Jagjit Singh Dallewal: Life On The Line For The Farmers' Cause

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 바카라�to make the government hear바카라� the demands of the farmers, which include legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers. 바카라�He is fighting for the farmers. He is standing up to the Modi sarkar for us,바카라� 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 Dallewal바카라�s hunger strike in solidarity on January 15, 2025. 바카라�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,바카라� he says. Ten farmers from Haryana바카라�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 ji. 바카라�Even if we fall sick, we will not accept treatment unless the government talks to us and holds a dialogue with farmers,바카라� 60-year-old Avtaar Singh from Fategarh Sahib says. 바카라�In the untoward incident of his death, he (Dallewal) has instructed us to not move his body from the protest site until the government relents,바카라� Baldev Singh, Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Sidhupur) Bhatinda district president shares. 바카라�Our movement is a non-violent one and Dallewal ji is leading a satyagraha to pressurise the government to fulfil its promises to farmers.바카라�

While the protests at Shambhu are being led by Sarwan Singh Pandher바카라�s Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, the Khanauri protests are organised by the Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Sidhupur) and SKM (non-political), a breakaway faction of the larger umbrella body of SKM, which led the 2020-21 farmers protests. As Dallewal바카라�s health deteriorates his followers바카라�the hundreds of farmers who have been protesting in Khanauri, Shambhu and Ratanpura for nearly a year바카라� are nevertheless losing patience. 바카라�We are all hoping and praying for Dallewal바카라�s health. But if something happens to him, we won바카라�t be able to control public sentiment and there is very real possibility of chaos and violence,바카라� a senior SKM (non-political) leader said.

Born on October 4, 1958, to a family of farmers in Dallewala village in Punjab바카라�s Faridkot district, Dallewal holds a Masters바카라� degree in political science. 바카라�He was always interested in farming and pursuing issues faced by farmers,바카라� his sister Jasveer Kaur, 66, says. Ever since he sat on his 바카라�aamaran ansan바카라�, she has been camping outside his glass enclosure near the 바카라�stage바카라� area of the Khanauri protests. 바카라�How can I leave my brother alone here?바카라� she asks, teary-eyed.

Despite securing a job as a superintendent inspector (SI) in the Punjab Police, Dallewal chose to become a full-time agriculturalist and for the last 44 years, he has been working as a member of the Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Sidhupur), to emancipate the farmers and workers community.

BKU Ekta (Sidhupur) was formed by Sardar Pishora Singh Sidhupur, who became its first president in 1994. The farmer leader deeply influenced Dallewal in his youth. After his death in 2017, Dallewal, who had risen from village to block level before becoming the group바카라�s Faridkot district president바카라�a position he held for 18 years바카라�was elected as his successor as the group바카라�s national president. Since then, he has worked hard to expand the group바카라�s footprint. From being limited to eight-ten districts when he took over, the BKU Ekta (Sidhupur) now has a presence across every district of Punjab and is the second largest farmers union within the state.

Dallewal바카라�s son Gurpinder Singh, who has been taking care of the homefront while his father has been away at Khanauri since last year, says that for Dallewal the farmers바카라� cause comes before his own family. In February 2018, he had led a tractor march to Delhi to demand the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission바카라�s recommendations. In March, he joined Anna Hazare바카라�s hunger strike at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. Before this, Dallewal had demonstrated for 35 days in Punjab. In January 2019, he started a five-day hunger strike in Chandigarh and another in January 2021 when he became part of a chain hunger strike at the Delhi border as part of the larger farmers바카라� protest against the three contentious farm laws introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

In November 2022, Dallewal launched another hunger strike following Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann바카라�s comments against farmers바카라� unions. In June 2023, Dallewal undertook yet another hunger strike as he demonstrated outside the head office of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in Patiala for fulfilment of 21 demands pertaining to water and electricity supply for farmers. The strike continued for nearly a week before the Punjab Police forcibly hospitalised him for treatment. The current hunger strike is his sixth and longest. Dallewal started the fast on November 26, 2024 to coincide with the anniversary of the farmers protest 2020 which began on November 26 as well.

During the 2020-21 farmers바카라� movement, Dallewal was diagnosed with prostrate cancer and has been undergoing chemotherapy for four years. Despite that, he continued to actively protest바카라�first against the farm laws and then for the implementation of MSP and other demands including waiving of loans for farmers and workers.

Some claim Dallewal has moved the BKU Ekta (Sidhupur) away from the leftist orientation of Pishora Sidhupur. His participation in the Anna Hazare movement add to such critiques. But a senior leader of the SKM (non-political) says that Dallewal was opposed to religious radicalism and resisted from commenting on Sikh radicalisation and the Khalistan debate. Dallewal says he has no interest in electoral politics (one of the reasons behind forming SKM (non political). Dallewal and his followers maintain that the hunger strike is 바카라�not a political stunt바카라� and that Dallewal is on the path to 바카라�바카라�shahadat바카라�바카라� (martyrdom).

바카라�The seven lakh farmers who died by suicide in the few years due to the bad policies of the UPA or NDA government, their lives were more precious than my life. The lives of the orphaned children of those farmers are more essential than my life. It is essential to stop these farmer suicides,바카라� Dallewal conveyed through his next-in-command Abhimanyu Kohar at the protest site in Khanauri. After announcing his plans to undertake the strike last November, Dallewal visited his home in Faridkot to draw up a will. 바카라�In his will, he transferred all his land to me, my wife and our son,바카라� says Gurpinder. Dallewal바카라�s daughter-in-law Harpreet Kaur calls him a feminist. 바카라�He gave me two acres of land and 10.5 acres to our son. In Punjab, where daughters-in-law are often seen as outsiders, this is a big deal,바카라� she says.

Dallewal lost his wife on January 27, 2024, days ahead of the proposed date of starting the protests. Undeterred, he addressed farmers at a Mahapanchayat in Haryana on February 3, where he said, 바카라�What is done is done, it바카라�s god바카라�s will. But the farmers fraternity is also my family and I want to dedicate all my energy to it,바카라� Gurpinder recalls.

Back in Khanauri, the mood remains grim. Doctors attending to Dallewal on site say his medical reports indicate signs of starvation ketosis. Dallewal바카라�s sister Jasveer Kaur warns, 바카라�If anything happens to Dallewal saab or any of the striking farmers here, the entire farmer community of Punjab will hold the government of India responsible.바카라�

(This appeared in the print as 'The Farmer바카라�Composing Antagonist')