Farmer kills self at AAP rally against land ordinance

New Delhi, April 22, 2015: A farmer from Rajasthan, his crops ruined by rains, hanged himself from a tree at an AAP rally here on Wednesday just before Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressed thousands against the controversial land ordinance. The dramatic death of Gajendra Singh, a father of three, immediately turned into a political drama, with the Aam Aadmi Party blaming Delhi Police and the BJP and the Congress attacking Kejriwal and the AAP. Shortly after doctors at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital declared the man dead, Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Delhi Police, which reports to him, to hold an inquiry into the death. The sensational incident took place at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the city where thousands from Delhi and other states had turned up to denounce the land bill at a mass meeting called by the AAP. Three AAP activists who saw the man hanging climbed the tree and tried to bring him down. But as they untied the scarf the farmer had tied to a tree branch to hang himself, his body fell with a loud thud. As chaos gripped the venue, an IANS reporter at the site saw that the man was barely breathing. His tongue was protruding. One of the AAP activists who had climbed the tree fainted on the branch. Others then clambered up and brought him down after sprinkling water on his face. A suicide note in Hindi found at the spot said the man was taking his life because untimely rains had destroyed his crops and ruined him. He ended the note with "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Rajasthan". As emotionally charged AAP activists raised anti-police slogans, the man was rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where he was declared dead. Kejriwal was told of the incident -- it wasn't clear then whether the man was alive or dead -- by some volunteers on the dias. Thinking that the man was probably alive, the chief minister said he would call on him affer the rally.