Farmers Movement Archive

Cane farmer on strike for five days dies of heart attack in UP's Baghpat

Meerut: Sauraj Singh, a 60-year-old farmer, who was staging a protest outside the office of district cane officer for a new cane weighing centre for the past five days, suddenly died of a heart attack in UP's Baghpat on Thursday.Singh's death led to a lot of tension in the area with hundreds of farmers assembling at the spot and accusing the authorities of "indifference towards their just demand". In this sugarcane belt, farmer's death by accident or suicide has always been a sensitive subject. As protests for a new cane weighing centre gathered steam, there was a deadlock between authorities and farmers for the past few days. And Singh was among the farmers demanding a new centre at their village in Baghpat. The incident took place a few days before the crushing season for the sugar mills."We have been demanding a new cane weighing centre for the village. This is a just demand. But authorities had been delaying the grant. Villagers approached MLAs, MPs, and even went to Lucknow, but to no avail," Pratap Gujjar, the district president of Bhartiya Kisan Union, said. After repeated requests, Gujjar added that they were left with no other option but to protest outside the district cane office, especially since the crushing season is about to start in the mills. "And Sauraj [Singh] died due to heart attack during the agitation," Gujjar said.It all started after a youth from the Jat community was allegedly killed at a village on August 3, apparently, following a clash between two communities. Notably, there are two dominant castes in the village - Brahmins and Jats. The Jats are predominantly a farming community in the area.After the death of the Jat youth, some villagers started raising the issue of a separate cane weighing centre. The present centre is located deep within a locality with a substantial Brahmin population. Hence, to avoid any further tension, they demanded a separate centre.Now, after Singh's death, district administration has reportedly agreed to the demand and given its nod for a new centre.

The Times of India

2020-11-06

Meerut