DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Noted Punjabi poet Surjit Patar announced on Monday that he will return his Padma Shri award in support of farmers who are protesting against the Centre's farm laws. In a statement, Patar said he was pained at the "insensitive" attitude of the central government towards the demands of farmers who have been protesting peacefully. The 75-year-old said he has decided to return his Padma Shri award with a heavy heart. Patar had received the Padma Shri in 2012. Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other areas have stayed put at various Delhi border points, protesting against the new farm laws, which they fear will dismantle the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporate firms. Earlier, Akali Dal stalwart and former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had announced he would return his Padma Vibhushan award in protest against the farm laws. SAD (Democratic) leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa had also said he would return his Padma Bhushan award in solidarity with farmers. Several international sports persons from Punjab had also announced to return their sports awards and extended support to the farmers' agitation. As thousands of farmers have descended on the national capital to protest against the farm laws for past 11 days, a prominent farmer union, a faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) that owns its mass base in Punjab's Malwa region which has seen the highest rates of farmer suicides, is the driving force behind the agitation. This is the BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) led by ex-serviceman Joginder Singh Ugrahan, 75, with its base in the Malwa region comprising Bathinda, Sangrur, Mansa, Barnala, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Moga, Muktsar and Patiala. A study on farm suicides in Punjab between 2000 and 2013 by the Punjabi University says 97 per cent suicides were in Malwa. The reason is largely debt. The BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan), one of the most aggressive farmer unions in the state, has the largest membership base among the 31 farm organisations in Punjab, largely comprising small and marginal farmers. Their protests are largely peaceful. Packed in hundreds of tractor-trailers, buses, cars and motorcycles loaded with eatables, the farmers belonging to the union reached the national capital's borders on November 28. Bracing tear gas and water cannons, they had started their journey. (editor@dailyworld.in)