A day after fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal agreed to receive medical assistance following an invitation from the Centre for talks next month, 121 farmers who had been on an indefinite hunger strike since January 15 at Khanauri ended their fast on Sunday. These farmers had undertaken the strike in solidarity with Dallewal's protest.

In a further reprieve for the central government, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which led the 2020 farmers’ agitation, postponed its plan to hold demonstrations outside the offices and residences of BJP MPs and senior leaders scheduled for January 20.

Meanwhile, Dallewal’s SKM (Non-Political) faction and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), who met with a central delegation led by Union Agriculture Ministry Joint Secretary Priya Ranjan on Saturday, stated they would decide on Monday whether to proceed with sending a fourth group of 101 farmers to the Shambhu border on January 22.

Previous efforts by protesting farmers to cross from Punjab into Haryana, as part of their demands for a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops, were blocked by Haryana authorities.

Dallewal, who began his hunger strike on November 26 last year at the Khanauri border, has remained steadfast in his protest, vowing not to break his fast until the farmers’ demands are met. After meeting with the government delegation on Saturday, he consented to medical treatment, and intravenous fluids were administered to him around midnight.

On Sunday, Kaka Singh Kotra, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Sidhupur's general secretary, confirmed that the 121 farmers fasting in solidarity with Dallewal at the Khanauri border had decided to end their hunger strike.

“A total of 111 farmers from Punjab sat on a hunger strike from January 15 in support of Jagjit Singh Dallewal, and the next day 10 more farmers from Haryana joined them. On Saturday night, on their appeal Dallewalji had taken medical assistance. After Dallewalji started taking medical assistance, we asked them to end their hunger strike as their demand was fulfilled. All the 121 farmers were offered orange juice Sunday afternoon, and they lifted the hunger strike,” said Kaka Singh Kotra.

“This is a big victory of our struggle as the government had to finally blink,” he added.

Sunday, a Punjab government official visited Khanauri and said, “Dallewal has started taking medical assistance while the 121 farmers have ended the hunger strike… The immense stress at the Khanauri border point has reduced since the farmers used to remain worried about the health of Dallewal and the others who were on fast. Sunday came as a relief day after weeks.”

However, the official said Dhallewal's health was being monitored as he was not eating.

“Dallewal’s hunger strike entered day 55 on Sunday, but his intravenous fluids were started around midnight, and he was feeling better on Sunday.”, said SKM (Non-Political) leader Abhimanyu Kohar.

“Late night, he vomited 3-4 times and was getting dehydrated… However, he accepted medical assistance only after the letter came for the next round of talks (between the farmers and the government),” Kohar further said.

The Centre has extended an invitation to the protesting farmers for a discussion scheduled in Chandigarh on February 14.

While Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian welcomed the decision to resume talks, he suggested on Sunday that the meeting should be held sooner, given Dallewal's health concerns.

“It is a welcome step that the Central government has come forward for talks with the farmers. However, I am surprised why February 14 has been kept as the date of this meeting… Union ministers can always come to Chandigarh to resume talks at the earliest. Dallewalji hasn’t ended his hunger strike yet, and hence, it is not justified to let him wait so long for talks to resume,” Khuddian said to a prominent news portal. 

“I appeal to the Union Agriculture Minister to organise talks within this week, and they shouldn’t delay it any further,” he added.

“In the past, I had written to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan twice for resuming the talks and once raised the issue in a meeting of Agriculture Ministers as well. I will write to him again to bring forward the meeting date and also to accept the demands of the farmers.”

In the meantime, the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) (Non-Political), currently protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points, are set to meet on Monday to decide if a fourth group of 101 farmers will march on foot across the Shambhu border into Haryana on January 22, as announced earlier on January 17. The previous three attempts at such a march were made on December 6, December 8, and December 14.

Tejveer Singh, the spokesperson for BKU Shaheed Bhagat Singh Haryana, a part of the KMM, stated: “We will decide about the January 22 programme on Monday after a meeting. In addition, we are worried about Dallewalji as without food, his health is still at a risk.”

Meanwhile, SKM National Coordination Committee member Dr Darshan Pal declared that the sit-in program on Monday before the BJP MPs and senior leaders' offices and residences had been postponed.

“We welcome the decision of fasting farmer leader Dallewal to receive medical support and wish him quick recovery and good health,” he stated.

“In view of the positive development regarding the health of Dallewal, the SKM calls upon all units to send out a memorandum to MPs through email instead of holding Kisan Dharna outside their offices on January 20…,” he added.

On January 24, SKM will have a general meeting in Delhi to unite the protesting farmers' unions. As per the sources, if the unity plan is implemented, six members from each SKM (non-political), KMM and SKM can participate in the talks with the Centre.