Farmers Movement Archive

Dead farmer was just back from Australia; wife, 21, still there

RAMPUR: Like many young farmers across the agri belts in Punjab, Haryana and UP, Navreet Singh would make the trip to Delhi’s Ghazipur border to join the protest every few days. The 24-year-old had just come home from Australia, newly married and was a vocal opponent of the new farm laws. On Tuesday, he was among the protesters on tractors that veered towards the heart of Delhi. Moments after his tractor turned turtle, people found him dead. On Wednesday, the lingering question of how he really died hanging heavy, his family cremated him. His village with 8,000-odd people, Dibdiba in UP’s Rampur, had gone quiet, police presence marking every inch. While Navreet’s wife Mansweet (21) who is in Melbourne has not recovered from the shock, his grandfather Hardeep Singh Dibdiba who attended the cremation along with Navreet’s father, says, “He died a martyr.” Navreet’s has been an influential family. For generations, his family has held 12 acres of farmland in Dibdiba. His grandfather has written five books in Punjabi on Sikhism and against terrorism. “I am going to write about this protest, tell the truth,” he said on Wednesday. “We are taking care of the law and order situation in the village,” Rampur additional SP Sansaar Singh told TOI. Five years ago, Navreet had moved to Australia to study. His sister had chosen Canada. While pursuing a graduate course in commerce, he met Mansweet, also a student, in Melbourne. They fell in love and, last year, they got married. His father, Sahab Singh, and grandfather were getting old. After his graduation was over, he came home. "He had come to India to celebrate his wedding three to four months ago," said Hardeep, who is also ad hoc president of the Rajasthan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Mansweet, now 21, stayed back to complete her graduation. “He could have lived an easy life abroad. But he wanted to help out at the farm,” his uncle Inderjeet Singh told TOI. At the time, resentment against the new farm laws had started building up. When the protests began in Delhi, there was no holding Navreet back. With troops of young farmers from nearby villages, he would go and mark his presence at the peaceful protests at the Ghazipur border and come back. His grandfather would head for the Rajasthan border. “He would be at the protest since it started,” Hardeep said. "He died a martyr." On January 23, Navreet left Dibdiba for Ghazipur again. He meant to stay on for the Republic Day protest. When he died, his wife, more than 10,000 km away, got to know before others did. “She came to know Navreet had died when the news exploded on social media within minutes. It was their wedding photo, next to that of his body that was being shared. She has not recovered from the shock,” Daljeet Singh, a neighbour, said. She could not make it to her husband’s funeral. (With inputs from Yudhvir Rana in Amritsar)

The Times of India

2021-01-28

Lucknow