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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Manika Kaur, a Sikh devotional singer songwriter

Good Morning.

The worldwide suicide rate yearly is about 800,000 and of that, around 135,000 are residents of India. The most vulnerable group are the Indian farmers with 35 daily suicides in Punjab alone.

In September of 2020 the Indian government passed three new farm laws that many see as serving corporate interests instead of protecting the farmers. This led to a peaceful protest that saw farmers in every state march towards Delhi in the hundreds of thousands.

Thankfully celebrities and activists like Rihanna and Greta Thunberg took to their social media to speak out for the farmers, a large number of which are elderly.
Young activists have been affected too. The Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the Haryana state police to explain the illegal confinement of a young Indian female activist, Nodeep Kaur after the chief justice received emails alleging torture in custody. Millions have supported the farmers.

The farmers protest continues to grow with more farmers joining the cause, choosing to brave out extreme conditions, India’s covid variant and death rather than returning home to – according to Indian opposition parties - an inevitable death sentence.

Creator of the universe, protector of the weak, grant us the patience to listen to other people’s pain, to look at their suffering instead of looking away. To be a voice for the oppressed and strength in their times of weakness. May we look upon all of humanity with compassion so that we can better serve all creation.

Waheguru