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Your support makes all the difference.The health of an elderly, cancer-stricken farmer who is taking part in a hunger strike in north India has worsened after he rejected calls by the Narendra Modi government to end his protest.
Doctors have advised Jagjit Singh Dallewal, 68, who has been on a hunger strike for nearly a month and a half at a makeshift tent city in the Khanauri area of Punjab, be admitted to an intensive care unit after he collapsed on Saturday while addressing farmer protesters.
Mr Dallewal is one of the faces of a fresh round of farmer protests in north India seeking agricultural reforms and fair prices. The first round of protests in 2020-21 saw thousands of farmers camp on the national capital Delhi’s border for nearly a year, forcing the Modi government to repeal a set of contentious farm laws.
“His condition is extremely critical and serious. Doctors have requested shifting him to hospital but he has declined medical help saying farm reforms are more important than his body and life,” Abhimanyu Kohar, a young farmer leader who is helping monitor Mr Dallewal’s health, said.
Mr Dallewal, a leader of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, a coalition of over 40 farmer unions, legally transferred his property to his family saying he was ready to die if the government did not heed their demands.
“He is unable to stand on his feet, his blood pressure reading is at 75/45,” Mr Kohar said. “We’ve been rubbing his feet constantly and keeping them elevated to ensure blood circulation.”
Mr Dallewal was diagnosed with prostate cancer four years ago.
“Mr Dallewal has, on multiple occasions, requested Mr Modi to heed the farmers’ request to guarantee a law on minimum support price, loan debt waiver, compensation for the families of farmers who have died by suicide and during the protests since 2020,” Mr Kohar said, mentioning some of the 13 demands made by the protesters.
The minimum support price guarantee – a standard rate set by the federal government for procurement of various crops – is one of the main demands of the farmers. The minimum support price mechanism is already in effect for a number of crops but the farmers want it expanded.
After reluctantly withdrawing the three contentious laws to end the first round of farmer protests in 2021, the Modi government promised to address the other demands of the farmers. It never did, farmer leaders allege, forcing them to return to the streets in late 2024.
The farmers launched a march to Delhi but were stopped outside the capital. They then set up makeshift camps along the national highways connecting Punjab to Delhi.
In December, Mr Dallewal published an open letter to the prime minister arguing that minimum crop prices were equivalent to the right to live for farmers.
“To stop the death of farmers, I have decided to sacrifice my life,” he wrote, pushing the government to pay attention.
Photos and videos shared with The Independent show the feeble farmer leader covered in blankets in his tent. Temperatures have dropped as low as 5C at night where his tent is pitched.
“The Indian prime minister has time to meet Indian actors, sportspersons and attend a billionaire’s wedding but not to come meet the farmers fighting for a minimum support price for feeding the country,” Mr Kohar said.
Alerted to Mr Dallewal’s deteriorating health, the Supreme Court sent a committee led by retired judge Nawab Singh to visit him on Monday.
Mr Singh told the farm leader the court was concerned about his condition and had been issuing orders to ensure his good health.
“It has been 42 days,” Mr Dallewal reportedly replied. “Nothing will happen to me, I have God by my side. But if the government could show some mercy to farmers.
“I do not need to observe a fast if the government fulfills our demands and I request you take up the issue with the government now to resolve this.”
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