From holding skulls to biting mice, Tamil Nadu farmers protest in unique ways to draw Centre’s attention

They began their protest with skulls of what they claimed farmers who died in the severe drought that has gripped the state

By: News Desk |
April 6, 2017 11:28 am

Tamil Nadu farmers who are at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for over three weeks now are staging different kind of protests to draw the attention of the central government. The farmers are demanding a loan waiver, relief package of of Rs 40,000 crore from the Centre and setting up of Cauvery Management Board.

They began their protest with skulls of what they claimed farmers who died in the severe drought that has gripped the state. Later, they also held up live rats to their mouth just to indicate that they have depend on rodents due to unavailability of food. Last Sunday they took the protest further and shaved their head to get noticed by Centre.

However, with no response from government, they came up with the latest form of protest on Wednesday-an ‘angapradakshinam’, where men and women roll on the floor around the place of worship aided by attendants, also considered one of the greatest form of devotion in South India.

Over 10 men and one woman, many among them elderly, their legs tied with coil, struggled to get through half a kilometre at Jantar Mantar, reported Indian Express. Attendants stood up on either side with green clothes to save them from harsh sun. The farmers were shouting call out slogans to Tamil Nadu Chief minister E K Palanisami and asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to show up. “Modiji, Jantar Mantar aao ji.”

The protest site has also seen some high-profile visits . When protest began actor Prakash Raj and Vishal joined them to show their support. Last Friday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi met the protesters. On Saturday, DMK working president M K Stalin also marked his presence. On Tuesday, 40 members from the Tamil Nadu chapter of AAP joined them.