Bathinda: A day after govt released him from a Ludhiana hospital, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal resumed his fast unto death at the farm protest site in Khanauri, falling on the Sangrur-Jind border of Punjab and Haryana, on Saturday.
Dallewal had started his fast to seek a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce, at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana on Nov 26, shortly after police had forcibly got him admitted there.
Sukhjit Singh Harjojhande, a farm leader who had started a fast in Dallewal’s absence at Khanauri, was made to break his fast.
This was the first time Dallewal sat on the fast in public.
Earlier, when Dallewal reached Khanauri, farmers cancelled their protest planned at the Sangrur residence of chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Dec 1.
“I will remain on fast till our demands are met and I will lay down my life if the govt does not accept our demands,” Dallewal said.
Sukhjit said if anything would happen to Dallewal, he would happily step in again. “I will be next person to again start the fast unto death,” he said.
The protesting farmers said though their demands pertained to central govt, Punjab govt unnecessarily meddled into their affairs by picking up Dallewal in the dead of the night.
“Going by it, AAP govt in Punjab has unmasked its anti-farmer face, showing that it is working on the directions of the central govt and try to befool people by claiming it to be farmer friendly,” said a statement issued by SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, which are behind the protests in Khanauri and Shambhu border sites.