I am not entirely aware of what happened during the 80s. But India was ruled by Congress party under Indira Gandhi, not the current "Hindu nationalist" BJP. When the farmers protest happened recently, even though the farmers (most of them Sikhs) were literally chasing away policemen with swords and tractors, the government didn't do any violence (beating protesters with batons, water cannons don't really count since its a standard practice in my South Indian state as well). In South India, the local government literally used police snipers to kill 12 protesters when people were protesting against pollution by a factory [1]. So, when compared to that, the farmer protesters (majority Sikh) were pampered.
If the government has actually killed him, and if it would prevent the deaths of 1000s in the future, it is definitely worth it.