starbet777 Farmers Strive For Unity, Driven By Dallewal, Unmet Demands

Updated:2025-01-20 04:36    Views:62

Now and Then: Farmers protesting at Khanauri border | Photo: Vikram Sharma Now and Then: Farmers protesting at Khanauri border | Photo: Vikram Sharma

It’s simple and to the point. A lucid exhortation to unite for self-protection—“kalle-kalle maar na khao, kathe hoke age ayo (alone we’re thrashed, each of us; let’s be one and step ahead)”—seems to have become the rallying cry of farmer unions in Punjab whose unprecedented unity during the year-long agitation in 2020-21 had forced the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre to accept their main demand: the repeal of three farm laws it had introduced that faced stiff opposition for allegedly aiming to facilitate big-business domination of agriculture in the name of hiking farmers’ incomes. This unity had lasted until the formation of the Samyukta Samaj Morcha by Balbir Singh Rajewalstarbet777, a leader of the coalition spearheading the agitation, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), in order to contest the 2022 assembly election in Punjab.

It was in opposition to this move that the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) led by the 70-year-old Jagjit Singh Dallewal broke away from the SKM and later formed the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political). Now the veteran farmer leader’s ongoing hunger strike at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border since November 26, 2024, demanding a legal guarantee for a Minimum Support Price (MSP) in grain procurement, is pushing the estranged farmer unions to get closer again. On January 16, the SKM (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM)—under whose banners the protesting farmers have been camping at Khanauri and Shambhu on the Punjab-Haryana border since February 13 last year when their march to Delhi was stopped by the Haryana police—decided that a “jatha” (group) of 101 farmers would try to march to Delhi again on January 21 from the Shambhu border. Such attempts had been made last year on December 6, December 8 and December 14, and were thwarted every time by the Haryana police. KMM leader Sarwan Singh Pandher told reporters that both the forums decided to intensify the agitation as they feel the central government is not ready for any talks.

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On January 18, 10 farmers from Haryana joined the 111 farmers from Punjab who had been on hunger strike for three days already at Khanauri in solidarity with Dallewal and his demand. “I have decided to sacrifice my life to stop the deaths of farmers. I hope that after my death, the central government will wake up from its slumber and move forward towards fulfilling our 13 demands, including a law on the MSP,” Dallewal, who hails from Dallewal village in Punjab’s Faridkot district, had written to Modi in an open letter.

Regardless of its impact on the government’s plans, the farmer leader’s hunger strike has certainly raised the pitch for the protestors to come together in spite of the differences among their leaders. Indeed, the call of unity was heard on January 9 from the dais at an SKM rally in Moga where Joginder Singh Ugrahan of the BKU (Ugrahan) stood beside BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait and called upon all farmer leaders to stop speaking against each another. Only days earlier, on January 4, Tikait had criticised the protest at the Khanauri border as beneficial to the Narendra Modi government. He was addressing mostly farmer union cadre at the SKM’s Kisan Panchayat at Tohana in Haryana’s Fatehabad district.

A file photo of Rakesh Tikait at Ghazipur border | Photo: PTI A file photo of Rakesh Tikait at Ghazipur border | Photo: PTI

On the same day as the Moga rally, thousands had turned up to see Dallewal, mostly out of emotional identification with him due to the cause behind his fast-unto-death rather than because of any prior association with him or his organisation. In fact, before the January 9 rally, supporters of SKM, which had declared the date of its rally first, had criticised Dallewal’s SKM (Non-Political) and the KMM for announcing a parallel rally. Many had seen it as the latter’s attempt at flexing muscle. “We didn’t expect the SKM (Non-Political) to fix a clashing date for it rally as it sends a wrong message to people,” says Shingara Singh Mann, secretary of BKU (Ugrahan). “We could have postponed our rally, but we had already made the arrangements.” He adds that leaders from SKM and KMM, spearheading the protest at Shambhu border, will meet SKM (Non-Political) leaders at Patran town in Punjab’s Patiala district on January 18.

Besides Dallewal’s hunger strike, another factor behind the newfound drive for unity among farmer unions is the Centre’s draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing, which was released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on November 25, just a day before Dallewal began his fast-unto-death—the same date on which farmers had marched from Punjab to Delhi five years ago demanding repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP, among other demands. Farmer leaders allege that the draft policy seeks to undo whatever the farmers had achieved with the rollback of the farm laws.

In fact, the KMM and SKM (Non-Political)’s call for Punjab bandh on December 30, 2024, found resonance among many who were not associated with any farmer union. Gurjant Singh Khaira, a PhD scholar at Panjab University, Chandigarh, joined his friends and others to block the road at Mullanpur on the Punjab-Chandigarh border. “In our area, most people are not into farming but do business or are self-employed,” says Khaira. “Due to the conflicts among the farmer unions, they had stopped trusting the leaders. But this time they turned up to enforce the shutdown in Dallewal’s support.”

Dallewal’s fast is bringing the farmers’ unions together to fight for the rights of farmers. But how far can his fast carry this unity?

After the Moga rally, the SKM leaders went to meet leaders of Dallewal’s forum and the KMM to invite them to a unity meeting scheduled for January 15, but the leaders at Khanauri asked for an earlier date due to Dallewal’s deteriorating health. The leaders of the largest forum readily agreed and held the meeting on January 13 at Patran town, near Khanauri, where all three groups together burnt copies of the draft policy on agricultural marketing on the occasion of Lohri. They also called for tractor marches across India on Republic Day. “People are waiting for us to be united so they can come out of their villages to pressurise the Modi government to accept our demands,” says Mann of BKU (Ugrahan).

Differences over tactics had first emerged among the farmer leaders during the chaos that ensued in Delhi on January 26, 2021, when several clashes with police took place, mainly involving the protesters who marched towards the Red Fort. Several farm leaders, including Pandher, now leader of KMM, were declared “traitors”. Later, when the Centre decided to repeal the farm laws, many leaders were left disappointed because no guarantee of MSP was legislated. While Rajewal led a group that wanted to return to Punjab as soon as possible to run for polls, Dallewal was among those who were ready to stay at the Delhi border until the MSP guarantee was in place, claims Mann of BKU (Ugrahan). “If only we had stayed on for another month or two, the Modi government would have given anything, including the MSP guarantee, as the Uttar Pradesh election was around the corner,” says Dallewal’s close confidant Abhimanyu Kohar.

While the farmers got no closure even in the case where protestors were run over by the car of a Union minister’s son, the SKM turned into a divided house ravaged by the clashing ambitions of its leaders. Rajewal’s Samyukta Samaj Morcha was humiliated on all seats in the Punjab assembly election. The 22 farmer unions that were its members were expelled from the SKM. On March 14, 2022, an SKM meeting at Delhi’s Gandhi Peace Foundation was stormed by some of the expelled members, which eventually led to the spectacle of two parallel meetings—one on the lawns and one in the convention hall.

Meanwhile, the Haryana union led by Gurnam Singh Chaduni split when a group of his close confidants from Ambala formed the BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), which later became a member of the KMM led by Pandher, who was never part of SKM but protested on the Singhu border in 2020-21. The BKU (Ugrahan), too, split when farmers led by Jaswinder Singh Longowal formed the BKU (Ekta Azad), another member of KMM.

“Efforts for unity began tentatively in 2023 when the SKM formed three committees to talk to Dallewal, Rajewal and Pandher, respectively,” claims senior SKM leader Darshan Pal. While Pal says Dallewal didn’t find the time for him, Joginder Singh Ugrahan has claimed in interviews that the fasting leader didn’t take his calls. Farm leaders from KMM, including Sarwan Singh Pandher, Surjit Phool, Amarjit Maurhi and activist Ramandeep Mann, held at least 14 meetings with different farm leaders from SKM for unity but to no avail.

Without support from SKM, the KMM prepared a charter of 12 demands, including loan waiver and 300 days of work under MNREGA in order to get the support of labourers, too, and convinced the SKM (Non-Political) for a joint march to Delhi demanding MSP. The SKM said more time was needed for a big protest and did not join. A section of SKM’s supporters tried to build narrative on social media that the other unions were working in cooperation with the Centre.

On February 13, 2024, when the protestors were stopped at Shambhu and Khanauri, it didn’t lead to people coming in large numbers from the villages in solidarity. Unlike 2020-21, this time the protest was largely led by union cadre due to the divisions within the farmers’ platforms and could not become a broad mass movement despite the fierce clashes with police. “Despite bringing tractors, we couldn’t remove the barricades,” says Sukhwinder Kaur of BKU (Krantikari). “When one of us was shot dead on February 21, we knew the police was ready to shoot people and the leaders didn’t wish to risk lives of farmers, but such a decision would have led to criticism and pressure from the non-participating farm unions.”

Despite criticism from other unions, KMM and SKM (Non-Political) claim their struggle was behind the INDIA Bloc’s decision to add the MSP guarantee to its manifesto as well asthe MP Charanjit Singh Channi-led committee’s recommendations for implementation of MSP. With the Congress losing the Haryana polls, however, the protestors were stuck at the state’s border and couldn’t march towards Delhi, which they had thought the other unions would join.

Not Alone: A farmer at the Khanauri border protest sitePhoto: Vikram Sharma Not Alone: A farmer at the Khanauri border protest sitePhoto: Vikram Sharma

On December 15, 2024, Pandher wrote to the SKM and the first meeting for unity was held three days later, following which the December 30 Punjab bandh found support from all three platforms. BKU (Ugrahan)’s Mann, BKU (Krantikari)’s Sukhwinder Kaur and Krantikari Kisan Union’s Darshan Pal say “the big fight is against Delhi”, and that it’s time to put the past behind for the sake of uniting the farmers in struggle. “The pressure of north India’s farmers is so much that their leaders have been forced to come together,” says Pandher. Kaur says, “Despite ideological differences, we just need a common minimum programme to fight against the Modi government unitedly. If the SKM joins the struggle, it will help in turning the protest into a mass movement.”

“Our union wishes to propose a joint programme to surround the homes of BJP leaders and free toll plazas where our workers can unite,” says Darshan Pal. “Around six to eight months after the wheat harvesting and paddy plantation, we should march towards Delhi.” According to Mann of BKU (Ugrahan), farmers’ unity needs to go beyond Punjab and Haryana and cover all of India. “We want village-level unity just like we had during the protest of 2020-21,” he says. “This struggle should spread across the entire nation. There are farmers in Bihar who do not even know what MSP is. We need to make them aware, too.”

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The SKM has already held one rally in Tohana town of Fatehabad, while another in Jind is scheduled on January 26. Such efforts are expected to bring more unions into the fold, especially in the backdrop of Dallewal’s fast-unto-death that has tremendous emotional appeal among the Punjabis. Two farmers have committed suicide in support of Dallewal. Other farmer unions too have jumped into the struggle as they do not want to be seen as sitting comfortably while a leader has put his life on the line for farmers. A few people, however, have raised questions on the fast after the Punjab government’s advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court that Dallewal’s health parameters are improving, though he later added that the damage had already been done. Others have questioned his close ties to former BJP ideologue K.N. Govindacharya, which Dallewal’s close confidant Kohar has denied.

Among the 121 farmers fasting in solidarity with Dallewal is 59-year-old Sukhjeet Singh, who retired from the Indian Army as a clerical hawaldar. “Dallewal sahib is our inspiration,” he says. “There were talks about what would we do if our leader dies. We are afraid that more farmers may think of suicide. It is better to die alongside Dallewal sahib than complaining later. We have a list of 500 farmers, including women, who are ready to fast unto death, but we have allowed only 121 farmers to do so right now.”

Dallewal’s fast has brought the spotlight on the protest at Khanauri, which used to be in the shadow of the Shambhu protest site where most of the leadership is based. Now Shambu is less discussed than Khanauri. While many want to save Dallewal’s life, some think his sacrifice would benefit the farmers for whom he struggled all his life. Punjab is not new to fast-unto-deaths. In 1966, Akali leader Sant Fateh sat on such a fast and even threatened self-immolation to demand inclusion of Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas in Punjab. He broke his fast after a promise from India Gandhi but his demands were not fulfilled. Three years later, another Akali leader, Darshan Singh Feruman, sat on a fast-unto-death for the same demand and died. Now Dallewal’s fast is bringing the farmers’ unions together to fight for the rights of farmers. But how far can his fast carry this newfound unity?

Sandeep Singh is a journalist based out of Chandigarh. He writes on farming, religionstarbet777, misinformation, caste and politics

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