A farmer identified as Brijpal in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar attempted suicide by setting himself ablaze near a protest site on Wednesday. The other protesters extinguished the fire and rushed him to a local hospital.
City Magistrate Vikash Kashyap visited the hospital and reported that the farmer sustained minor facial burns and received immediate medical attention. Kashyap mentioned that Brijpal had a loan-related concern, which authorities promised to resolve, following which he took the step.
Bhartiya Kisan Union district president Yogesh Sharma said Brijpal tried to commit suicide because he was not getting any solution to his problem and was worried about getting a notice from the Punjab National Bank despite never getting a loan from that bank. Brijpal is a native of Jitpur Ghari village of Muzaffarnagar district.
BKU leader Naresh Tikait, addressing farmers at a gathering at the Muzaffarnagar collectorate, asked his supporters to participate in a tractor march on February 26 and 27 to condemn atrocities on their counterparts from Haryana and Punjab.
Hundreds of farmers from across districts staged a dharna at the collectorate in Muzaffarnagar. Naresh Tikait later gave a memorandum of the farmers' demands to the district magistrate, to be sent to the President of India.
Farmers have been demanding a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, withdrawal of police cases against fellow agitators, justice for the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence, and a rise in sugar cane prices.
In Ghaziabad, farmers staged a sit-in at the call of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait under the leadership of district president Bijendra Singh. Addressing the gathering, Bijendra Singh said that the farmers were forced to demonstrate by the government which is not paying heed to their demand of MSP.
Farmers there handed over a 15-point memorandum to the administration, addressed to President Droupadi Murmu.
The memorandum carried 15 demands of farmers, including a check on inflation, relaxation in railway fares for senior citizens, and free education. Kavinagar ACP Abhishek Srivastav said that to prevent any untoward incident, sufficient force was deployed inside and outside the collectorate.
BKU National Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait in Meerut said that if the government does not allow farmers to go to Delhi, the farmers also will not let them enter their villages during elections.
Farmers in Meerut on Wednesday took out a tractor march to reach the collectorate. Ahead of their march, authorities set up barriers at several places to prevent farmers from reaching the collector's office, but they were removed by the agitators.
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