Several farmer leaders, including Dallewal, were allegedly detained in Mohali on March 19 amid crackdown
Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal had been on an indefinite fast since November 26, 2024. File pic
Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was on an indefinite hunger strike in support of various demands, accepted water and broke his fast on Friday morning, the Punjab government told the Supreme Court.
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A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh was told by advocate general Gurminder Singh for Punjab that they have dispersed the protesting farmers at Khanauri and Shambhu borders, and opened all blocked roads and highways.
Farmers, under the banners of SKM and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, had been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
Genuine leader, says SC
The Supreme Court on Friday said septuagenarian Dallewal, who ended his indefinite hunger strike in support of farmers' several demands after about four months, was a “genuine leader without a political agenda”. The top court lauded Dallewal, calling him a genuine farmer leader who had raised real issues of the farming community without any political agenda.
“We know some people did not want settlement of grievances of farmers. We are not sitting in an ivory tower. We know everything,” the apex court said. The top court also asked the high powered committee headed by former high court judge to look into the grievances of farmers, to also file a supplementary status report. In September, 2024, the top court formed a high-powered committee with the aim to amicably resolve the grievances of protesting farmers.
Detained leaders released
Farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher, Abhimanyu Kohar and Kaka Singh Kotra, detained in a recent police crackdown following a meeting with a central delegation, were released on Friday.
Several farmer leaders were detained duirng a police crackdown on March 19 after they were returning from a meeting with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Chandigarh.
Speaking to reporters in Patiala after his release on Friday, Pandher said that given the Punjab Police’s action against the farmers, it is now clear that the state government was hand-in-glove with the Centre to “save AAP leaders in Delhi from the ED actions”.
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