25,000 farmers seek permission to hang themselves on India's Independence Day

According to report, Indian government owes farmers INR8 bilion for seizing 700 acres of their land

On the event of India’s 69^th Independence Day, a group of 25,000 farmers from India seek permission to hang themselves for lack of compensation for losing their land to a construction project, according to IBTIMES.

The farmers from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, who had their land taken away by the Indian government without consent for the construction of the Gokul Barrage, have been protesting for 17 years. The government owes the farmers INR8 billion for seizing 700 acres of their land, reports Times of India.

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Protests by farmers were met with harsh action by the police who even fired at the farmers.

Not only did the Mathura farmers not receive compensation for their land they also had to face crop damage earlier this year due to seasonal rains which lead to more than 40 farmers committing suicide in Uttar Pradesh district of India.

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Dismayed farmers wrote to the president just months after they were promised electricity, water and "soil health cards" by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 25,000 farmers, belonging to 11 different villages in Mathura, said in their letter: "Despite several assurances and the matter being raked up in Parliament, the state government continues to turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the farmers".

The article originally appeared on IBTIMES