New Delhi:Braving cold and fog, farm union activists flocked to the Khanauri protest site on the Punjab-Haryana border to attend the 'kisan mahapanchayat', which was addressed by farmer leader Jagjeet Singh Dallewal, whose indefinite hunger strike entered its 40th day on Saturday. In his address, Mr Dallewal said that the fight for a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) is not Punjab's fight alone and urged the farmer outfits in other states to join the agitation.
During his over 11-minute address at the kisan mahapanchayat at the Khanauri border, Mr Dallewal tried to send across a message that his life was not more important than farmers.
The 70-year-old farmer leader was brought out in a stretcher and addressed the gathering of farmers while lying on a bed from a stage at the protest site.
"Over 7-lakh farmers have committed suicides in the country and he knows what their families have to go through," Mr Dallewal said at the mahapanchayat called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Majdoor Morcha -- the two forums that are spearheading the ongoing agitation.
“The Supreme Court recently said that Dallewal's life is important. I had said that day, Hon'ble Supreme Court, I am also human, alright, but what about the families of those 7-lakh farmers who have committed suicide? We have to stop suicides in future," he said.
Mr Dallewal appealed to all farmer outfits in other states to fight the agitation seeking a legal guarantee for MSP strongly in their states to send a message to the Centre that it is not Punjab's fight alone.
The farmer leader referred to demands, including the MSP guarantee, indicating that he understands the enormity of the task at hand, but that does not mean one will sit and do nothing.
Mr Dallewal, who is the convenor of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political), has so far refused to take any medical aid despite his prolonged fasting, which completed 40 days on Saturday, which has caused his health to deteriorate.
"When we returned from Delhi (borders after the 2020-21 stir), farmer leaders from other states had said Punjab is going back after the repeal of three laws. We had told them Punjab cannot betray anyone… Now, Punjab is at the forefront again. I request organisations of other states with folded hands to fight agitation strongly in their states and send a message to the central government that this agitation is not of Punjab alone but of the entire country,” he said.
“The entire country needs MSP," said Mr Dallewal, who, in between his address, took sips of water and told doctors standing nearby to allow him to complete his speech and not worry about his blood pressure.
Highlighting the enormity of the task at hand in fighting the farmers' battle for an MSP guarantee and other demands, Mr Dallewal said, “It is not that I don't understand this.... I have studied and I know it is difficult. But seeing the difficulty or enormity of the task, if we sit doing nothing, then how will things work?"
He further thanked the farmers who came for the kisan mahapanchayat from far-off places and said that despite doctors not permitting it, it was his desire to meet them all.
Ahead of the mahapanchayat, Mr Dallewal had issued an appeal, saying, “Those who are part of the fight for a legal guarantee to the MSP must reach Khanauri, as I want to have your darshan.”
Speaking at the mahapanchayat, farmers' leader Rakesh Tikait said that next time when the farmers march towards Delhi, instead of surrounding the capital from the inside, KMP Expressway will be surrounded so that the city can be jammed from all sides. He claimed that the Central government is indirectly taking a benefit out of the ongoing farmers' protest at the Khanauri border.
The farmers have been camping at the border crossings of Shambhu and Khanauri since February 13 last year to demand a minimum support price (MSP) that is legally guaranteed, among other things.
