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Strengthen morcha at Khanauri: Dallewal’s message to farmers
Dallewal has urged farmers in other states to hold protests to demonstrate that the movement extends beyond Punjab
Thousands of farmers gathered at the Khanauri border on Saturday in a massive show of strength as their leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s fast-unto-death entered the 40th day.
Dallewal was brought to the main stage in an ambulance with a medical team. During his 11-minute address at the “kisan mahapanchayat” at Khanauri, the farmer leader rejected concerns about his health, instead highlighting the broader crisis facing India’s agricultural community.
“Now, from every village, one tractor-trailer should reach Khanauri to strengthen this morcha. It is not me who is fighting the battle, but it is God’s will,” he said.
He also urged farmers in other states to hold protests to demonstrate that the movement extends beyond Punjab.
“Already over 7 lakh farmers have committed suicide owing to the distress in the farming sector. The Supreme Court should think of children and family members of the farmers who have committed suicide rather than my health,” Dallewal, who leads the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), said.
“I am concerned about the children of the farmers who have committed suicides, not mine. If I can’t stop farmers’ suicides then I think it is better to attain martyrdom,” Dallewal said, speaking despite doctors’ warnings after his blood pressure spiked during the address.
The farmers – under the banner of the (SKM Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha — have been protesting at the site since February 13 last year to pressurise the Centre to accept their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for various crops.
The mahapanchayat was held even as the Supreme Court has asked the Punjab government to present a compliance report on January 6 on its December 20 order of providing medical aid to Dallewal, whose health is deteriorating due to the prolonged fast.
Despite repeated efforts by the Punjab government, the fasting leader has so far declined medical aid until the Centre initiates a dialogue with the protesting farmer unions. The proposal of a meeting between the farmer unions and the Union government has not materialised so far.
The Punjab government has constituted a medical board, comprising super specialists from Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. The board found that Dallewal’s liver and kidney functions have already been affected owing to the fast, and he requires immediate hospitalisation.
In his brief address, Dallewal raised the contentious issue of groundwater depletion, saying farmers had been repeatedly blamed for overexploiting groundwater resources for paddy cultivation. “We are advised to diversify our crops to save groundwater, but that can only be implemented if there is a legal guarantee on MSP for all crops,” Dallewal insisted, challenging the government to make crop diversification economically viable for farmers.
During the past few days, Dallewal had made an address to the farmers via short video messages, but this was his first public appearance after several days when he began his fast on November 26.
“The night we got information that police can evict us, scores of youths reached Khanauri from Punjab and Haryana and took charge of the morcha,” the farmer leader said.
“I have faith that we will win. The government may try to use as much force it can, but they cannot defeat the morcha,” he said.
The Punjab government recently made it clear that it had no intention to forcibly evict Dallewal from the present agitation site.
The protests intensified since Monday’s nine-hour statewide shutdown that saw railways cancel over 150 trains and businesses close across Punjab.
Senior farmer leader Kaka Singh Kotra, who was present at the mahapanchayat, announced that effigies of the Modi government would be burned across villages nationwide on January 10.
