Won’t end fast, let govt do whatever it can: Dallewal

In the light of the Supreme Court order on shifting farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal to a hospital, retired ADGP Jaskaran Singh visited Khanauri on behalf of the state government this evening.

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Jaskaran Singh held talks with committee members of the morcha, namely Kaka Singh Kotra and Sukhjit Singh Hardo Jhande. However, the talks between the morcha leaders and the retired ADGP remained inconclusive.

Lakhwinder Singh Aulakh, state president of the Bharatiya Kisan Ekta, Haryana, confirmed the development. He said the retired ADGP held talks with the committee members of the morcha for over 30 minutes, urging them that they should convince Dallewal to take medical treatment and get admitted to a hospital.

However, both leaders reportedly told the retired ADGP to put pressure on the state government to compel the Centre to accept and implement farmers’ demands.

The retired ADGP also met Dallewal and tried to convince him to take medical treatment but Dallewal declined his request.

In a video message later, Dallewal said he had reports that the state government was preparing to crush the farmers’ protest at Khanauri tonight. He appealed to the people to reach the morcha site in large numbers to save the movement.

Meanwhile, farm leader Surjit Singh Phul said government representatives had earlier asked them to convince Dallewal to agree to get admitted to a hospital by 3 pm on Sunday, or they would have to resort to “other methods”. Dallewal, however, maintained that he would not end his indefinite fast, let the government do whatever it could.

Phul said the “Punjab Bandh” on Monday would be historic as all Punjabis had extended support to the call. The state government should read the writing on the wall and refrain from using force to remove Dallewal from the protest site.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Sunday appealed to the Supreme Court not to become a partner in Centre’s attempts of suppressing and defaming the farmers’ movement.

SKM (Non-Political) leader Abhimanyu Kohar said if any force was used to remove Dallewal from the protest site, the Centre and the constitutional institutions passing such orders would be responsible for any loss of life or property.

Another SKM (Non-Political) leader Kaka Singh Kotra said it had come to their notice that the state government had requisitioned force for removing Dallewal from the protest site. He appealed to the farmers to reach Khanauri in large numbers in view of the emerging situation.