Gajendra Singh committed suicide today. Unlike scores of fellow farmers who commit suicide every day in some part of India or the other, Gajendra did not become a statistic to be debated upon. He could not be wished away as a suicide for non-farming reasons nor could his existence itself be questioned by bureaucrats cleaning up the stat book. He killed himself today in the power centre of the nation, in the midst of an AAP rally against the land acquisition bill.
Tears have started to flow all over the Internet. They will flow in copious quantities in Kolkata’s College Square and in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in days to come, shrouded in tired slogans and even-more-tired demands for justice and freedom and the usual. Even the mighty PM was ‘deeply shattered’. There will be more hollow noises in days to come, maybe a sudden spurt in the number of talks P Sainath is asked to give. Candles will be lit, quite an achievement in itself if it is for a farmer. Gajendra Singh will become a symbol. This is if the weeping continues and is not diverted to some tragedy in Europe tomorrow. Continue reading
carvaan 