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

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 hospitalNewswire 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 immediatelyKashyap said he was told that the farmer had a loanrelated issue which would be addressed soonBhartiya 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 bankBrijpal is a native of Jitpur Ghari village of Muzaffarnagar districtBKU 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 PunjabHundreds 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 priceIn Ghaziabad farmers staged a sitin at the call of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait under the leadership of district president Bijendra SinghAddressing the gathering Bijendra Singh said that the farmers were forced to demonstrate by the government which is not paying heed to their demand of MSPFarmers there handed over a 15point memorandum to the administration addressed to President Droupadi MurmuThe memorandum carried 15 demands of farmers including a check on inflation relaxation in railway fare for senior citizens and free educationKavinagar ACP Abhishek Srivastav said that to prevent any untoward incident sufficient force was deployed inside and outside the collectorateBKU 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 electionsFarmers in Meerut on Wednesday took out a tractor march to reach the collectorateAhead of their march authorities set up barriers at several places to prevent farmers from reaching the collectors office but they were removed by the agitatorsPutting 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 DelhiTikait attacked the Centre saying the BJPled government is only for industrialists If it were a farmers government a law guaranteeing MSP would have come into forceHe said that on Thursday a meeting of Samyukt Kisan Morcha SKM would be held to deliberate on the future course of the farmers agitationBKUs district head Anurag Chaudhary said that barricades were put in three places to stop farmers but they still reached the collectorateIn Baghpat also farmers took out tractor rallies and reached district headquarters at the SKMs callDistrict BKU President Pratap Gurjar said that if their demands are not met they will go for an indefinite sitin and announce support to farmers of Punjab With inputs from PTI