Indian Farmer Commits Suicide to Protest Land Reform

A farmer in India committed suicide in order to protest a land policy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to put into law.

The New York Times reports that the protester climbed a tree and hung himself with a white scarf in full view of a protest against the new land policy that was taking place in western India's Rajasthan State.

Not much is known about the man who killed himself, but a note that was found on his body after it was taken down from the tree was signed by Gajender Singh. In the note he lamented the fact his crops had failed and he had a family to support.

The legislation that Singh was protesting would have made it easier for corporations and the government to take control of land for industrial endeavors. Opposition to the law has also grown because of unseasonably heavy rains that have wiped out entire crops, leaving many without anything to support themselves or their families.

The death so galvanized public opinion that Modi himself tweeted out condolences and said that farmers should never feel as if the state has neglected him. Opposition political parties used the death to lambast Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party. They called Modi and BJP the party of corporation and economic elites.

Opposition political parties also targeted the police by saying that they did not do enough to try and stop Singh from climbing the tree, or act swiftly enough to try and save his life once it became apparent that he intended to commit suicide.