70-Year-Old Indian Farmer Leader on Hunger Strike for Over 40 Days Demanding Farmers’ Rights

New Delhi:A 70-year-old farmer leader from India, **Jaggjit Singh Dilliwal**, has been on a hunger strike for more than 40 days, demanding the Indian federal government to meet the long-standing demands of protesting farmers. His health has rapidly deteriorated, with doctors reporting that he is now unable to speak. Despite this, Dilliwal and his supporters have refused medical assistance thus far.

Last month, the Supreme Court of India directed the Punjab state government to hospitalize Dilliwal, but there has been no implementation of the order so far. His hunger strike is part of a larger protest that began in February of the previous year when thousands of farmers gathered at the Punjab and Haryana border, demanding specific rights and changes in agricultural policies.

Dilliwal’s main demands include the assurance of minimum prices for certain crops, loan waivers, and compensation for the families of farmers who died during the previous round of protests. Since then, protesters have attempted to march toward the national capital, Delhi, but have been stopped by security forces at the borders.

This is not the first time Indian farmers have organized large-scale protests to bring attention to their issues. In 2020, farmers protested for months at the Delhi borders against agricultural laws introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The government claimed that the laws would bring reforms to agricultural production and benefit the community, while farmers feared that the laws would make them vulnerable to exploitation by large corporations.

After months of intense protests, the controversial agricultural laws were eventually repealed. However, farmers continue to argue that the government has not fulfilled many of their other demands, such as those made in 2020.

### Who is Jaggjit Singh Dilliwal?

Dilliwal hails from Punjab, a state in India where agriculture plays a major role in providing livelihoods. However, due to ongoing issues like falling agricultural income, rising debt, suicides among farmers, and migration, the farming community has been in crisis.

He leads a group of farmers who are aligned with **Sanyukt Kisan Morcha**, a coalition of farmer unions that supported the 2020 protests. Dilliwal has previously led demonstrations against land acquisition policies in Punjab and has demanded compensation for families of farmers who have died by suicide due to the financial pressures of farming.

In 2018, he also led a tractor rally to Delhi, demanding the implementation of recommendations made by a government panel in 2004. Before starting his current hunger strike in November, Dilliwal was briefly hospitalized for a health check-up by state police, but he returned to the protest site shortly after, claiming that he had been detained in the hospital.

In a letter to Prime Minister Modi, Dilliwal expressed his willingness to sacrifice his life to prevent further deaths of farmers, pledging that he would be ready to give his life for the cause.

As his health continues to decline, the situation remains tense, with ongoing discussions about the government’s next steps to address the farmers’ demands. The protest underscores the ongoing struggles faced by India’s agricultural community and the broader fight for better policies and fair compensation for farmers across the country.