Ask please why are farmers killing themselves
Gajendra Singh has died. He has been cremated. The story, of course, does not end here. It should not end there. But the story that is playing out after he died hanging from a tree during an Aam Aadmi Party rally at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on April 22 is somewhat bizarre. Who killed Singh? Who should have done what? Who is to blame for his death? Who is being blamed for his death; rather, who is blaming whom; rather, which politician/party is blaming which other politician/party from the opposite camp? Should Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal or Prime Minister Narendra Modi be booked under the penal code for abetting suicide?
And a few more questions. Most, though, are irrelevant. Who killed Singh, or how did he die if there was no murder, is the only relevant poser. A fair investigation will find that out, though “fairness” of a probe in India, especially those connected with any top political leader/party, is often as often to question and interpretation as the fairness cream advertisements. But still, what's gotta be done oughta be done; and that's a probe.
The Delhi Police, which is one of the country's most elite, well-equipped and respected of forces, should stop participating in this kitchen politics and banal drama over participating or not in a probe. As should the Kejriwal camp and the Delhi government. The police are probing, and the government and the party's supporters should respect that. There's little point in trying to drill home the fact that the Kejriwal government does not have control over the police at every opportune moment; the government has to work for it. And neither Kejriwal, nor his government nor indeed his party's volunteers have shown the maturity required of handling a police force and taking complete care of the law and order in the national capital in the 100-odd days AAP has been in power, both terms included. Kejriwal and his followers have to work more, and through that eventually work towards that demand.
Similarly, there's little point in the Delhi Police — or indeed the Union home ministry under Rajnath Singh, which appears to have its own inane axe to grind in this death — saying they will not take part in a parallel probe. History knows police investigations can go wrong, in all states, and for a variety of reasons — inefficiency, incompetence, lack of equipment, pressure (political or otherwise) or plain-vanilla ill or lack of will. So a parallel or second probe never hurts if the ultimate aim is to establish the truth. And that's the investigation bit of the story — to be followed by the girls and guys covering the “crime beat” as Konkona Sen Sharma's character in the film Page 3 had reminded us.
But a slightly bigger question to be followed up — by not only the media but the politicians, party supporters and volunteers and party fan boys and fan girls on social media — is the one Gajendra Singh had presumably tried to raise with his presence in the rally at Jantar Mantar. The plight of farmers. And it is here that the questions in bigger font size should be asked, because the issue is not just Gajendra Singh's death but those of many, many others:
Why are the farmers killing themselves?
What can be done to cut out this debt trap tens of hundreds of the marginal farmers across India find themselves in?
In the absence of dependable rain and other infrastructure, how can there be a better irrigation system across the country, better procurement system for their crops, better supply network, better bank loan facilities, better protection against crop failure?
And a hundred related questions. Because, unless those questions are asked — and asked religiously, in all seriousness — and answers sought and followed up, there would be many, many more Gajendra Singhs in the next few months. They might or might not die at political rally venues, but die they sure will. And cut out that sad face and sentiment, and keep your condolences to yourself, when they occur if below-normal rain, as forecast, leads to droughts in many parts.