Addressing a kisan mahapanchayat at Dallewal village in Faridkot district, accused the Aam Aadmi government (AAP) in Punjab of ‘betraying’ them by forcefully evicting the protesters from Shambhu and Khanauri border points.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) senior leader and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) head Jagjit Singh Dallewal, on Thursday vowed that the farmers will rebuild the agitation to press the Centre to accept their demands including a legal guarantee to provide Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.
Addressing a kisan mahapanchayat at Dallewal village in Faridkot district, accused the Aam Aadmi government (AAP) in Punjab of ‘betraying’ them by forcefully evicting the protesters from Shambhu and Khanauri border points.
“The government which betrayed us may uproot the agitation but not my heart. Our effort is to rebuild this agitation. The two forums will sit together and discuss how to take it across the country,” said Dallewal.
Dallewal said this fight was for saving Punjab’s water, and crop diversification is the only tool to conserve the depleting groundwater table of the state and for it the Centre should ensure a legal guarantee for the crops.
Dallewal, who has been on hunger strike since November 26 last year, reached his native place in Faridkot after getting discharged from a hospital in Patiala today. He addressed union supporters from different districts. The leadership of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) was not present at the event.
“Centre should not succumb to the pressure mounted by the US-based corporate sector to gain control over the Indian agricultural sector, the veteran farmer leader said.
Dallewal said a meeting with farmer unions would be convened soon.
The farmer leader reiterated that his indefinite fast would continue till the farmers’ demands were met.
The Punjab Police on March 19 detained farmer leaders in Mohali when they were returning from a meeting with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh.
The meeting was organised to discuss the farmers’ demands, especially the MSP guarantee. As the departing farmers entered Mohali after the meeting, they were met with heavy barricading and some of their leaders were detained.
The police evicted the farmers and dismantled temporary structures from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points.
