Farmer suicide at AAP rally: Everyone to blame

Let's start with what I want to stress in this piece: Let's blame not just the AAP for Wednesday's farmer suicide but also the Delhi Police, the crowd at the rally, the Narendra Modi government, the Congress, the media and last but not the least, the System!

At least till the time conspiracy theories remain just theories and are not established as facts.

The sight of an innocent looking Gajendra Singh sitting atop a tree almost moved me to tears when we all realised why he did what he did. The 'suicide note' bared it all. Crop damage, poverty, being disowned by father, responsibility of three children, were possibly the factors that forced him to commit suicide in the heart of the national capital, at a place where many a movements have been launched to jolt the national conscience. The AAP / India Against Corruption, was one such movement.

Coming to the point, Gajendra Singh could have been saved. Eyewitness accounts of common people and reporters have detailed how everyone at the Aam Aadmi Party's rally at Jantar Mantar failed.

The first to be blamed should be the Delhi Police. It was their duty to maintain order at the rally and not let people climb trees, less so to let them sit there for hours. One report even quotes an unnamed police personnel as saying, "let him die". Shame!

As regards AAP, I won't hold the party and its leadership entirely responsible for what happened yesterday, for they too are humans and to expect them to know in advance that Gajendra was going to commit suicide is wrong. News reports clearly detail that as soon as everyone at the rally realised the intentions of the farmer from Rajasthan's Dausa, the AAP leadership tried to talk to the agitated man (though from a distance), asked him to come down, asked police to bring the man down, and suspended the rally for a brief period.

Yes, like police they too acted late and could have done much more to save Gajendra. The AAP leadership, including Arvind Kejriwal, could have approached the farmer and coaxed him into climbing down. But that didn't happen. However, isn't it the first reaction of everyone of us to first seek police's help before jumping into the situation, when the cops are present at the site. After all, police are there to protect us.

I am not saying police did not save Gajendra intentionally, but they could have employed standard operating procedures to save the man. As per one report, a fire tender and an ambulance were standing by at the rally venue.

AAP's biggest mistake was to go ahead with the rally and speeches after what happened. They, at that point of time, were not aware of Gajendra's condition like all of us as he was being taken to a hospital in a PCR (not ambulance!), but the least they could have done is to end the rally against Land Acquisition Ordinance then and there. They could have been sensitive. But, they did not and deserve the criticism. Period.

The Narendra Modi government is to be blamed for they are in power and are equally responsible like any state government for every single farmer suicide, whether in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal or in New Delhi.

The Congress too is equally responsible. They can't just blame the Modi government. They have been in power for most part of independent India and have not been able to curb farmer suicides despite doling out crores worth of relief.

The media present at the rally could also have chosen to show its humane face. Instead of looking for breaking news, the media personnel could have forced the police into acting. They could have also highlighted the incident live on TV well in advance thereby forcing authorities, including police, to act and save the farmer.

The system, which consists of all of us, automatically becomes responsible when all its constituents fail. We all have become immune to such deaths to the extent that unless something like this happens in full media glare in the heart of the capital, we are not jolted from inside. For us and the media, it just becomes another news point.

I am sure we will be watching Gajendra's family on national TV in the days to come. But, will we have answers to the questions if they choose to ask? Like the one asked by Gajendra in his 'suicide note': "Tell me how should I go back home?" In the end, he chose not to...