Farmers in Madhya Pradesh say they will do the corpse pose, called shavasana`, on International Yoga Day on June 21, to protest the apparent lack of response to for farming loan waivers and better prices for agricultural yield. The protest is headed by Shivkumar Sharma, who has said that they chose this asana as farmers have been “rendered as shava` (corpse) by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s policies.”

Shivkumar Sharma used to head the RSS-backed Bharatiya Kisan Sangh in Madhya Pradesh. After being expelled from the organization, he formed the Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh.

Demands for farm loan waivers have been echoed in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. Demands have increased since Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra waived loans worth Rs 36,359 crore and Rs 30,000 crore, respectively.