Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was on a hunger strike since November 26, ended his indefinite fast on Sunday in Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib district, reported PTI.

“You all have asked me to end the fast unto death,” Dallewal told a gathering of farmers. “I am indebted to you for taking care of the agitation. I respect your sentiments. I accept your order.”

He added that while he was ending his fast, the farmers’ protest will continue.

Dallewal, 70, is the chief of the farm group Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political). His strike was part of a wider campaign by Punjab’s farm groups to press the Union government to accept their demand for legally guaranteed minimum support prices. The minimum support price is the cost at which the government procures crops from farmers.

Besides a legal guarantee, the farmers have also been demanding the implementation of the MS Swaminathan Commission’s wider recommendations for farming in India, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, a farm debt waiver, the reinstatement of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act and justice for victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Dallewal’s announcement came a day after Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan urged him to end his hunger strike, stating that the Centre will meet representatives of farmers’ organisations for talks on May 4.

The talks between the Union government and the farmers’ organisations are ongoing, Chouhan in a social media post. “Farmer leader Shri Jagjit Singh Dallewal has now returned from hospital and we wish him a speedy recovery,” he added.

On March 28, the Punjab government told the Supreme Court that Dallewal had accepted drinking water and broken his fast earlier that day.

The state government also stated that it had dispersed the farmers protesting at the Shambhu and Khannauri borders and opened the highway for traffic.

Farmers had been protesting at Shambhu and Khannauri on the Punjab-Haryana border since February 2024.

However, a day later, Dallewal’s aide Abhimanyu Kohar stated that his strike had not ended. “We want to make it clear that a false impression was being given that Dallewal has ended his indefinite fast,” said Kohar.

He said that Dallewal had only accepted water after the farmer leaders detained on March 19 were released.

Prior to that, Dallewal had agreed to take medical aid in January after the Union government stated it would hold talks with the protesting farmers.

Dallewal stated, however, that he would not end his hunger strike till a legal guarantee on the minimum support price was given.

This came after the Supreme Court intervened in the matter and urged the Punjab government to take the onus of Dallewal’s health.

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