1,500 farmers commit mass suicide in India
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Google
Stumble Upon
Fark
Newsvine
YahooBuzz
Bebo
Twitter
Independent Minds
Over 1,500 farmers in an Indian state committed suicide after being driven to debt by crop failure, it was reported today.
The agricultural state of Chattisgarh was hit by falling water levels.
"The water level has gone down below 250 feet here. It used to be at 40 feet a few years ago," Shatrughan Sahu, a villager in one of the districts, told Down To Earth magazine
"Most of the farmers here are indebted and only God can save the ones who do not have a bore well."
Mr Sahu lives in a district that recorded 206 farmer suicides last year. Police records for the district add that many deaths occur due to debt and economic distress.
In another village nearby, Beturam Sahu, who owned two acres of land was among those who committed suicide. His crop is yet to be harvested, but his son Lakhnu left to take up a job as a manual labourer.
His family must repay a debt of £400 and the crop this year is poor.
"The crop is so bad this year that we will not even be able to save any seeds," said Lakhnu's friend Santosh. "There were no rains at all."
"That's why Lakhnu left even before harvesting the crop. There is nothing left to harvest in his land this time. He is worried how he will repay these loans."
Bharatendu Prakash, from the Organic Farming Association of India, told the Press Association: "Farmers' suicides are increasing due to a vicious circle created by money lenders. They lure farmers to take money but when the crops fail, they are left with no option other than death."
Mr Prakash added that the government ought to take up the cause of the poor farmers just as they fight for a strong economy.
"Development should be for all. The government blames us for being against development. Forest area is depleting and dams are constructed without proper planning.
All this contributes to dipping water levels. Farmers should be taken into consideration when planning policies," he said.
This article is from The Belfast Telegraph
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.
- Print Article
- Email Article
-
Click here for copyright permissions
Copyright 2009 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
By now, if Britain was still there, apart from running it into the ground if our current lot of shysters were in place. [They are for now, and don't we know it!]
Assuming we actually had a decent government in Britain for once, then so would India.
These farmers would be employed by the state to work the land, taking a share of the profits to give them an incentive.
They wouldn't have to worry about any loan sharks and the land would most proberly be better irrigated in the first place.
I was told by an Indian gent whilst in Japan how, as much as the Indians wanted their independance they did appreciate the order and structure that was built up in India by the British, I suppose Britain was like the Romans in that respect.
The farming problems of India is something for the Indian government to sort out.
Good government in this age, over all the ages is very hard to come by.
It is rarer than gold, rarer than diamonds..... and worth more than both.
If we or any other nation ever get hold of any, they want to keep hold of it, cherish their good fortune and look after it.
Ps, hardly what I would describe as "mass suicide", even if life is so cheap in India, from their own personal valuation.
It is still a shame though, with all that personal mental anguish, they have suffered in this way.
The SHAME of the Indian government for certain.
A learned man went to visit a Zen teacher to enquire about Zen. As the zen teacher talked, the learned man frequently interrupted to express his own opinion about this or that.
Finally, the Zen teacher stopped talking and began to serve tea to the learned man. He poured the cup full, then kept puring until the cup overflowed.
"Stop," said the learned man. "The cup is full, no more can be poured in."
"Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions," replied the Zen teacher. "If you do not first empty your own cup, how can you taste my cup of tea?"
You are neither learned or open to learning. I would suggest you clean your cup out once you have emptied it, because it will be hard to scrape the dirt and tar off the bottom of it, and any other tea will always taste bitter. Peace. Love. Knowledge. Evolution... None of which you facilitate.
But all I want to say to blastarrbxiii is that the British were in India for one reason - to exploit India. All the systems, infrastructure et all that were put in place were for their benefit - not ours. And when I say no history, no culture - I am responding to my travels in Africa, Asia and Latin America. So much has been looted and now sits in the British museums.
As for doonhamer, you are exactly what disappoints me about what England is coming to and why the country is failing. You are just uneducated or very badly brought up. I feel sorry for you. But its okay - you will learn the hard way as you will end up working either for an Indian or a Chinese.
The irony is that they have been duped by a western concept of carpet bagging or slave control. One of the only western ideas that they put into practice.
Cheers!
Politically it is nothing, 1500 people--lost in a country--staggered by a billion people is hardly a reason to worry. There are over a million cases of TB, and outbreaks of dengue and malaria kill twice that number every year. Surely the author of this article has hardly scratched the surface of life in India.
Any death of a human is regrettable. You are wrong and cruel to belittle the death of 1500 people. Point out that more people die of other causes doesnt make this loss of life ok.
I would agree that they should not have taken their lives, would have been better to go to their creditors and ask for more time, failing that even go to prision for non-payment.
We have been warned about failing rains and changes in weather patterns and rising sea levels.
Need to conserve energy, reduce food wastage, introduce more renewables asap.
I would just like to say; All UK financiers/bankers/hedge fund managers please take note and do the decent thing. We wont miss you.
Exantas was a documentary that received european awards about the research and the way it covered and brought into the light stories like this one. World bank, food programs, NGOs, Genetically modified food, corporations, "Food Exchange" - as in Stock exchange,. etc, all covered in this.
Part of the documentary is in greek but it is WORTH watching it as MANY interviews are done in English!
INDIA is covered a lot into the documentary and I posted this following your article about the deaths that "occur" due to debt and economic distress.
http://bit.ly/1iSQ6q
Wow!
"Hardly what I would call 'mass suicide' even if life is so cheap in India".
"If it wasn't for the British then India would not exist".
"1500 hundred farmers committing suicide is population relief and retroactive birth control"
Seriously.You guys should be in movies. I'd say you could even convince your Mothers that you are human. I have a few scripts I'd like you to look over. Doonboy, I got a great sci fi thriller for you, "Uranus! Here we come". Blisterbollix, you'd be third in the credits but still get billing, "Dumb,Dumber,Dumbest". Ex Pat, there's a biopic in the works where I think you'd be perfect for the title role, "Linda Lovelace". If you don't feel up to starring roles there's plenty of extra spots available in,"10,000 morons under the sea".
Monsanto Corporation is interfering in traditional farming practices all over the world, by polluting the genetic make-up of cultural diversity in seeds. Monsanto promotes pesticides which cause cancer, birth defects, and the poisoning of ground water and air. Monsanto isn't mentioned in the article above. Why is that?
I also hope that the farmers of India can find a way to eliminate genetically engineered crops from their land rather than choosing to commit suicide. I might add that the article did not explain exactly what prompted these suicides beyond the crop failures. Surely it would be better to remain alive and actively seeking solutions to these problems, one would think. I also realize however that if the circumstances were more thoroughly explained, it might make more sense. Evidently these people felt there was no other way. Still, I feel certain that they would be more valuable alive than dead.
COULD INDIA DO WITHOUT '' THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE"? HORRIBLE MISTAKES WERE MADE IN THE PAST BUT THE FACT IS, THE WEATHER PATTERN IS GOING TO GET MORE CHAOTIC AND WE ARE ALL IN THE END TO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT. IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME. SO ...WE'D BETTER BE ON OUR BEST BEHAVIOUR AND PRAY THAT HUMAN NATURE ( WHICH IS PRETTY NASTY) CHANGES FOR THE BETTER. IF THAT HAPPENS, NATURE, I MEAN THE EARTH WILL BE A PARADISE ( NOT A RELIGIOUS ONE I HOPE) AND EXPECT NO MORE BRAVE ,POOR AND USEFUL FARMERS KILLING THEMSELVES FOR PEANUTS.
Charles reesink
Winnipeg, canada
How ignorant some people are when they comment " Indians wanted their independance they did appreciate the order and structure that was built up in India by the British". What such....people can't understand that one needs an infrastructure to operate. Which Britain did and drain the county more of its remaining wealth.
Britain is the biggest bain of the present world. look at the world map you'll know. You don't have to be a history major to understand such a thing.
India's social structure was hardly any reason for anything that is going on in India today. Look at the rest of the sub-continent for a while, even where places where there are no similar social structures. Pakistan, Burma, Bangladesh etc etc. What is the sort of legacy British had left behind in these countries? British exploited the social structures in these societies for their own feudalistic gains. Over 200 years of British rule, which exploited Indian agrarian sector through their friendly native counterparts, is what left the entire Indian sub-continent's farming society in such a miserable state.
The first Europeans reached India in 1498. Back then, Britain was a monarchy. Industrial revolution was still 300-400 years in the future. The Europeans were a racist society, fighting as much amongst themselves just as against the native Indian rulers, plainly motivated by selfishness and greed.
British did not create India. True, they created colonies around all parts of the world. But, then they ruled the entire Indian sub-continent. What created India was it's Nationalistic movement around the early 1900's. What British was successful in doing was dividing the sub-continent over communal lines, thus formulating an exit strategy for themselves.
On the other hand, if anything British took back from India was spirit of peace and a message of non-violence. Probably the world wars played a part in it, which was a culmination of their own mean selfish interests. The anti-imperialistic movements taught the British to look at the third world residents also as human beings.
tsg
Blame the money changers and Monsanto, Elite Corporations don't care about human life.
Know what else Elite Corporations ALLOW and PERMIT to be done in their name?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-CVRFzL
Well, it's corporations who are ruining this planet, corporate fascism and thuggery.
Filth.
Shame on all of you bigots that would blame the victims who have had seeds bred by them and their ancestors for generations stolen from them and patented by Monsanto. Bravo to Germany for banning GM corn from their country.
Shameful they don't mention that Monsanto's dirty fingerprints are all over this - the media needs to be held accountable for its lies of omission and obfuscation of real issues. They are the biggest part of the problem - all of the problems in the world. People naiively trust media to inform. They only shill these days.
RT
www.anon-tools.at.tc
With regard to suicide amongst farmers one of the main reasons for its prevalence is media coverage causing copycat suicides and the opportunity in the form of copious cans of weed killer.
Monsanto may be responsible in some cases. In others, such as the case of chili farmers who borrowed when the price of chili was high only to find it fall as a result of overproduction blame is more spread out.
What is clear is that the globalized market that sent so many small farmers down the road to ruin of producing cash crops, has done almost nothing to help India's poor.