since the beginning of the renewed agitation will raise concern.
The majority of the protesting farmers are elderly and suffer from different ailments. Medical camps are set up across the protest site on the Shambu border.
Meanwhile, a 56-year-old Government Railway Police (GRP) officer, Hira Lal, deployed near the Shambhu border, died on Friday due to a heart attack, according to The Indian Express.
According to the newspaper, he complained of uneasiness on February 13 and was admitted to a government hospital in Ambala Cantt, where he passed away.
Gyan Singh was a member of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), a constituent unit of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM). The farmers have been protesting after farmers’ organisations, including KMSC and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political), gave a call for a ‘Dilli Chalo’ march.
Meanwhile, the third meeting between Union Ministers and the farmer leaders ended with no final solution in sight. The next round of the talks will take place on Sunday.
However, Union Minister Arjun Munda claimed that the dialogue with the farmer leaders was, “positive”.
