25 farmers have died since November 26 when tens of thousands of farmers began demonstrations against three farm laws passed
\nTLTP
\nNEW DELHI
\nAt least 25 people have died, several of them due to the biting cold weather, during the three-week protest by farmers on the Indian capital\u2019s borders, police said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers to \u201cvery humbly\u201d hold further talks with the protesting farmers.
\nManoj Yadav, director-general of police in the northern Haryana state, told the media on Friday at least 25 farmers have died since November 26 when tens of thousands of farmers began demonstrations against three farm laws passed by the government in September.
\n\u201cThere have been about 25 deaths so far,\u201d Yadav said, one of them being death by suicide two days ago. \u201cFourteen deaths were due to natural causes, mostly heart attacks and cold.\u201d
\nThe police officer said at least 10 people died in separate road accidents as they travelled from Punjab and Delhi states to participate in the protests.
\nHowever, farmer leader Darshan Pal said the \u201cnumber of dead could be as high as 35\u201d. He said they died in the struggle against the \u201cblack [farm] laws\u201d which farmers say will erode their incomes and help big corporations.
\nAt least five farmers died in accidents on their way to join the protests, said Ashutosh Mishra, spokesman for the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee.
\nThe farmers, many in their sixties or above, have been braving North India\u2019s harsh winter to camp out in the open with their tractors and trailers parked bumper to bumper.
\nCold wave conditions sweeping across northern India with temperatures plummeting to three to four degrees Celsius (37-39 degrees Fahrenheit) at night have made the situation worse, Mishra said.
\nTens of thousands of farmers, largely from Punjab and Haryana, have been parked on various highways on New Delhi\u2019s borders since the end of November demanding the rollback of the new laws aimed at loosening rules on the pricing, storage and marketing of crops.
\nFarmers fear private companies would eventually dictate terms and the government would stop buying grains like wheat and rice from them at a minimum guaranteed price.
\nModi on Friday defended the laws and invited the protesting farmers for more talks, despite several negotiations failing to break the standoff.
\nAfter a series of previous meetings with Modi\u2019s ministers, the protesters have said that nothing short of an official annulment of the three laws will be enough to change their position.
\nOn Friday, in online remarks to farmers of the country\u2019s biggest wheat-producing state, Madhya Pradesh, Modi said there should be no cause for concern and repeated the government\u2019s position that farmers would be assured of a price.
\n\u201cThe modern facilities available to the farmers of major nations should also be available for those from India, it cannot be delayed any longer,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cStill, if anyone has any apprehension, and in the interest of the farmers of the country and to address their concerns, we are very humbly ready to talk on every issue.\u201d
\nRakesh Tikait, a farmers leader, said after Modi\u2019s speech the prime minister was trying to privatise agriculture to benefit companies and not them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
25 farmers have died since November 26 when tens of thousands of farmers began demonstrations against three farm laws passed TLTP NEW DELHI At least 25 people have died, several of them due to the biting cold weather, during the three-week protest by farmers on the Indian capital\u2019s borders, police said, as Prime Minister Narendra […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n