‘Shavasana’ becomes farmers’ protest tool

A farm crisis sweeping several states left its mark on the International Yoga Day celebrations as several farmer leaders used the occasion to send a message about the agricultural distress.

Farmers and MP Congress leaders performed ‘shavasana’ (a corpse pose) in different programmes to protest against CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whom they hold responsible for the death of five farmers in police firing in Mandsaur district.

A farmer Ramesh Patel from Raisen district, said, “Under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, farmers are getting a raw deal. Poor policing and wrong policies of state government led to killing of six farmers in Mandsaur, and the same policies are also compelling farmers to commit suicide.”

A farmer from Bhind, Sumer Singh said, “We wanted to make the government understand the plight of farmers. If government doesn’t act properly to help farmers, they will continue to end their lives and government will see their ‘shav’ (dead body) everywhere in state.”

In Uttar Pradesh, where CM Adityanath approved a loan waiver earlier , hundreds of farmers blocked roads and highways to perform shavasana.

“We selected ‘shavasana’ because we wanted to show the government that farmers are reduced to a dead body. Farmers don’t deserve bullets if they demand good rates for their produce or waiver in loans,” said Bharatiya Kisan Union’s general secretary Alok Varma.

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis performed yoga with 600 farmer’s children todrivehomeamessage that all’s well between farmers and his government.