Friends, I am the son of a farmer. My father threw me out of the house after my crops were destroyed by the rain. I have three children. Friends, I am from Nangal Village in Rajasthan’s Dausa district. Tell me, how can I go back homeIJ Jai Jawan. Jai Kisan. Gajendra Singh Kalyan. These are a few lines in Hindi penned down on a crumpled piece of paper which Gajendra Singh Kalyan threw at a TV journalist before hanging himself from a neem tree in full public view at Jantar Mantar in the national Capital on Wednesday afternoon.
What is more shocking is that the incident took place in front of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and other senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, who were demonstrating barely 20 metres away from the spot. Ironically they were holding a farmers rally against the Central Government’s land Bill, when the incident took place. But in a remarkable show of apathy, apart from senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas and a handful of AAP supporters making an appeal to him not to take the extreme step and asking the police to rescue Kalyan, one did anything concrete to stop the man from committing suicide.
Not only this, there were hundreds of guest teachers protesting under the same tree demanding permanent jobs from the city administration. The police had thrown a strong cordon around the guest teachers in order to prevent them from disrupting the AAP rally. There were fire brigade personnel, as well as a large number of media persons who had gone there to cover the event. But no one lifted a finger to stop the man from jumping to his death.
Incidentally, Gajendra Singh Kalyan was not just an ordinary farmer, he was also a social and political activist. He joined the BJP in 2003 but later shifted to the SP on which ticket he abortively fought Assembly election in 2013. later, he joined the AAP. Kalyan, a well advertised turban trader, had a website named http://jaipurisaffe.com.
The unfortunate death of Kalyan at Jantar Mantar not only exposes the indifference of society at large, but also the hollowness of AAP’s claims of sympathy for the plight of farmers. All the top AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, lok Sabha MP Bhagwant Mann, Sanjay Singh, Kumar Vishwas, Ashish Khetan, were present on the stage when the man committed suicide.
Even as Kalyan fell to his death, Arvind Kejriwal and Kumar Vishwas kept on speaking. None of them even bothered to provide help to Kalyan who was dying before their very eyes. Kejriwal even went on to brand Kalyan as a BJP agent. In fact, the AAP continued with the rally as if nothing had happened and its top leaders continued addressing the gathering.
The drama began at about 12.30 pm when the 41-year-old Kalyan, wearing a colourful Rajasthani turban and carrying a broom in his hand, scaled the 15 meter tall tree at Jantar Mantar. When the AAP leaders were raising slogans like ‘Vande Mataram,’ he was responding in equal measure. When the loudspeakers were blaring “Jai Jawan”, he was heard shouting “Jai Kisan.” Witnesses said that in between he was even heard shouting slogans like “Har, har, Modi, ghar, ghar Modi.”
As Kalyan was shouting slogans in favour of Prime Minister Modi, there was reportedly a feeling among the AAP leaders that he could be a BJP supporter who along with the guest teachers had come to disrupt their demonstration. “That could be one of the reasons why no AAP leader intervened,” a youth activist told The Pioneer.
Around 2 pm, Kalyan tied one end of his muffler around his neck and the other to the tree. Then, as he opened his arms and went into free fall there was chaos all over as the people finally grasped his intent. Three AAP volunteers climbed the tree in a bid to save the man but it was too late by then. His tongue was already protruding and there was froth all over his mouth. By the time, he could be brought down, it was all over. Reacting belatedly, the policemen rushed him to Ram Manohar lohia Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
While all this was going on at Jantar Mantar, the AAP leaders did not leave the stage to check for themselves the condition of the man. First Sanjay Singh, then Sisodia and finally Kejriwal himself continued long speeches on the land Acquisition Bill. The speeches of the AAP leaders went on for over an hour after the tragic incident. All that the Delhi CM had to say about the tragedy was: “He (victim) did so to gain media attention. But whatever has happened is very painful.”
AAP leaders alleged that it was an attempt to “sabotage” the rally and accused the police of being “mute spectators”. Kejriwal said, “We kept asking the police to bring him down. Police may not be in our control but at least there should be a semblance of humanity among them.” Once news spread that Kalyan was no more, Kejriwal immediately rushed to the hospital. As the incident sent shock waves across the nation, the AAP and Delhi Police blamed each other for the tragedy. Efforts were made to pass the buck as Delhi Police officers said that it was the job of Delhi Fire Service and they were too occupied with the security arrangements.
The organiser cannot escape the blame too, a senior police officer said. Meanwhile New Delhi district police has registered a case under Section 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 304 A, (death due to negligence) and 306 (abetment to suicide), of the IPC. The case has been transferred to the Delhi Police Crime Branch. His body was later sent to lady Hardinge Hospital for post mortem. Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi and ordered a probe into the incident.