Jagjit Singh Dallewal has not ended hunger strike, says farmer leader

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has not ended his indefinite hunger strike, PTI reported on Saturday, quoting one of his aides.

This came a day after the Punjab government told the Supreme Court that Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike since November 26, accepted water and broke his fast on Friday morning.

Dallewal, chief of the farm group Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), has been on a hunger strike at Khanauri, located on the Punjab-Haryana border.

His strike is part of a wider campaign by Punjab’s farm groups to press the Union government to accept their demand for legally guaranteed minimum support prices. The minimum support price is the cost at which the government procures crops from farmers.

“Dallewal drank a glass of water after farmer leaders were released," Abhimanyu Kohar, Dallewal’s aide, was quoted as saying by PTI. “We want to make it clear that a false impression was being given that Dallewal has ended his indefinite fast. His hunger strike continues.”

On March 19, several farmer leaders, including Sarwan Singh Pandher, Abhimanyu Kohar, Kaka Singh Kotra, were detained by the Punjab Police while returning after meeting with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh.

The police had also dismantled temporary structures from the Shambhu and Khanauri...

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