‘Dallewal's Hunger Strike Continues’: Farmer Leader Counters Punjab Govt’s Submission To SC

Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal continues his indefinite fast despite govt claims that he accepted water. Dallewal drank water after detained farmers were released, a farmer leader said.

Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal and farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar

Source : PTI/@KoharAbhimanyu

Chandigarh, Mar 29 (PTI) Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has not ended his indefinite fast even though he drank a glass of water after farmers detained last week by the state police were released from different jails, farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said on Saturday.

The Punjab government on Friday told the Supreme Court that Dallewal accepted water and broke his fast.

Countering the Punjab government's claims, Kohar said on Saturday that Dallewal had made it clear he would take water only after all the farmers were released.

"And Dallewal drank a glass of water after farmer leaders were released," said Kohar, a close aide of Dallewal. "We want to make it clear that a false impression was being given that Dallewal has ended his indefinite fast. His hunger strike continues." Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh told the apex court on Friday they dispersed on March 19 the farmers protesting at Khanauri and Shambhu border points with Haryana and opened the roads and highways that were blocked due to the sit-ins.

Protesting farmers and some of their leaders were also detained by the Punjab Police on that day.

Another farmer leader, Kaka Singh Kotra, also said on Saturday when Dallewal came to know about the detention of farmers, he refused to take water till they were all released.

He took water after the farmers were released, said Kotra.

Dallewal (70) is a senior leader of the joint forum of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. He began his indefinite hunger strike on November 26 last year to press the Centre to accept their demands including a legal guarantee to provide Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.

After the Centre invited the farmer leaders for talks in January, Dallewal started taking medical aid at the Khanauri protest site but did not end his fast.

Several farmer leaders including Sarwan Singh Pandher, Abhimanyu Kohar, Kaka Singh Kotra and other leaders, detained during the March 19 police action, were released on Friday.

Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Pandher was released from Muktsar jail while Kohar, Kotra and some other farmer leaders were released from Patiala central jail.

After their release, they met Dallewal in the hospital on Friday.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa met Dallewal at the hospital in Patiala to inquire about his well-being, "I pray for his speedy recovery though his health has further deteriorated after observing fast for 124 days and not consuming water for the past 10 days," Bajwa said in a post on X.

"It is highly deplorable that the CM of an agrarian state betrayed the farmer by arresting them on the pretext of a meeting. While evicting the farmers from Shambhu and Khanauri borders, around 150 trolleys and other valuable stuff were stolen with the complicity of Police under @AAPPUNJAB govt. Will CM @BhagwantMann order a free and fair probe into the matter," alleged Bajwa.

Meanwhile, a police constable and his uncle were booked on the charge of stealing a trolley of a farmer from the Khanauri protest site.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Patran) in Patiala, Inderpal Singh Chauhan said during the investigation it came to the fore that police constable Barinder Singh allegedly stole the trolley.

He said the police constable will soon be arrested.

The registration of FIR came as several farmers, who were part of the Shambhu and Khanauri protests, have claimed that their belongings including trolleys were missing, adding that they might have been stolen.

The farmer leaders were detained on March 19 when they were returning from a meeting with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh.

The meeting was organised to discuss the farmers' demands, especially the MSP guarantee. As the departing farmers entered Mohali after the meeting, they were met with heavy barricading and some of their leaders were detained.

Police had evicted farmers and dismantled temporary structures from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points. Vehicular traffic had resumed on the Shambhu-Ambala and Sangrur-Jind highways.

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)