farmer suicide at AAP rally - thousands watching ~a National shame !!

Gajendra Singh Rathore climbed to a tree and died while thousands watched - could it not have been prevented ?   It is sad ! it is National shame !! – and those doing politics with dead bodies must be kept out of all levels of administration !!!

Suicide (Latin suicidium, from sui caedere, "to kill oneself") is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair, the cause of which can be attributed to a mental disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse. Stress factors such as financial difficulties or troubles with interpersonal relationships often play a significant role.

In the metropolis of Chennai, there have been news of people jumping to death from the river bridge; jumping before train; getting drowned in Sea and many other forms.……. very sad to hear such stories.  Suicide is no end solution ~ it is cowardice, one tends to say…. But sometimes, the perpetrator is pushed to the end, and gives up one’s life, extremely frustrated and not knowing what to do ~ while few do it in a fit of rage, unable to rein in tempers. Whatever be the reason, there can never be a justification for putting an end to human life by self. May be the committer goes scot free but his family lives in penury thereafter ~ undergoing more harrows than even before.

India’s backbone is villages and it is sad to hear of the plight of the agrarian. It has happened to the Vidarbha farmers; those in drought hit regions of Andhra; in the ricebelt of Tamilnadu – and perhaps it is a National curse, as farmers from Rajasthan too are finding life difficult as debts mount and produce not happening.

More sad to read that it is not debt-ridden or stress-stricken people – there are some who are so much attached to parties, leaders and ideologies – that they seek to end their life for the cause !! of others – thereby imperilling their own family – leaders may issue statements, nothing much occurs after that.  In politics there have been occasions when cadres have ended their lives over happening of some event – and in a shortwhile their leaders will happily align back to the same party or be happy with those erstwhile rivals !! people reacting so emotionally has been a bane of Tamilnadu. 

There have been reports that in view of drastic rise in suicides by jumping off bridges in 2013, Chennai Corporation began increasing the height of parapet walls of these facilities.  Corporation officials said police requested them to raise the parapet wall of the bridge to deter suicide attempts; it occurred to me that  raising of the height of the bridge – can perhaps stop accidental falls, but never intentional suicide…………..

The incident at AAP rally in New Delhi is heart-rending. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated that he was "deeply shattered" and "disappointed" over the suicide committed by a farmer here and told the farming community not to consider themselves alone.

The death of Gajendra Singh, 40, triggered a political row because even after he was brought down from the tree, AAP just continued the speeches ! Kejriwal said, "We kept asking the police to bring him down. Police may not be in our control but at least there should be a semblance of humanity among them!!! – simple blame game !!

Ten thousand people, including the Chief Minister of Delhi, his entire cabinet and their security guards, members of media and dozens of policemen couldn't save the life of a man in the heart of the capital of India at an event being telecast live to millions of viewers.  Firstpost writes that “Nobody bothered, nobody cared. The show went on; only a life came to an end.”  As rightly stated, If this isn't a national shame, a collective failure and a blot on our collective conscience, Gajendra Singh Rajput lost his life in vain.

Predictably, collective hand-wringing has started, politicians in their crisp linen shirts with Chinese collars and starched kurtas have begun beating their breasts, blaming their rivals and visiting hospitals, outrage in TV studios will follow, and for a few angry hours tweeple will throw hashtags at each other. For a few days, a week if he is lucky, Rajput’s death will be talked about; his live suicide would be compared with Peepli Live's Naththa or Rajeev Goswami, who set himself ablaze to protest the Mandal Commission recommendations. And then the tragedy vampirism of politicians, media and their followers will end.

TOI reports that initially a speaker asked the people not to get distracted and be tuned to the speeches of leaders.  For the past one month, the local media has been continuously writing about the damage to crops in Rajasthan due to unseasonal rain and hailstorm in March.  The man reportedly an AAP supporter, a farmer from Rajasthan came all the way from his place even as his relatives were waiting for him to attend relative’s marriage.   

When such a sad event is taking place should not the speeches be stopped and somebody tried rescue act, rather can capturing everything on camera and blaming everybody else ! – people can escape  legal but not  moral culpability for this political homicide.

Pagri ~the turban is the connection.  The person who died in the rally was an expert in tying the Rajasthani turban and had tied it to many VIPs  including  Bill Clinton, Atal Vajpayee, Rajnath Singh ..... Gajendra Singh Rathore is no more - died as the Nation was watching !!

With sadness- S. Sampathkumar

23^rd Apr 2015.