A 40-year-old farmer from Punjab, who was participating in the Singhu border protest against Central’s agricultural laws, allegedly took his life by consuming a poisonous substance on Saturday night, police said.
The farmer, Amarinder Singh, was a resident of the Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab. The man was rushed to a local hospital in Sonipat where he died, said Sonipat Kundli Police Station Inspector Ravi Kumar.
Farmers from various parts of the country, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at different border points in Delhi for more than a month demanding the repeal of the three agricultural laws, which were passed in Parliament in September amid strong protests from opposition parties. .
The three laws have been projected by the central government as important reforms in the agricultural sector that will eliminate middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, protesting farmers have expressed fear that the new laws would pave the way to remove the Minimum Livelihood Price safety cushion and end the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of large corporations.
The government has repeatedly claimed that the MSP and Mandi systems will be maintained and has accused the opposition of misleading farmers.
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