The Farmer-Composing Antagonist

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has been on a fast-unto-death at Khanauri border to pressurise the government to fulfil its promises to the farming community

- Rakhi Bose

A blue blanket with Phulkari print flowers covers the emaciating yet towering frame of 68-year-old farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been observing a fast-unto-death at Khanauri border for the past 54 days as of January 18. As concerns about his health are mounting, a Supreme Court bench has asked the Punjab government to furnish a full set of comparative medical reports to help the court “to take opinion about the medical/health condition of Dallewal from the medical board that may be asked to be constituted by the Director of AIIMS, Delhi.”

At the Khanauri protest site, Dallewal, who is a cancer patient, is supported by an intravenous drip pumping nutrients into his body. He continues to give instructions to his followers in between bouts of painful retching. The convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) (non-political), announced the hunger strike on November 26, 2024 “to make the government hear” the demands of the farmers, which include legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers. “He is fighting for the farmers. He is standing up to the Modi sarkar for us,” says Suchha Singh, a 75-year-old farmer from Tarn Taran Sahib, who travelled 250 km to reach Khanauri. He is one of the 111 farmers who joined Dallewal’s hunger strike in solidarity on January 15, 2025. “How can we continue to eat and live comfortably while he is dying for us? So we decided to put our lives at stake too,” he says. Ten farmers from Haryana's Hisar, Sonipat, Panipat and Jind districts also started a fast-unto-death on January 17 in support of Dallewal.

The farmers at Khanauri wear placards that read: We will give our lives and become martyrs before Dallewal