2 weeks Ago
The sit-in protest that began almost a year ago by a group of farmers owing allegiance to the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non Political) at the Punjab-Haryana border has taken a new turn with their leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal refusing to end his indefinite fast, that started on November 26. The stand of the 70-year-old leader, a cancer patient, has drawn the attention of the Supreme Court. Farmers in the State, across their organisational and political positions, supported a Punjab bandh on December 30, in solidarity with Mr.
Dallewal. The Court has allowed the Punjab government time till Thursday to ensure that Mr. Dallewal gets medical aid.
The farmers’ outfits have told the Court that their leader would accept medical help only if the Union Government held a discussion with them on their demands such as implementing a legalised Minimum Support Price as per the formula of the National Commission on Farmers (constituted by M.S. Swaminathan), a debt waiver for all farmers and the withdrawal of all cases against farmers for protesting against the three farm laws, which were repealed in 2021.
Major farmers’ organisations in the State, including the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) and the All India Kisan Sabha, have urged the Centre and State governments to address the demands so that Mr. Dallewal ends his fast. Several Opposition parties had also demanded that the Centre start a dialogue with farmers.
It is debatable how helpful the Court’s ultimatum is in situations such as these when policy, law and order and politics are all intertwined. Perhaps, the courts should not be so interfering and governments should be more proactive and preemptive in dealing with such flare-ups. The demands on the table have been pending for long, and the crisis in agriculture is multifaceted.
But allowing these permanent sit-in protests is problematic when someone goes on a fast unto death because there is no way to know if he is being forced to starve to death or not allowed to end the fast. Many of the farmers’ leaders have met Mr. Dallewal requesting him to end his hunger strike.
However, such requests have been turned down with his supporters labelling other farmers’ leaders as agents of the government. Sane voices among the farmers have been maintaining that Mr. Dallewal should join the joint protests rather than adopting his fast unto death protest.
The Punjab and Haryana governments and the Union Government must ensure that his life is not in danger. Mr. Dallewal and his associates should heed the advice of other farmers’ leaders and clear the apprehensions that he is under pressure to continue with the hunger strike.
Published - January 02, 2025 12:10 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit farms / agriculture / Punjab / Haryana / judiciary (system of justice) / government / politics / political parties.
