Day 205

Toll 518

#FarmersProtest

Ablaze

A man has died from burn injuries at the Tikri border protest site. The 42-year-old person from Kasar village, Jhajjar district, Haryana has been identified as Mukesh Kumar.

Accusations and explanations are flying whether it was self-immolation or murder. There are two videos, one in which he says he self-immolated himself, in another he accuses others of targeting him. There is some evidence of him having bought petrol, having a liquor bottle in his pocket, but only a thorough investigation will reveal the truth. The police have arrested one accused.

This is the third death at the protests, two earlier ones took place in March and April. This is indeed sad. This is not what the protestors came here to do. Yet, this is our society, crime happens. Crime must be checked but in this case, I believe, we can not blame the protesters or unions for the events.

This is a law and order issue. This is an issue of the extended protests. The government is responsible for protests extending, for them no longer even conducting talks, for them actually allowing such incidents to occur which demoralise the protestors.

At the protests sites, the government is playing the war of attrition. In Haryana, the government is playing the war of distraction. All this to prevent momentum from building up in western UP which goes to elections in six months.

To say farmers lit up the man to create martyrs is not only facile but insidious. Just look up the toll above to see how many martyrs have already been created. The farmers do not need to create another one.