Chandigarh: Even as Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday (December 3) cautioned the Union government against taking farmers’ protests lightly, the fast-unto-death protest by veteran farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal continued unabated at the inter-state Khanauri border point.
Farmer union leaders confirmed that there was no offer for dialogue or negotiations from the government even as Dallewal’s hunger protest entered its ninth day.
Despite health concerns, the 70-year-old farmer leader was committed to staying put unless there was a resolution over accepting farmers’ demands. His supporters said he had lost seven kilograms since the start of his hunger protest on November 26.
Dallewal, who was among the key leaders behind historic farmers’ agitation against the three ‘Farm Bills’ in 2020-21, is also the catalyst for latest ‘Delhi chalo’ march by Punjab farmers – this time over a legal assurance for minimum support prices for crops.
The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) body is actively pushing for the announcement of a march to Delhi by farmers in Punjab on December 6, which too continues to face several hurdles.
The BJP-led Haryana government on Wednesday issued orders through the Ambala deputy commissioner asking protesters to get clearance from the Delhi police before their planned march to the national capital.
Without this clearance, the Ambala administration stated that farmers will not be allowed to cross into Haryana in order to reach the national capital.
The order also highlighted the enforcement in Ambala of Section 163 of the BNSS, which prohibits large gatherings.
Sarwan Singh Pandher, the KMM’s convener, told The Wire that this order was discriminatory and that the Haryana government’s move to thwart their planned march was just as expected.
Pandher said invoking Dallewal that the vice president had said that dialogue with the farmers ought to happen immediately. But farmers were not even allowed to walk towards Delhi, let alone participate in talks or negotiations, he added.
“We had submitted a detailed plan to the Haryana government for our planned march for Delhi in small contingents and expected smooth passage across the state. But the latest order of the Ambala deputy commissioner’s office clearly suggests that they are even threatened with our peaceful protest,” he said.
Pandher said this showed a complete crackdown on democratic norms and was a sign of an autocratic government that was not ready to even listen to those occupying the highest constitutional posts in the country.
No change in plan
Pandher told The Wire that despite the Ambala administration’s prohibitory order, their march to Delhi would begin as planned on December 6.
“Our contingent will remain peaceful. In case we are forcefully targeted and stopped, we will answer with patience, said Pandher, adding: “Let the country know how peaceful protest is forbidden in a democratic nation.”
Sources said that farmers’ unions would reveal a detailed action plan during a media interaction on Thursday.
They had announced that they would leave in jathas. Each consignment will consist of hundreds of farmers and farm labourers.
The first jatha leaving from the Shambhu barrier on December 6 on the Punjab-Haryana-Delhi national highway will consist of senior leaders from both the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and KMM unions.
Another farmer leader, Guramneet Singh, told The Wire that when their first jatha would start its march to Delhi on December 6, farmer bodies in other states including Kerala, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu would also take out marches towards their respective state assemblies.
