Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal
Chandigarh: Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Sunday ended his hunger strike which he had started on November 26 last year to press for various demands of agitating farmers including a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for crops.
The announcement came a day after Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu appealed to him to end his fast-unto-death.
Union Minister Bittu and Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema welcomed Dallewal’s decision.
At a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ organised at the grain market in Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab, Dallewal said he had acceded to the request of the”sangat” to end his fast-unto-death and asserted that their fight for the legal guarantee on MSP for crops and other demands continues.
“You all have said (to me) to end the fast-unto-death. For me ‘sangat’ (people) is ‘rabb da roop’ (a form of God). I am indebted to you for looking after the agitation the way I had said. I respect your sentiments,” said Dallewal, who addressed the gathering from a stretcher.
“The ‘morcha’ (agitation) continues. Even today I do not want to end the indefinite fast but you have asked me time and again (to end fast) and I respect it. But I want an assurance that we will put up a stronger ‘morcha’. The fight is on. The MSP (guarantee) has to be taken and a bigger ‘morcha’ has to be put up. Do you agree on holding a bigger ‘morcha’,” he asked the gathering.
“The government is alert and it knows farmers can fight. The way you took care of the ‘morcha’, the government has seen it,” he said.
He asked those present to raise their hands in a show of support for the agitation. “Dear friends, your order is like a direction of God,” said Dallewal who was visibly emotional as the grain market reverberated with slogans of ‘Kisan Mazdoor Ekta Zindabad’ and ‘Sardar Jagjit Singh Dallewal Zindabad’.
Replying to questions from media persons, he later said farmer leaders will attend the meeting with the Centre on May 4.
“If we do not go to the meeting, then it (the government) will have an excuse that farmers did not come to put forth their demands,” he said.
Referring to the previous meetings with the central delegation, Dallewal claimed the government did not have any counter to their arguments made in support of their demands.
The development comes more than a fortnight after Punjab Police cracked down on agitating farmers, detaining their leaders in Mohali when they were returning from a meeting with a central delegation led by Agriculture Minister Chouhan in Chandigarh.
The March 19 meeting was organised to discuss the farmers’ demands, especially the MSP guarantee.
Police also evicted farmers and dismantled temporary structures from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points where the sit-ins were being held.
On Saturday, Union Minister Chouhan appealed to Dallewal to end his hunger strike.
In a post on X, he said, “The ongoing dialogue between the representatives of the Government of India and the representatives of farmers’ organisations regarding their demands is continuing.
“Farmer leader Shri Jagjit Singh Dallewal has now returned from hospital and we wish him a speedy recovery. We also request him to end his hunger strike and we will meet with the representatives of the farmers’ organisations for talks at 11 am on May 4 as per the already decided date.”
A similar appeal was made by Union minister Bittu on Saturday.
Punjab FM Cheema welcomed Dallewal’s announcement and said the farmer leader had been fighting against the BJP-led central government over their various demands.
Dallewal is a senior leader of a joint forum of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), which were spearheading the agitation at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points in support of their various demands.
He began his indefinite hunger strike on November 26 last year to press the Centre to accept the farmers’ demands.
During his prolonged fast, his health had “deteriorated” but he continued to resist medical assistance until the government accepted farmers’ demands. A team of doctors had also been deployed at the Khanauri site to look after him.
His frail health had earlier drawn the attention of the Supreme Court, which had put the onus on the Punjab government officials and doctors to decide on his hospitalisation.
Even a Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee, headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Nawab Singh, had met Dallewal at the protest site, urging him to take medical aid.
After the Centre invited the farmer leaders for talks in January, Dallewal started taking medical aid at the Khanauri protest site but did not end his fast.
Dallewal, who is the president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur), hails from Dallewal village in Faridkot. Be it inadequate compensation for the acquisition of farmland, pending payment of farmers or cases of farmers’ suicides, Dallewal has been at the forefront of raising these issues.
He had earlier gone on fast in support of farmers’ issues in March 2018, January 2019, January 2021, November 2022 and June 2023.
Dallewal’s BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) was part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which led the 2020 farmers’ stir against the now-repealed three central farm laws. But it broke away after SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal formed the Samyukta Samaj Morcha to fight the 2022 Punjab assembly polls.
Dallewal later formed the SKM (Non-political) by involving like-minded farmer leaders.
