As the farmers' agitation against the new agricultural laws entered its 21st day, a 65-year-old farmer dies by suicide at the Singhu border protest site on Wednesday.
The deceased has been identified as Baba Ram Singh of Singhra village in Nissing area of Haryana's Karnal district. The farmer left a suicide note which states that he couldn't see the ordeal of farmers who are sitting on the outskirts of the national capital protesting against the recently-passed farm laws.
Farmers' protests getting out of hand
The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that if urgent measures are not taken now, then the ongoing farmers' protest may spiral out of the government's hand to become a national issue. Against this backdrop, it ordered eight farmer unions be made party to the PIL seeking removal of farmers from various Delhi borders, and a joint hearing of the Centre and the farmers' unions on Thursday in a bid to end the impasse.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, proposed forming a committee, including the representatives of both the Centre, farmer unions and other relevant stakeholders, to arrive at some acceptable solution.
The Chief Justice told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, that the government's negotiations may not work.
"You should be willing to negotiate and we should have a farmers' union before us," said the Chief Justice, seeking names of the farmer unions.
(With IANS inputs)
