25,000 Mathura farmers seek President's permission to hang themselves on August 15

LUCKNOW: Around 25,000 farmers in Mathura have sought permission from President Pranab Mukherjee to commit suicide on August 15 after a 17-year-long struggle to get compensation from the government.

What looks to be a new trend, the development comes a day after 70 Vyapam scam accused lodged in Gwalior, around 175 kms from Mathura, raised a similar demand, citing judicial disparity.

Demanding compensation against 700 acre of their lands which got submerged after construction of Gokul Barrage without their consent, the farmers from 11 villages of the district had been agitating since 1998 when the gates of the barrage were shut on the pretext of a test being undertaken and their land went under the water.

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, an off-shoot of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, took their cause and the agitating farmers even faced bullets in November 2014 but nothing has happened so far, sangh state general secretary Kunwar Nishad said. "In February this year, when the farmers sat on dharna, officials had promised to sort out the matter in one month but the promise was never fulfilled," Nishad said, adding "On the contrary, several protesters were falsely implicated for loot and dacoity."

Seeing no hope, now the villagers under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh sent a letter to the President on Saturday seeking permission to commit suicide by hanging. According the government officials' valuation, 25,000 farmers should get around Rs 800 crore as compensation for around 700 acres of land, Nishad said and added "however, despite several assurances and the matter being raked up in Parliament, the state government continues to turn a blind eye to the sufferings of these farmers."