Farmers who commit suicide are cowards, criminals, says Haryana minister OP Dhankar
Chandigarh: Even as suicides by farmers’ are on rise and the issue has caught national attention, a minister in Haryana government has put his foot solidaly in his mouth by declaring these farmers were cowards’.
Haryana Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar on Tuesday said, “Suicide is a crime as per Indian law.”
"Any person who commits suicide escapes from his responsibilities and leaves the burden on his wife and innocent children and such people are cowards," Dhankar, who earlier headed the BJP's Kisan Cell, said.
Asked about compensation to kin of farmers who committed suicide, the Minister said, "An institution like government cannot stand behind cowards (those committing suicides) and cannot be with a criminal."
Read: Too close to home: Rajasthan farmer commits suicide at AAP's land bill rally in Delhi
The Congress slammed the Minister's "insensitive" remarks and demanded that he be sacked. The issue also echoed in Parliament with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi citing it to attack the ruling BJP.
"Your minister in Haryana now says that farmers who commit suicide are cowards. You did not help them when their crops were affected by hailstorm, the farmers bore it. You ended their bonus, they bore it. You did not give them fertilisers, they were lathicharged, but they bore it and now their produce is lying in the markets," Gandhi said in Lok Sabha.
Attacking Manohar Lal Khattar government, Haryana Congress President Ashok Tanwar said, "This shows the insensitive mindset of the BJP Government towards the farmers. Will the Khattar government wake up from its deep slumber or will it wait till more farmers end their lives."
Despite the uproar, Dhankar on Wednesday defended his remarks saying the issue of farmer suicides was "hype" and "motivated". He also referred to the alleged suicide by a farmer Gajendra Singh at an AAP rally in Delhi.
Read: No one killed Gajendra Singh?
The Haryana government, in its special girdawari report till April 22, has assessed crop damage to over 13 lakh acres in the state because of untimely rains and hailstorm.
Out of which, 3.17 lakh acres was hit with crop loss between 76 and 100 per cent, 1.92 lakh acres with crop loss between 51 and 75 per cent and 8.24 lakh acres between 25 and 50 per cent.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had on Tuesday announced compensation of Rs 1,092 crore to farmers affected by inclement weather conditions, to be disbursed by May 15.
Of the total amount, Rs 720 crore will be provided by the Centre while the rest will be given by the state government, he said.
Opinion: The politics of suicide
Khattar alleged that just Rs 18 crore was disbursed among farmers in year 2011-12 followed by Rs 47 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 95 crore in 2013-14.
"In 2014-15, Rs 243 crore was given to farmers after we (BJP) came to power. We released Rs 22 crore for crop loss in September 2013 and Rs 97 crore for the loss in March 2014 after coming to power.
"There had been delay of two years in disbursing compensation amount to affected farmers," he said.
"During the previous regime, compensation was not released even by concerned deputy commissioners. So you can very well imagine what would have been the kind of governance at that time," he told reporters.
Read: Police seek to reconstruct last 24-hours of farmer Gajendra Singh's life
Asked to comment on giving compensation to families of farmers who had allegedly committed suicide because of crop loss, Khattar said it was very difficult to find the actual reasons behind anyone taking this extreme step.
"It is always painful if somebody dies. It is difficult to know the reasons of one committing suicide which may be because of old debt, poor financial condition," he said.
