Govt’s responsibility to end farm leader Dallewal’s protest, find solution: Kharge

The central government should remember its constitutional responsibility and ensure that the fast-unto-death of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, comes to an end, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Friday amid mounting concerns over his health.

The Punjab government set up a medical board to monitor 70-year-old Dallewal’s health after he fainted on Thursday.

Kharge’s remarks on Friday came amid the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Punjab-Haryana border since February under the banners of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. They are demanding the legal recognition of the minimum support price (MSP) and broader agricultural reforms.

Dallewal has been on a ”fast unto death” since November 26 at the Punjab-Haryana Khanauri border in support of the farmers’ demands.

Expressing concern over his deteriorating health – a doctor on Thursday said Dallewal’s life was hanging by a thread – Kharge criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what he called the government’s “anti-farmer policies, stubbornness, and false promises.”

“You must understand that because of your anti-farmer policies, stubbornness, and false promises, our farmers, who provide us food, are pleading for justice from your government. Farmers have self-respect because they feed the country. Lathi-charging, tear gas, rubber bullets, and abusive words like ‘agitator’ and ‘parasite’ will not work every time,” Kharge said in a post on X in Hindi.

Kharge also recalled PM Modi, when he announced the decision to scrap the three contentious farm laws in November 2021, had also announced setting up of a committee to look into issues related to agriculture such as transparency in establishing MSP.

“The whole country wants to know what happened to that promise. Do not forget that farmers are the backbone of the country, and betraying them is betraying the country,” he said.

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