TN farmers’ protest enters Day 13

  • | Monday | 27th March, 2017

The South Indian Rivers Linking Farmers Association has put forth a five-point demand for bailing out distressed farmers. The farmers have been protesting with skulls, which they claim belong to fellow farmers who committed suicide over mounting loans. Rivulets, streams and canals are running dry, and farmers have to dig up to 1,500 feet below ground to find water. She and her husband Purushotaman have accumulated a loan of ?3 lakh and missed payment of two instalments. ‘Ghastly future’The protest entered its 13th day on Sunday, with Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) founder and general-secretary Vaiko joining them and promising to discuss their concerns with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

more-in Forty three-year-old Periyannan lay wrapped in green cloth, with a garland around his motionless body and his face tied up like a corpse’s. Mayina, his 38-year-old wife who sat beside him holding an umbrella and fanning him, said: “The voices of living farmers are not being heard... maybe our bodies will get the government’s attention.” Periyannan and Mayina are among 84 farmers from Tamil Nadu who have been camping at Jantar Mantar demanding relief in the face of what is believed to be Cauvery basin’s worst drought in the past 150 years. ‘Ghastly future’ The protest entered its 13th day on Sunday, with Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) founder and general-secretary Vaiko joining them and promising to discuss their concerns with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The farmers have been protesting with skulls, which they claim belong to fellow farmers who committed suicide over mounting loans. The skulls, they said, are also symbolic of the ghastly future that lies ahead for them. Stating that it was painful for them to dig out the skulls of their friends and family and put them on display, they said they had no other option. “The government should understand that we’ve reached the peak of our desperation. We had come here with some hope but it’s been almost a fortnight and we’re losing the last sliver of trust we had in the government,” said Rajalakshmi, with a cold expression on her face. She said that she had mortgaged her silver jewellery to reach Delhi. She and her husband Purushotaman have accumulated a loan of ?3 lakh and missed payment of two instalments. ‘Nothing left’ “Now I have nothing left. If the government ignores our plea, I will hang myself here. There won’t be a warning this time,” she said. The South Indian Rivers Linking Farmers Association has put forth a five-point demand for bailing out distressed farmers. Agitating farmers are demanding the formation of a Cauvery Management Committee, linking of all rivers by the smart waterways project and profitable prices for agricultural produce apart from farm loan waivers. Rivulets, streams and canals are running dry, and farmers have to dig up to 1,500 feet below ground to find water. “Our lands are bone dry because there’s been no rain,” said the diabetic Rajalakshmi, who said she had taken a 5-acre farmland on lease with her husband.

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