Farmer sets himself on fire in UP's Muzaffarnagar during protest, rushed to hospital

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A farmer tried to kill himself by setting himself ablaze near a dharna site in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday. The fire was doused in time by the fellow protesters and he was rushed to a local hospital.

Newswire PTI reported quoting City Magistrate Vikash Kashyap, who visited the hospital, that the farmer, Brijpal, received minor burn injuries on face and was tended to immediately.

Kashyap said he was told that the farmer had a loan-related issue which would be addressed soon.

Bhartiya Kisan Union district president Yogesh Sharma said Brijpal tried to commit suicide because he was not getting any solution to his problem and was worried about getting a notice from the Punjab National Bank despite never getting a loan from that bank.

Brijpal is a native of Jitpur Ghari village of Muzaffarnagar district.

BKU leader Naresh Tikait, addressing farmers at a gathering at the Muzaffarnagar collectorate, asked his supporters to participate in a tractor march on February 26 and 27 to condemn atrocities on their counterparts from Haryana and Punjab.

Hundreds of farmers from across districts staged a dharna at the collectorate in Muzaffarnagar. Naresh Tikait later gave a memorandum of the farmers' demands to the district magistrate, to be sent to the President of India .

Farmers have been demanding a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, withdrawal of police cases against fellow agitators, justice for the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence, and a raise in sugar cane price.

In Ghaziabad, farmers staged a sit-in at the call of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait under the leadership of district president Bijendra Singh.

Addressing the gathering, Bijendra Singh said that the farmers were forced to demonstrate by the government which is not paying heed to their demand of MSP.

Farmers there handed over a 15-point memorandum to the administration, addressed to President Droupadi Murmu.

The memorandum carried 15 demands of farmers, including a check on inflation, relaxation in railway fare for senior citizens, and free education.

Kavinagar ACP Abhishek Srivastav said that to prevent any untoward incident, sufficient force was deployed inside and outside the collectorate.

BKU National Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait in Meerut said that if the government does not allow farmers to go to Delhi, the farmers also will not let them enter their villages during elections.

Farmers in Meerut on Wednesday took out a tractor march to reach the collectorate.

Ahead of their march, authorities set up barriers at several places to prevent farmers from reaching the collector's office, but they were removed by the agitators.

"Putting nails on the road is not justified. If they put nails on our way, we will also do the same in our villages. We also have to barricade our villages. If they are not allowing us to reach Delhi, we will not let them enter our villages," Tikait told reporters when asked about obstacles, such as iron nails, being laid on roads to prevent farmers from reaching Delhi.

Tikait attacked the Centre saying the BJP-led government is only for industrialists. "If it were a farmers' government, a law guaranteeing MSP would have come into force."

He said that on Thursday a meeting of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) would be held to deliberate on the future course of the farmers' agitation.

BKU's district head Anurag Chaudhary said that barricades were put in three places to stop farmers, but they still reached the collectorate.

In Baghpat also, farmers took out tractor rallies and reached district headquarters at the SKM's call.

District BKU President Pratap Gurjar said that if their demands are not met, they will go for an indefinite sit-in and announce support to farmers of Punjab. (With inputs from PTI)