Seventy-year-old farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has been on a hunger strike against the Central government's policies for 37 days. He is protesting for the farmers in Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border, battling extreme cold and cancer. Despite the Supreme Court's active intervention, the Centre is still refusing to talk to the leader, who is on the verge of death. The Supreme Court strongly criticized the stance of the government, for refusing to show even the slightest compassion. In addition, Justice Surya Kant has mandated that an affidavit be filed detailing the actions taken by the Punjab government in response to the Supreme Court's December 20 decision to save Dallewal's life. The court also expressed dissatisfaction over the officials and the media's false propaganda giving the impression that the orders given for health protection had been orders to call off the protest. Dallewal is determined that he will not stop the strike and accept medical help without any discussions, even if it means losing his life. In this situation, the court clarified that his life should not be put in danger and that it is necessary to provide him with medical assistance so that he may continue his strike.
The state government should convince Dallewal that he can continue his hunger strike under medical assistance. He is a very valuable farmer leader for the country. The Supreme Court has unequivocally taken a stand that his life should not be put in danger and that it will intervene if the government fails. The protest camp in Khanauri is a sign that the authorities do not even have the dignity and sense of justice that the British rulers showed towards Gandhiji's hunger strikes. In fact, the farmers of Punjab and Haryana have been forced to spend the last year in protest camps because the Centre has not implemented the promises made many times in a timely and complete manner. The Centre is making policies and laws on the simple logic that the deep crises facing the agricultural sector can be solved by corporatization. This is an unacceptable stance not only for the farmers but for all the citizens of the country.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are raising demands such as the implementation of the minimum support price recommended by M.S. Swaminathan when he chaired the National Commission on Farmers, waiving the debts of farmers, and withdrawing all the cases filed against those who protested against the agricultural laws repealed in 2021. But the arrogance of the Centre not only does not allow it to be taken at face value or to negotiate with them, but it also takes severe retaliatory measures against the farmers' groups. That is why Dallewal and the protest groups are firm in their decision to end the hunger strike only if the Centre is willing to negotiate with the farmers' groups. The unending farmers' struggle is a natural consequence of the reluctance to accept that sowing and harvesting in the fields is essential for the prosperity of the country. The country must give unconditional support to the farmers' struggle with one heart and mind. because the challenges they face need to be resolved by the entire people of the country. Rain and drought caused by climate change are constantly putting the agricultural sector in a state of turbulence which is not their fault. The administrative systems that should be their support and shade are not ready to properly understand the problems of the farmers or behave sympathetically. If the Centre does not immediately agree to talk to the protesting groups and the Punjab government does not wake up and act to prevent his life from being in danger, what will be lost is not the life of an elderly person, but the life of agricultural India. Speaking up for the health of Dallewal means standing up for the future of the agricultural sector.