Farmers to perform ‘corpse pose’ as a mark of protest on International Yoga Day

On International Yoga Day, farmer unions to perform shavasana in protest

New Delhi, June 13: As the nation will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues to perform yoga on the International Yoga Day, farmers of the country will perform a special asana--shavasana, also known as the "corpse pose".

The International Yoga Day or Yoga Day is celebrated across the world on June 21 since 2015 to highlight the various physical and spiritual benefits of the ancient Indian art form.

PM Modi will be performing yoga in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh this time. He will be joined by thousands of yoga lovers in a massive function in the capital city of UP.

However, farmers' unions have decided to lodge their protest once again on the special day by performing the corpse pose to bring to notice that farmers across the country are in their "death bed" because of rising debts, poor earning on their produce and crop loss, to name a few.

The farmers' leaders say that it was a non-violent protest to raise their demands of loan waiver and better prices for their produce, to name a few.

During the Yoga Day, the farmers will be putting up effigies at the protest venues to showcase rising number of farmer deaths due to suicide and police firing. Last week, during a farmers' protest in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, six farmers were killed due to police firing.

The farmers' agitation in MP is on since June 1. The farmers in neighbouring Maharashtra decided to end their fast recently after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis agreed to give a total farm loan waiver.

"Our non-violent movement will continue. But, yes we want to tell people across the length and breadth of this country the pitiable condition of farmers. To this end, we plan to perform shavasana on the International Day of Yoga," Shiv Kumar, chief of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan was quoted as saying by Business Standard.

He also said that the unions are planning to come up with posters of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri with his rallying cry of 'jai jawan, jai kisan' (hail the soldier, hail the farmer) and posters of Atal Bihari Vajpayee with his cry of 'jai vigyan' (hail science). In contrast, PM Modi's poster will be accompanied by the slogan: 'mar gaya kisan Modiji' (farmers are dying Modiji).

OneIndia News