The year 2024 saw farmer and farm labourer groups from Punjab resuming their protests highlighting the agrarian distress and asking the Union government to enact a law for guaranteed buying of their crops at the minimum support price (MSP).

Under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), protesters have been camping at Shambhu-Ambala and Khanauri-Jind, the inter-State boundaries between Haryana and Punjab from February 13, 2024. Their mission: start a ‘march’ to New Delhi to press the government on their demands, including a complete farm loan waiver and legal guarantees for purchasing their crops.

Elaborate security arrangements were set in place by the BJP-ruled Haryana government, and the ‘farmers march’ has been at a halt for close to 11 months. With the farmers not willing to relent, on November 26, 2024, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a veteran leader, started an indefinite hunger strike in support of their demands, at the Khanauri protest site in Punjab’s Sangrur district.

As Mr. Dallewal’s fast-unto-death has completed 40 days, the 67-year-old is visibly frail, yet he is unwilling to back down unless the government meets the farmer community’s demands.

Born on October 4, 1958, in a farmer-family at Dallewala village in Punjab’s Faridkot district, Mr. Dallewal completed his primary education in nearby Golewala and later pursued a Bachelor in Arts at the Government Brijindra college in Faridkot. He has a Master’s degree in political science. But his heart was in farming. After studies, Mr. Dallewal, who owned around 17 acres of farmland in his native village, opted to be a full-time agriculturist.

A vocal advocate for the rights of farmers, Mr. Dallewal started taking up the issues faced by the agricultural community in Punjab. His dedicated work surrounding not just farmers’ issues but also societal matters pertaining to the youth is seen as a key factor behind his swift rise as a farmer leader in the State. In 1989 when the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Sidhupur) was formed, Mr. Dallewal joined the outfit. Mr. Dallewal, who held various positions in the the BKU (Ekta Sidhupur), rose through the ranks to become the president of the organisation in 2017. ‘Sit-ins’ and ‘hunger strikes’ became a hallmark of Mr. Dallewal’s way of agitation over the years.

In recent years, he had held hunger strikes in March 2018, January 2019, January 2021, November 2022 and June 2023, all in support of farmers. However, the ongoing fast is his longest.

Open letter to PM

Ahead of launching his latest fast, Mr. Dallewal transferred his properties to his son, daughter-in-law and grandson, indicating his willingness to sacrifice his life for the cause of the farming community. In December, in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Dallewal equated the MSP for farmers to the fundamental right to live. Asserting that his death would possibly wake up the Union government from its deep slumber, he wrote: “To stop the deaths of farmers, I have decided to sacrifice my life…”

The ongoing protest has rekindled the memories of the year-long agitation during 2020-21 when scores of farmers camped at several places, including Singhu-Tikri, at Delhi’s boundaries, and chaos prevailed in the national capital and surrounding areas of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Back then, the farmers were demanding a repeal of three farm laws enacted by the Centre, which were eventually repealed.

The movement was spearheaded by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer outfits, in which Mr. Dallewal’s BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) was also a player. However, in 2022, when SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal formed the Samyukta Samaj Morcha (SSM) and decided to contest the Assembly election in Punjab, Mr. Dallewal, who was not in favour of jumping into politics, broke away and formed his new forum — the SKM (Non Political), which claims to be an amalgamation of around 28 organisations. The SKM (Non Political) is now at the forefront of the protests.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it has never directed to end the hunger strike of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on a fast unto death, but is only concerned with his health.

“There appears to be a deliberate attempt in the entire media where state government officers (of Punjab) are trying to create an impression that there is a persuasion by this court to Mr. Dallewal to break his fast. Our directions were not to break his fast. We only said that let his health be taken care of and he can continue his peaceful protest even when he is hospitalised,” a Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant told Punjab’s Advocate General (AG) Gurminder Singh.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, said that shifting Mr Dallewal to the hospital should not mean that he will not continue his fast but the medical facilities which will ensure that no harm is caused to his life.

In response, AG Gurminder Singh submitted that the state government officials tried to convince Mr Dallewal to take medical aid in terms of the top court order.

However, Mr Dallewal remained firm that he would take medical aid only if the Union government was ready for talks.

At this, the Justice Kant-led Bench remarked, “Please don’t force us to say many things. Your attitude is that there should be no reconciliation. That is the whole problem”.

Further, the top court expressed anguish at the “irresponsible statements” being made by “so-called farmers leaders to complicate things”.

It cautioned that if the Punjab government keeps failing to implement its order regarding hospitalisation of Mr Dallewal, the top court will seek intervention of the Centre.

The 70-year-old cancer patient has been fasting at Khanauri, the border point between Punjab and Haryana, since November 26 in support of their long-pending demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, loan waiver and reforms to improve conditions in the agricultural sector.

The matter will be heard next on January 6.

On Tuesday, the top court deferred till January 2 the hearing on a contempt plea seeking action against the Chief Secretary of Punjab over non-hospitalisation of Mr Dallewal.

In that hearing, the Punjab government sought additional time to comply with its December 20 decision, where it was directed to ensure the stable health condition of Mr Dallewal.

“It is entirely the responsibility of the State of Punjab to ensure the stable health condition of Mr Jagjit Singh Dallewal, for which if he requires hospitalisation, the authorities must ensure to do so. The State Government, therefore, will take a call as to whether Mr Dallewal can be shifted to the makeshift hospital (temporary hospital, which is said to have been set up at a distance of 700 metres from the site) or to any other well-equipped hospital,” the top court had ordered.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, whose fast-unto-death entered the 24th day on Thursday, fell down and fainted for 8-10 minutes with doctors describing his condition as critical. The doctors said, “His life is hanging by a thread.” 

Doctors attending him at the Khanauri border protest site also said Dallewal is at risk of cardiac arrest and multi-organ failure.

Meanwhile, a panel of senior government doctors examined Dallewal’s health and also conducted some medical tests on him, said officials.

An ECG test was conducted and a blood sample was taken, they further said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Punjab government to convince Dallewal, who is on an indefinite fast, to undergo a health examination.

The top court pulled up the Punjab government for not conducting medical tests on Dallewal, who is on an indefinite fast at Punjab-Haryana Khanauri border.

Dallewal (70), a cancer patient, has been on the fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers’ demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP on crops.

Speaking to reporters at the Khanauri border, doctors said Dallewal has not had anything for the last 24 days. “Because of that, he is critical and he is at the risk of cardiac arrest and multi-organ failure. We are monitoring him every day,” said doctor Abhiraj, who is part of a team of doctors from 5 Rivers Heart Association –an NGO.

“His blood pressure dropped today. We raised his legs and gave massage. But his situation is very sensitive. His life is hanging by a thread right now,” said the doctor, adding, “Anything can happen at any time.” Right now ketones are on the higher side, he said. “Because of electrolyte imbalance, he can have cardiac arrest at anytime. His situation is critical,” he further said.

Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said Dallewal’s condition has worsened.

“When he went to washroom to take a bath and after coming out of it, his condition worsened. He felt dizzy, fell down, vomited and fainted for around 8-10 minutes,” he further said.

The doctors gave him a massage and because of their efforts, his blood pressure went up but his situation is serious, said Kohar.

Kohar said Dallewal joined the hearing in the Supreme Court through video conferencing at around 2:20 pm, he said. He remained connected for around 12-15 minutes but it kept disconnecting intermittently, he said.

The top court on Thursday asked the Punjab government to convince Dallewal to undergo a health examination. The court pulled up the Punjab government for not conducting medical tests on Dallewal.

A parliamentary panel on Tuesday had recommended the government implement a legally binding minimum support price (MSP) for agricultural produce, arguing that such a measure could significantly reduce farmer suicides and provide crucial financial stability.

“We also want to bring to your notice that the issues on which we are agitating are not just our demands but are promises made to us by different governments,” said Kohar while referring to what Dallewal wanted to say.

Meanwhile, political leaders continued to arrive at the Khanauri border to enquire about the health of Dallewal.

Haryana Congress MPs Deepender Hooda, Jaiprakash, Satpal Brahmachari, Varun Chaudhary, MLAs Ashok Arora, Ramkaran Kala, Naresh Selwal, Induraj Narwal, Jassi Petwar, among other party leaders inquired about the health of Dallewal.

Deepender said Dallewal’s condition is very serious. “The government should immediately accept the farmers’ demand for MSP guarantee and end Dallewal ji’s hunger strike. The government should give up its rigid stand, and immediately implement the agreement reached between the government and farmer organisations on 9 December 2021 after the farmers’ movement,” he said.

Singer Sidhu Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh also visited Khanauri border to enquire about the health of the farmer leader.

Earlier, Akali leader Balwinder Singh Bhundar asked the Centre to accept the farmers’ demands for which they were camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points.

Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) leader Simranjit Singh Mann also enquired about the health of Dallewal.

Meanwhile, several Khap leaders of Haryana held a meeting here on Thursday in the wake of ongoing farmers’ protest at Shambhu and Khanauri borders.

Satrod Khap leader Satish Kumar urged the Centre to initiate talks with the protesting farmers to resolve their issues. He condemned the use of teargas shelling against farmers recently who were trying to march towards Delhi on foot by the Haryana security personnel.

He demanded that they should be allowed to head towards the national capital. “Farmers have the right to hold a protest in the national capital,” said Kumar.

He further said a ‘Mahapanchayat’ will be held on December 29 in Hisar to decide about the next course of action and strategy. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)