Logjam continues as 111 farmers join Dallewal on fast-unto-death

Chandigarh, Jan 15 (PTI) Ramping up the pressure on the government, a group of 111 farmers began a fast-unto-death on Wednesday in solidarity with their leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, and vowed they won't relent until their demands are met.

Farmer leaders said the new 'jatha', who are all in black attire, sat on the Haryana side of the border -- Dallewal has been sitting on the hunger strike since November 26 last year at the Khanauri border point on the Punjab side -- and arrangement are being made for tents and blankets as the temperature dips in the region.

The jurisdiction of Haryana's Jind district begins after Khanauri. The Haryana Police has enhanced security on its side of the border and imposed Section 163 of Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, banning gathering of five or more people.

The protesting farmers have expressed concern over Dallewal's "deteriorating" health, saying the 70-year-old risks "multiple organ failure" because of the prolonged fasting.

The group of 111 farmers who joined the fast on Wednesday was led by farmer leader Surjit Singh Hardojhande who targeted the Centre for not accepting farmers' demands.

"For the past 51 days, Dallewal has been on the fast. The Centre is not accepting our demands and his health is deteriorating," he said. "If our family head (Dallewal) is going to die then we thought we should also lay down our lives." "Our jatha is going (for an indefinite fast) to press the Centre to initiate talks and accept our demands," said Hardojhande.

The fast will continue till the government accepts our demands, he asserted.

After the 111 protesters began their fast, farmer leader Kata Singh Kotra said, "We have told the Haryana police we will sit in a peaceful manner." Jind Deputy Superintendent of Police Amit Bhatia said police have asked the farmers not to do anything which vitiates law and order and disturbs peace.

"Section 163 is already in force and farmers have been informed about it. We are keeping utmost restraint and our effort is to deal with it in a peaceful manner. We have told them the terms and conditions for a peaceful demonstration," he said.

The DSP said the stretch of the land where the farmers began their fast on Wednesday falls under Haryana. "Our jurisdiction is 590 meters from the naka (police barricading)," said the DSP.

Farmers, under the banner of the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after security forces did not allow them to march to Delhi to press for their various demands including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar, who has been associated with Dallewal for a long time, lashed out at the Union government on Wednesday for not "paying a heed" to farmers' demands. "Today, Dallewal's fast-unto-death entered day 51. The Centre is neither ready to listen to anything nor it is initiating talks nor fulfilling our demands." On the status of Dallewal's health, Kohar said it is "critical". Doctors have said his body is not even accepting water and whenever he takes water, he throws up, according to Kohar.

The protesting farmers had earlier said if anything untoward happens to Dallewal, the Centre might not be able to handle what comes afterwards.

When asked about holding talks with the protesting farmers to end the logjam, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently said the government would act in accordance with the Supreme Court's instructions.

Doctors attending to Dallewal have already said his health is "deteriorating" every day. His ketone level is on a higher side and muscle mass has decreased, they have said. The farmers earlier said Dallewal had not been eating anything since November 26 last year and was just surviving on water.

On December 20 last year, the apex court put the onus on Punjab government officials and doctors to decide on Dallewal's hospitalisation.

Dallewal's fast-unto-death, which has now entered day 51, is among the longest in Independent India's history. The first notable fast-unto-death in Independent India was Potti Sriramulu's in 1952. His death following 58 days of fasting sparked violent protests and led to the creation of Andhra Pradesh in 1953.

In 1969, Sikh leader Darshan Singh Pheruman died after fasting for 74 days over the inclusion of Punjabi-speaking regions, including Chandigarh, in Punjab.

In November 2000, activist Irom Sharmila began an indefinite hunger strike against the killing of 10 civilians allegedly by the Assam Rifles in Manipur. She later added the removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) as her demand.

In 2006, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee sat on a hungers trike against alleged forcible land acquisition by the Left government in West Bengal for the Tata Nano factory. She called off her strike after 25 days.

In 2011, activist Anna Hazare sat on a hunger strike seeking a Lokpal. The UPA government accepted his demands less than four days into his indefinite fast.

More recently, activist Manoj Jarange-Patil led a series of fasts for Maratha reservation in Maharashtra.

In October, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk held a 21-day hunger strike to demand constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory of Ladakh, and the protection of its ecologically fragile ecosystem from industrial and mining lobbies. PTI CHS VSD TIR TIR