Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike for the past 29 days to press for the demands of farmers, on Tuesday said they will have to put up a united fight in order to win their battle.
Addressing the farmers from the special stage made in view of his deteriorating health, Dallewal expressed heartfelt gratitude to those supporting his resolve.
“I want to tell all of you that I am alright,” he said in a frail voice as another farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar helped him.
“We have to win this battle. This battle will be won only if the whole country fights unitedly,” Dallewal said and appealed to Punjab’s “younger brother Haryana” and other states that “this battle should be fought strongly”.
Dallewal (70) has been sitting on a hunger strike at the Khanauri border since November 26 to put pressure on the Centre to accept the farmers’ demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP).
“I want that the government should not be able to evict us from here at any cost. If it is not able to do so, then either we will win or die, one of two things will happen,” he said in his over two-minute-long speech.
Farmer leader Dallewal’s health is ‘critical’
Doctors, who have been monitoring Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s health condition have expressed concerns, warning that the farmer leader is at risk of cardiac arrest and multi-organ failure.
“He is hemodynamically unstable (unstable movement of blood that results in inadequate blood flow). Generally, such patients require admission to the ICU. He is at risk of cardiac arrest and his condition is critical,” the doctor said.
Farmers’ protest
Farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and the Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
A “jatha (group)” of 101 farmers attempted to march to Delhi on foot three times between December 6 and 14 but were stopped by security personnel in Haryana.
Meanwhile, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s Punjab unit leaders held a meeting and condemned the central and the Punjab government’s “indifferent attitude”, saying they should have intervened by now as Dallewal’s health was deteriorating.
Protesting farmers planning to meet President Murmu
To build pressure on the Centre to accept the demands and address concerns regarding Dallewal’s health, farmer leaders will seek time to meet President Droupadi Murmu in the first week of January.
A rally has also been planned in Punjab’s Moga on January 9 in which various issues pertaining to farmers will be highlighted.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha leaders, however, said there was no plan to join the ongoing protest at Shambhu and Khanauri or their call for programmes such as a Punjab ‘bandh’.
(With PTI inputs)