Chandigarh: Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s month-long hunger ‘satyagraha’ might be aimed at the Centre, but it’s the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government that finds itself on a sticky wicket.
The head of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) has been on a hunger strike since 26 November, and his health has visibly deteriorated in the past few days. This has renewed interest in his protest among farmers, who virtually ensured a complete bandh across Punjab Monday.
In a video message, Dallewal alleged that the Centre was “planning to fail” his agitation demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) on crops and was expected to “attack” his protest site.
He asked farmers across the state to arrive at the site at Khanauri in Sangrur district on the Punjab-Haryana border. “Everyone should reach here as soon as possible,” said the 70-year-old farmer leader Monday.
This has put the Punjab government at the centre of an evolving law and order situation.
Deteriorating health & SC pressure
The Bhagwant Mann government is under pressure from the Supreme Court, which had directed it Friday to immediately intervene and “save” Dallewal’s life.
On Tuesday, seeking more time to comply with the orders, the Punjab government told the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Sudhanshu Dhulia that the farmers have said Dallewal would accept medical aid if the Centre talks to farmers.
“As per the negotiators, there is a proposal given by the farmers to the Central government that if they get an invite for a talk, then Mr. Dallewal is ready to take medical aid as desired,” Punjab advocate general Gurminder Singh was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.
During the hearing Friday, Singh informed the bench that a “youth brigade” was deployed by the farmers around Dallewal because of which he could not be removed from the site. The move, he added, could lead to “collateral damage”.
The top court had asked the Punjab government to take necessary assistance from the Centre to defuse the situation. “A single word from the Centre may defuse the situation,” said the bench.
Following the court’s orders, the Punjab government deployed a large police force at the protest site in Khanauri and, along with riot vehicles, at Patran. The location near Patiala is central to both Khanauri and a separate protest site at the Shambhu border.
Anticipating a possible use of force by the police, Dallewal asked his supporters to reach the site in video messages Sunday and Monday.
“When we started this agitation, we believed we could protest in Gandhian way and we adopted the Satyagraha method, but this government (the Centre) rather than listening to our voice is trying to crush our agitation,” he said Sunday.
On Monday, Dallewal refused to seek medical help for the second consecutive day, agreeing only to get a blood test.
Retired Punjab additional director general (ADGP) Jaskaran Singh, who has been holding parleys over the past two days with Dallewal and other farmer leaders, said no headway was made at the meeting in Khanauri.
“We have appealed to Dallewal to allow us to shift him to a hospital, but he is not agreeing. He is very frail but in high spirits,” the ADGP told the media.
Other farmer leaders warned the state government against trying to forcibly shift Dallewal to a hospital.
“We are keeping a close watch on the situation, and we will not allow our leader to be picked up from here. In case the government tries to do anything like that the entire Punjab will stand up and give a befitting reply,” farmer leader Kaka Kotra said at a press conference Monday evening.
Kotra added that a kisan (farmer) mahapanchayat had been called at Khanauri on 4 January.
Stalemate with Centre
Dallewal is seeking legal status for MSP on crops from the Centre, a long-standing demand of the farmers’ unions in Punjab. His protest is separate from the protest being led by Kisan Mazdoor Morcha head Sarwan Singh Pandher at the Shambhu border in Patiala. The two protests have continued since February.
Both Dallewal and Pandher were members of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of over 30 farmers’ unions that led the year-long agitation at the Singhu border in 2020-2021. But the two went separate ways after the end of the Delhi agitation.
The rest of the SKM’s members in Punjab are not participating in either of the protests.
While the Mann government has consistently backed the protests and their demands, with several AAP leaders, including Cabinet ministers, having met Dallewal, the strike has been completely ignored by the Centre, with no offers for talks to defuse the situation.
Three rounds of talks between senior Union ministers, led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Dallewal and Pandher took place in February following which a legal guarantee on the MSP was offered only for farmers who shifted from paddy cultivation to other crops.
While the offer was initially hailed by Dallewal and Pandher, it was later rejected after other SKM members warned the two leaders against compromise. There has been a stalemate between the Centre and the two farmer leaders ever since.
Addressing media persons last week, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief Sunil Jakhar urged Dallewal to end his strike. He accused politicians of other parties and other farmer leaders of furthering their interests in encouraging Dallewal to continue the fast. Such protests could have serious implications for law and order in the border state, he added.
At an event in Mumbai earlier this month, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar asked Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan why talks had not been initiated with the agitating farmers.
Last week, Dallewal wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he would end his strike only when the PM engages with the farmers.
But, there has been no response from the Centre on either.
Opposition ups ante
The Opposition has also increased pressure on the Punjab government, with Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa warning CM Mann on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) against causing any harm to the farmer leader.
"Reports of heavy police deployment at Patiala Police Lines are deeply concerning. Is this meant to intimidate or harm peaceful farmers, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on the 35th day of his hunger strike? If any harm comes to the farmers, CM @BhagwantMann will bear full…
— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) December 30, 2024
Congress state chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring announced Sunday his party’s support for the pan-Punjab bandh. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our farmers in their fight for justice,” Warring said in a post on ‘X’.
Farmers feed the nation, yet they struggle for their own survival. MSP is their legal right, not a privilege! We stand shoulder to shoulder with our farmers in their fight for justice. Punjab, unite and support the cause. Together, we will win! #30DecPunjabBandh
— Amarinder Singh Raja Warring (@RajaBrar_INC) December 29, 2024
The Monday bandh saw heavy farmer participation. They ensured all transport services, government offices, banks, and petrol stations were shut from 7 am to 4 pm.
And, despite a severe cold wave, hundreds of farmers travelled from villages in tractor trolleys to over 200 ‘protest points’, including rail tracks, toll plazas, highways, and markets, in towns and cities to ensure that the bandh call was complied with.
This resulted in reports of heated exchanges between ordinary people and farmers, with reports of farmers demanding identification from commuters to check if they were emergency workers before letting them pass through blockades. Some Border Security Force (BSF) and Army medical unit cavalcades were also reportedly stopped.
On Monday evening, farmer leader Gurinder Bhangoo told the media that the leadership did not get enough time to organise the bandh as a result of which several untrained protesters were manning the blocked sites.
Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal president Amit Kapoor, who extended support to the bandh on behalf of the shopkeepers, told the media that his organisation was not at all in favour of the bandh as shopkeepers were upset over losing business because of the endless protests by farmers.
“However, we agreed to support the farmers only this one time because of Dallewal’s health condition. We do not want to be seen as inhuman,” said Kapoor.
Meanwhile, a high-level panel set up by the Supreme Court has called the SKM for talks again on 3 January in an attempt to find a solution. The committee, constituted in September, is headed by former judge of Punjab and Haryana HC Nawab Singh. While Dallewal met the committee in November, Pandher refused to do so.
Senior SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal told media persons Monday that he would attend the meeting to make a strong case for legal guarantee of MSP and farm loan waivers.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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