Punjab: After 131 days, Dallewal ends his hunger strike, says MSP fight on
Punjab: After 131 days, Dallewal ends his hunger strike, says MSP fight on
M.U.H
07/04/202518
Veteran 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, 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. Dallewal, BKU (Sidhupur) state president, announced that he was ending his indefinite fast at a ‘kisan mahapanchayat’ at the Sirhind grain market. Dallewal, who had been consuming only water and taking minimum medical aid, said that he was personally not in favour of ending his fast, but is doing so on insistence from peers and the farmers.
“With heavy heart, I am ending my fast-unto-death. Though I am not in favour of this but I respect sentiments of thousands of farmers – who have appealed to me to end the fast. I want to assure farmers that the fight for the MSP will continue. We will fight back with more strength and efforts,” said an emotional Dallewal with folded hands as the grain market reverberated with slogans of ‘Kisan Mazdoor Ekta Zindabad’ and ‘Sardar Jagjit Singh Dallewal Zindabad’.
“But I want to ask you and get an assurance that we will have to 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 added.
He asked the farmers’ gathering to raise their hands in a show of support for the agitation. “Dear friends, your order is like a direction of God,” said Dallewal.
Talking to the media, 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. Dallewal also hit out at chief minister Bhagwant Mann, saying the police crackdown to clear protesters from protest sites was “backstabbing”. “Those who attack from behind can’t be called winners. Farmers leaders were called for a meeting in Chandigarh, and then arrested. They (state government) knew that they can’t clear the site until Dallewal remains at the protest site because farmers were there to protect me,” said Dallewal.
On Saturday, Chouhan had 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 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.”
Dallewal is a joint convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) which, along with the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), was spearheading the agitation at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points in support of their various demands. Dallewal 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.
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 (Sidhupur) was part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which had spearheaded 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.
