For nearly four weeks now, more than hundred farmers from Thanjavur and Tiruchirappalli districts in Tamil Nadu have been protesting at Jantar Mantar, using bones and skulls to highlight and symbolise the problem of farmers suicides in the state. The farmers claim that the skulls and bones, which they carry along with them belong to fellow farmers, who committed suicide because of the adverse conditions in the state.
Today, with no response from the government, they unveiled their latest form of protest – by going nude outside the Prime Minister’s Office in North Block, New Delhi.
The protest comes after a delegation of seven farmers were taken to the Prime Minister’s Office and were told that they would meet with PM Modi, but later they were told to hand over their memorandum to a PMO official.
Once they were escorted out of the PMO building by a police vehicle, one of the farmers jumped out of the van and stripped on the road, shouting out the demands of the farmers. Soon, two other farmers joined him in his protest.
Every evening for the last 28 days, these farmers sit together outside a makeshift tent in Jantar Mantar to discuss what shape their protest will take the next day. Today the form of protest got worse, after they ‘felt cheated’ by the PMO officials.
These protesting farmers want the Centre to announce a relief package for the farmers. Earlier, apart from displaying the skulls of the deceased farmers who committed suicide, they also protested by eating rats.
