Mandsaur: Among the five killed farmers was a 19-year-old, a newly-wed

Violent farmers' protest turned tragic in Mandsaur of Madhya Pradesh when police opened fire on protesting farmers. Five farmers died within minutes of each other. Among those dead was a 19-year-old student of class 11, another a newly wed. All five farmers who were killed on Tuesday were poor landless farmers and farm labourers who paid the price for an agrarian crisis that was the split side of Madhya Pradesh's rapid agriculture success story.

Abhishek, a 19-year-old who succumbed to police bullets was a class 11 student. His grief-ridden family placed his body on the Mandsaur-Neemuch highway and protested. A student who loved biology was the youngest of the five killed during the violence. His family claims that he never indulged in violence and was merely raising slogans. Son of a landless farmer, Abhishek was also the youngest of four siblings.

Jagdish Patidar had lost his father in 2016 and was forced to give up studies and work in the family land of which he was yet to get ownership. Jagdish joined the protest worried that he would not be able to recover the cost incurred for soybean, garlic and wheat. His family claims that he was shot dead while drinking water. He leaves behind a young wife and an ailing mother who had lost her husband barely a year ago.

23-year-old Chainram Patidar had married barely two months ago. He dreamt of joining the army but a bullet from a police weapon cut his life short. He had taken part in the army recruitment camps at least thrice, his family claims but was rejected each time. In a quote to a newspaper, the family claimed that it owned a huge piece of land which was acquired by the government in 1970 for the construction of a dam. The family hopes that someone is given a job in the MP government as assured.

A daily wage worker, Satyanarayan Dhangar earned a mere Rs 200 every day. Despite the meagre earning, Dhangar made more money than his family did in agriculture. His family claims that he went to Mandsaur only to see the rally. They are still confused as to why he was shot dead by the police.

Kanhaiyalal Patidar leaves behind a 16-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son. He was confident that the protest would bring some relief to the farmers. Despite not having a farm to his name, Kanhaiyalal worked hard but found it difficult to recover input costs leave alone a profit. His family claims that he walked towards the police assuming that they were calling for talks but was shot dead.

On Friday, reports of another farmer succumbing to injuries emerged from Mandsaur taking the death toll to six. While the government has announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the family of the deceased wives, mothers, fathers, children of those killed can never be consoled.

OneIndia News