Tamil Nadu Farmers Stage Protest in Delhi's Jantar Mantar with Skulls and Bones

As many as 200 Tamil Nadu farmers on Wednesday, April 24, stage protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, against issues of crop prices and river interlinking. They demonstrate using bones and skulls of farmers who had died by suicide.

Delhi: Farmers from Tamil Nadu have on Wednesday, April 24, climbed up to a tower in Delhi's Jantar Mantar as part of their protest against concerns pertaining to agricultural prices and the interconnection of rivers.

A group of about 200 Tamil Nadu farmers have been demonstrating against the central government in New Delhi over the issue of agricultural prices and river interconnection. The demonstrators purportedly brought the bones and skulls of farmers who had died by suicide.

The farmers claimed that despite the central government's pledge to treble agricultural revenue, crop prices had not gone up.

"We demand two-time profitable prices of the crops, pension of Rs 5,000 to farmers, individual insurance and also interlinking of all rivers in India," a farmer said.

Protesters also warned saying that if the government does not listen to their demands then they will contest the Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The famers said, "If the government does not listen to us, we will go to Varanasi and contest elections against PM Modi."

They alleged that they are neither against the PM nor do they have connections with any political party. "We just want their help. We were denied our basic fundamental right to protest, but later they were forced to take permission from the court," they said.

A farmer leader said that despite living in a democratic country, we were denied the right to protest.