Posted on 04/15/2009 11:37:03 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Over 1,500 farmers in an Indian state committed suicide after being driven to debt by crop failure, it was reported today.
The agricultural state of Chattisgarh was hit by falling water levels.
"The water level has gone down below 250 feet here. It used to be at 40 feet a few years ago," Shatrughan Sahu, a villager in one of the districts, told Down To Earth magazine
"Most of the farmers here are indebted and only God can save the ones who do not have a bore well."
Mr Sahu lives in a district that recorded 206 farmer suicides last year. Police records for the district add that many deaths occur due to debt and economic distress.
In another village nearby, Beturam Sahu, who owned two acres of land was among those who committed suicide. His crop is yet to be harvested, but his son Lakhnu left to take up a job as a manual labourer.
His family must repay a debt of £400 and the crop this year is poor.
"The crop is so bad this year that we will not even be able to save any seeds," said Lakhnu's friend Santosh. "There were no rains at all."
"That's why Lakhnu left even before harvesting the crop. There is nothing left to harvest in his land this time. He is worried how he will repay these loans."
Bharatendu Prakash, from the Organic Farming Association of India, told the Press Association: "Farmers' suicides are increasing due to a vicious circle created by money lenders. They lure farmers to take money but when the crops fail, they are left with no option other than death."
Mr Prakash added that the government ought to take up the cause of the poor farmers just as they fight for a strong economy.
"Development should be for all. The government blames us for being against development. Forest area is depleting and dams are constructed without proper planning.
All this contributes to dipping water levels. Farmers should be taken into consideration when planning policies," he said.
Hooray, Portugal!
I like your term “hopeychangey “. I will use it, and the’s nothing you can do about it.
What does the the red area have in common?
Good point. thank you.
More than 40,000 Americans die on the road every year, all needlessly (we could live without cars), and no one cares. By comparison, we lost something like 50,000 during the entire Vietnam War.
I don’t get it.
Please excuse display of ignorance, but how did this all come about? Who came up with the idea? Who organized it? Chattisgarh is a fairly large state Did someone -- or some group -- travel throughout the state looking for and/or convincing participants in this? How is it that no one in any sort of authority, even a local school teacher, didn't get wind of this and report it? B/c they kept it a secret? All 1,500 + their families? All of them? It would be on the scale of someone traveling around Nebraska trying to convince 1,500 farmers to commit suicide all at once. And how did these Indian farmers do it:"All together now...One...Two..."
It's a nonsensical article, with absolutely no attempt to even pretend to validate the figure given in the first sentence.
120,000 midgets had an earache.
They didn’t do it all at once lol
Why are people in CUBA committing suicide? They have free healthcare and all.....................
Like I said, the whole article is based on journalistic word-play. They are making it sound as if it was one of those Jonestown-esque mass-suicides.
Comparative statistics:
IIRC, that photo was of a train carrying refugees from Bangladesh into India, during the Bangladesh War in 1971.
Mr Prakash added that the government ought to take up the cause of the poor farmers just as they fight for a strong economy.
Usury and bankruptcy laws sound like a good idea.
Looking at the entire map, I'd say that religious beliefs play a large role.
Alos, 1500 people out of a billion is not a very large number to be freaking out about. More people die than that in the USA from slips and falls at home. And they didn’t happen all at once, desapite how some people want to read it into the story.
I don’t hink the Japanese, Iranians and Spanish share much religious parity.
“I like your term hopeychangey . I will use it, and thes nothing you can do about it.”
LOL! Not a problem, since I “borrowed” the term from another FReeper.
You’re right. Their lives were meaningless. Sorry to have interrupted your ball game.
Materialism + lack of sincere Christian belief = hopelessness —> suicide
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