Baghpat: Shoe trader Rajiv Tomar, 42, seemed almost jocular at first during his Facebook Live appearance Tuesday afternoon. “Sit down for two minutes,” he told his wife in Hindi. “You at least can listen to me, even if the government doesn’t.” Within seconds, Tomar’s mood changed from mere exasperation to suicidal despair.
A clip of the FB Live, which went viral Wednesday, shows Tomar opening a sachet and consuming what looks like a powder, while his distraught wife begs him to spit it out.
“Modi mere maut ka zimedar padega (Modi is responsible for my death),” he said, as his wife jostled with him at his shop in Baraut in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh. “I am not a traitor. I have faith in my nation. This government is not a well-wisher of small farmers and shopkeepers,” Tomar said, sweating.
Even later, when the trader was being taken to hospital, he apparently continued to voice his bitterness towards the political establishment. “Yahan kuch nahin rakha, bas bhashan de rahe hain. Kisi ka kuch nahin hone wala (Nobody will get anything, they just keep giving lectures),” he is believed to have said, according to an eyewitness who has a shop near Tomar’s. Tragically, his wife Poonam, too, consumed poison when she failed to get her husband to egest whatever he had taken.
The couple, who are parents to two sons aged 14 and 12, were admitted to Baraut’s Medicity hospital, where Poonam passed away hours later. Rajiv is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and in stable condition, according to doctors.
The public suicide attempt has shocked the community, but there were warning signs that Tomar was in a downward spiral.
In another Facebook video posted on 7 February, Tomar shared that he was going through a rough phase as his business had been shuttered for a couple of months. “They forgot the small farmers, shopkeepers, traders. This is not even an election issue these days. I am almost finished, that is why I am speaking up,” he had said in that video.
Tomar also claimed that due to lockdowns, Rs 1.5 lakh-2 lakh worth of his shop inventory had been ruined. He said that despite meagre sales, he still had to file GST. “Accountant ne kaha GST toh bharna padega, nahin toh enquiry aa jayegi upar se (my accountant said you will have to file GST, otherwise there will be an enquiry).”
The acute sense of disillusionment that Tomar expressed in his videos contrasts with the enthusiasm he once displayed for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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From BJP fan to critic
According to Tomar’s Facebook page, he became a member of the party in 2013. The resident of Kasimpur Kheri in Baghpat also posted several photos of himself with BJP leaders in UP. Many of these were with Baghpat MP and former Union minister of state Satya Pal Singh. When Amit Shah was re-elected as the BJP’s president in 2016, Tomar was seen on hoardings that commemorated the occasion.
While a glance through Tomar’s timeline shows that he did occasionally question government policies, his acquaintances said he was generally positive towards the party.
“He had good political influence and understanding of the region. He came in contact with the BJP while he was studying in MS University in Baroda, Gujarat. We didn’t know he was not happy with the political leadership. Even during these election-related debates, he would support the BJP,” Udayveer Singh, a farmer and resident of Kasimpur Kheri told ThePrint.
However, Tomar’s family said that he was not pleased about the GST regime and was disturbed over the state of small shopkeepers after the Covid lockdowns.
“He had some issues with the GST, and we knew his business was not doing well for a while. He was trying to find other ways to earn,” Tomar’s uncle Vijaypal Singh told ThePrint.
“He was a politically active person.. .but BJP’s policy of not acting upon its promises was hurtful to him,” his uncle added.
The grieving family said they had not received any communication from the BJP so far.
“They are trying to avoid the issue as elections are here. Other local political leaders have visited the family, but nobody from the BJP came,” his uncle said.
ThePrint contacted MP Satya Pal Singh via telephone Wednesday, but his assistant said he would “speak tomorrow on the issue”.
Business woes
In one of his live videos, Tomar compared e-commerce platforms to the East India Company. “I sell footwear for Rs 80 as a wholesaler, but Jio Mart sells the same footwear for Rs 65. Where will the small shopkeepers go?” he asked.
According to the family, Tomar made a switch from farming to business in 2012. In 2019, he opened a new showroom and employed more people, buoyed by PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign. He had also contributed money to the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple fundraiser and asked others to do so in a Facebook post in 2021.
“I can imagine how disturbed he would have been to take such an extreme step. A middle-class person who wants to move forward in life takes loans, and, if they are unable to pay the loans, they think about taking such steps,” Yogender Singh, a farmer and resident of the village, said. “Rajiv was a very intelligent man. I spoke to him over politics, social issues just a couple days ago.”
Singh added that “free rations” from the government were not a viable solution for struggling shopkeepers and small businesses. “There are several other expenses. Post-Covid lockdown, life has been very difficult for several of us. Families are still being affected. Only those suffering know what their situation is,” he said.
‘What is the role of government in this?’
Other neighbours and acquaintances were less sympathetic to Tomar’s complaints and said they thought that he had misplaced blame on the government. Some also mentioned that Tomar had taken loans for his new shop and was unable to pay them back.
According to Dharamveer Singh, a BJP worker and former treasurer of the party’s farmers’ wing, Tomar was responsible for his own actions and should not have blamed the government.
“Young people these days cannot handle pressure. They have so many expectations and when these don’t get fulfilled, they take such extreme steps,” he told ThePrint.
Swaraj Singh, another neighbour, added that it was “wrong” of Tomar to have put up videos criticising the government. “What is the role of the government in this? The government won’t come and see what is happening in each house. If I spend more than I earn, I will also get worried,” he said.
“Here the local lenders are very strict. When you take a loan from the bank, it is different but when you take loans from local lenders, they have strict rules and they harass the borrower,” he added.
ThePrint messaged the Baghpat Superintendent of Police Neeraj Jadaun for a comment on the case, but did not receive a response.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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