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Journalism of Courage
WITH two days to go for a deadline set by the Supreme Court for hospitalisation of fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, the Punjab government is racing against time, without making much headway.
Sources said that twice since Saturday evening, the Aam Aadmi Party government has sent a delegation of senior police officers to Khanauri on the Haryana border to meet Dallewal and open a channel of communication with the protesters, but failed to convince the farmer leader to break his fast. Till reports last came in, another team was at the spot talking to Dallewal and other protesters.
The Supreme Court, which will hold its next hearing on the issue on December 31, pulled up the Punjab government severely Saturday, saying there was an “impression” that it was not doing enough to save Dallewal’s life. When the state argued that the protesters had called youth to gather at the spot to thwart any move to shift Dallewal, the Court asked why the situation had been allowed to reach this stage. “It is abetment of suicide. You first create a problem and then you take a plea, now there is a problem, we can do nothing,” the Bench said.
If the state government fails to get Dallewal to agree to medical help, it may have to use force to admit him to a hospital or face contempt of court. Given the situation at Khanauri, the Bhagwant Mann government will want to avoid this scenario, particularly as a similar attempt at the start of the fast by Dallewal had backfired on it.
A government functionary told The Indian Express, “As of now, there is no headway. Dallewal is adamant, he does not want to break his fast unto death till the Centre agrees to the farmers’ demands, the foremost being a legal guarantee for MSP on all crops and the waiver of debts of farmers.”
The official said they had gone to Dallewal with a clean slate and urged him that a way be found so that “there is no collateral damage and the Supreme Court order is complied with at the same time”. “We are trying to find a solution so that there is a graceful exit for both Dallewal and the Punjab government.”
The official admitted that the government feared the worst if it used force, and the farmers must realise this. “There could be loss of human lives. There are farmers guarding Dallewal. Police might have to use extreme measures.”
But Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarvan Singh Pandher, whose outfit is part of the Khanauri protests, suggested that the farmers were ready for the consequences. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said: “Dallewal saab has already said he will not relent. It now depends on the Centre and Punjab government whether they want the blood of farmers on their hands. I have already appealed to the youth from villages near Patiala to reach Khanauri border by Sunday night so that police are not successful if they plan an operation to pick up Dallewal in the dark of night.”
The official admitted that the state government was caught in a cleft stick, given that the Supreme Court order has to be complied with. “We were waiting for the CM to come back from Australia. He is back. Mann spoke to DGP Gaurav Yadav and Chief Secretary K A P Sinha. The government is now working out a way, otherwise our Chief Secretary and DGP can face arrests.”
The timing of Mann’s Australia trip in the midst of the crisis had earlier received flak from the Opposition.
A legal expert, who did not want to be identified, said there were only two options before the Punjab government: “getting the deadline order vacated or modified, or simply complying with it”.
Another legal expert said that if the deadline is not met, “technically, the Supreme Court can summon them (the officers), hold them guilty of contempt. It would be the most aggravated form of contempt”.
Pandher said that was not a concern of the farmers. “Why is contempt of court only applicable to farmers and labourers?” he said.
On the face of it, the AAP government remained optimistic. Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, who met Dallewal Friday – almost the entire state Cabinet has made the trip over the past month of the fast – told The Indian Express: “We had a very good meeting. Dallewal did not say anything negative, but said he would not break his fast. Now, officials are engaging with him. Let us hope all this ends peacefully.”
Cheema added that the Centre too bore responsibility for the situation, and “should at least talk to the agitating farmers”. “The Supreme Court should tell the Centre to sort out the issue.”
The state government earlier removed Dallewal from the site on the intervening night of November 25-26, before he began his fast. Police broke into his temporary hut, and it was all over in a matter of minutes as there were very few protesters around.
Admitted to a Ludhiana hospital, Dallewal had begun his strike as planned on November 26, from the hospital itself. At the Khanauri site, another farmer union leader, Sukhjit Singh Hardojhande, had taken up the fast on his behalf.
However, the anger over Dallewal’s removal had led to the Khanauri protest swelling, with farmers coming from across the state. Some of their ire was now also directed towards the Punjab government, apart from the Centre. With the civic polls coming, the AAP government had given in and discharged Dallewal on November 29 evening. Dallewal had resumed his hunger strike at Khanauri then, with Hardojhande suspending his fast.
Government sources admitted that crucial time was lost after that, as the AAP got busy with the civic polls, and then the results.
