PUCL urges PM to urgently accept protesting farmers' demands, ending 10 month impasse at Punjab border

Counterview Desk

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has appealed to the Prime Minister to urgently accept the demands of the protesting farmers relating to legal guarantee for MSP, complete waiver of loans.

Asking him to ensure that there is negotiation which brings an end to the 28 days of the fast unto death of 73-year-old Farmers leader, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, in a statement it insists on ending the impasse of the last 10 months on Shambhu and Khanauri border.

Text:

The PUCL is shocked at the heartless manner in which the Government of India has refused to respond to the 10-month long protest of the farmers who have been sitting on the Khanauri and Shambhu borders of Punjab. What is worse is the complete disregard and callous attitude towards the fast unto death of 73-year-old Jagjit Singh Dallewal, the leader of the SKM (Non-Political), who according to the doctors on the 27th day of the fast (22nd Dec, 2024), is very critical and faces a very high risk of cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure if the fast is not withdrawn. Yet no representatives of the Government have been sent to negotiate or listen to either Jagjit Singh Dallewal or the group of protesting farmers who have been sitting at the borders.

A democracy is about listening to the voice of the people and when farmers are expressing their pain, anger and dissent, it is imperative that a government listen to them. Ignoring the protests sends out a message that the government is not response to the concerns of the farmers, who are the lifeblood of the nation. This authoritarian path of ignoring and crushing dissent taken by the Union of India does no justice to the image of India being the world’s largest democracy.

It may be recalled that the year-long farmers protest (November, 2021 to December, 2022) on Delhi borders, was lifted by farmers groups with the Government of India promising to ensure legal guarantee for the MSP for all crops amongst other demands. When fourteen months had passed with no response, a section of the farmers were extremely agitated. It was only after much thought that, on 13th February, 2023, two platforms of Farmers with hundreds of unions and groups, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha decided to march in several thousands, to Delhi to make the Government of India accountable to the promises made to lakhs of protesting farmers at the Delhi border in 2022.

As expected, they were stopped at both the Punjab - Haryana border villages of Khanauri and Shambhu in Punjab. It may be recalled the farmers were fired on with bullets and pellets killing one person and injuring several. There was police torture of some of the young farmers who were then admitted to hospital ( link PUCL press note on famers protest).

In the very initial period, some ministers of the Union Government did come and talk to the farmers leaders, urging them to not march to Delhi. However, when the farmers did not withdraw their plans, the Government of India refused to even meet them and decided to ignore them.

Several efforts were made by the farmers, but the GOI refused to hear the farmers in the last 10 months. It was the Supreme court who intervened and set up a committee to examine the feasibility of the demands made to the Government of India. The GOI has refused to make the committee report public.

When there was a complete denial of response from the Government and repression by Haryana police, in letting the protesting farmers get to Delhi, Jagjit Singh Dalewal started a fast unto death from the 26th of November, as a last resort, with the objective of making their voice and demands heard. When even that was not responded to by the callous attitude of the Government of India, the farmers on the 6th, 8th and 14th of December, in groups of hundreds tried to get into Haryana and march to Delhi, unarmed on foot, leaving behind their tractors.

The Haryana police decided to stop the marchers by using sophisticated weapons, like tear gas shells which were dangerous and lethal. The farmers also carried out Rail Roko Andolan on the 18th of December, but the Government of India has refused to respond in any way, ignoring the protest and treating it like a law-and-order problem. Earlier this month, Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher announced that the farmers had given a call for 'Punjab bandh' on December 30.

We at PUCL believe that the Government ought to be urgently addressing the demands of the protesting farmers. We also demand that the Supreme Court report to be made public and urge the Government to engage in a dialogue with Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Sarwan Singh Pander and other farmer leaders. A primary demand is the Legal Guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops. Additionally, farmers are calling for the withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022, opposing proposed electricity reforms and the ongoing installation of smart meters for agricultural connections. The farmers also demand a Comprehensive Debt Waiver, seeking the complete cancellation of outstanding loans. Another critical issue is the withdrawal of police cases linked to the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Protesters argue these cases are politically motivated and aim to suppress legitimate dissent. They also demand justice for the victims of the incident, including an impartial investigation and a fair trial for those accused. Further demands include reinstating the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and providing compensation to the families of farmers who lost their lives during the 2020-21 agitation.

The PUCL demands that these concerns be addressed as only if that is done that justice will be done to the farmers.

-- Kavita Srivastava (President), V. Suresh (General Secretary), PUCL

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By A Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Search This Blog