Dallewal appeals to farmers to reach Khanauri on Saturday for 'Kisan Mahapanchayat'

In a 70-second video message released on Friday, Dallewal said that he is appealing to the people of the country, who are part of the fight for a legal guarantee on the MSP, 'that they must reach Khanauri as I want to have your darshan'.

Chandigarh: Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on an indefinite hunger strike for 39 days, has appealed to farmers to reach the Khanauri protest site at the Punjab-Haryana border in large numbers on Saturday to strengthen the fight seeking a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Farmers, on a warpath against the BJP-led Centre over their demands, last week called for a "Kisan Mahapanchayat" at Khanauri.

In a 70-second video message released on Friday, Dallewal said he is appealing to the people of the country, who are part of the fight for a legal guarantee on the MSP, "that they must reach Khanauri as I want to have your darshan".

The farmers, under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.

Dallewal (70) has so far refused to take any medical aid despite his prolonged fasting, which has caused his health to deteriorate.

The Punjab government has been making efforts to persuade Dallewal to take medical aid if he does not wish to break his fast, but he has so far remained firm in his stance.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Thursday that a team of government doctors is regularly monitoring Dallewal's health.

Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar told reporters at Khanauri that Dallewal will speak for two-three minutes at Saturday's event to send across an important message.

Another senior farmer leader, Sarwan Singh Pandher, who is the coordinator of the two fora that are spearheading the agitation at Shambhu and Khanauri, said the Centre continues to adopt a "stubborn attitude" and is not resolving the issue.

Asked about holding talks with the protesting farmers to end the logjam, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday that the government will act in accordance with the Supreme Court's instructions on the ongoing farmers' protest at the Punjab-Haryana border.

"Our demands pertain to the Centre; this issue is not of the courts. The (Narendra) Modi government should directly talk (to the protesting farmers)," Pandher said.

During an ongoing hearing, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan clarified on Thursday that it has never directed to break Dallewal's fast but is only concerned about his health and wants medical aid to be provided to him urgently.

Farmer leaders had earlier said Dallewal had not eaten anything during his fast and was surviving only on water.

Kohar, who has been associated with Dallewal for long, had recently said the latter has sat on a hunger strike on five occasions in the past but not for such a prolonged period.

Dallewal had earlier sat on a fast in support of farmers' demands in March 2018, January 2019, January 2021, November 2022 and June 2023.

Several Punjab ministers, leaders from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and opposition Congress, besides farmer leaders and other prominent personalities, have paid visits to Dallewal at Khanauri and enquired about his health.

Dallewal will break his fast only if their demands are accepted by the Centre, farmer leaders had earlier said.

Dallewal wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his hunger strike, likening the MSP for farmers to the fundamental right to live.

"I have decided to sacrifice my life to stop the deaths of farmers. I hope that after my death, the central government will wake up from its slumber and move forward towards fulfilling our 13 demands, including a law on the MSP," he wrote to Modi.

Dallewal, the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur), hails from Dallewal village in Punjab's Faridkot district.

Before announcing his fast unto death, Dallewal transferred his properties to his son, daughter-in-law and grandson. His wife died in January last year.

Dallewal's BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) was part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which spearheaded a farmers' stir in 2020 against three contentious agriculture laws of the Centre that have since been repealed. But it broke away after SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal formed the Samyukta Samaj Morcha to contest the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls.

Dallewal later formed the SKM (Non-Political) by involving like-minded farmer leaders.