111 farmers start hunger strike in solidarity with farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal

A group of 111 farmers began an indefinite hunger strike on Wednesday in solidarity with farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, reported PTI.

Dallewal, a 70-year-old cancer patient, has been on a hunger strike at Khanauri, at the border between Punjab and Haryana, since November 26. His health is reportedly steadily deteriorating.

The strike is part of a wider campaign to press the Union government to accept farmers’ demand for legally guaranteed minimum support prices. The minimum support price is the rate at which the government procures crops from farmers.

“Farmers are emotional and they have said that they will also follow Dallewal and start an indefinite fast in a peaceful manner,” farm leader Abhimanyu Kohar was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Besides a legal guarantee for minimum support prices, the farmers have also been demanding the implementation of the MS Swaminathan Commission’s wider recommendations for farming in India, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, a farm debt waiver, the reinstatement of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act and justice for victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

The farmers have alleged that the Union government has not taken steps to address their demands, claiming that no talks have been held since February.

Since then, they have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border, under the banner of…

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