SC deadline ends today, fasting Dallewal yet to get medical aid
The Punjab Government today continued to remain hopeful that the Centre would invite the protesting farmers for talks as the deadline set by the Supreme Court for providing medical aid to Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal would end tomorrow.
Today again, Dallewal and other protesting farmers refused to accept any medical aid till the Centre offered to hold talks. They turned down the pleas made by the state government to provide medical aid to the fasting septuagenarian farm leader. The state government also decided against the use of any force to lift Dallewal from the protest site at the Khanauri border, where he has been on a fast for 37 days now.
“Any coercive action can lead to collateral damage, as nearly 2,000 farmers are there at the protest site,” a senior police officer said. This is the line the state government will also be taking in the apex court on Thursday, when the case comes up for hearing.
The state government’s “interlocutors” —- retired ADGP Jaskaran Singh and Patiala Range DIG Mandeep Singh Sidhu —- today met SKM (Non-political) leaders at Khanauri with the state government’s proposal that they would urge the Centre to invite them for talks.
However, today’s statement by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Delhi —- that the BJP’s win in Haryana elections had proved that farmers preferred to go for the agrarian development being ushered in by the government —- was seen by the protesting farmers as an indication that the Centre was not going to initiate talks on its own.
Later, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chouhan also said the government would abide by the directions of the Supreme Court.
As a result, the farmer leaders at Khanauri told the interlocutors that they would hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the state government’s proposal. Talking to The Tribune, Kaka Singh Kotra of the BKU (Sidhupur) said the farmers would not relent and Dallewal would not take medical aid unless the Centre specified the place and time of the meeting, and provided the complete agenda for it.
Meanwhile, the leaders of SKM (Non-political) have started seeking help from leaders in other states to scale up their agitation. Today, leaders of the Samajwadi Party from Lakhimpur Kheri met Dallewal and extended their support. Kotra claimed activists from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan have started arriving for the January 4 mahapanchayat.
