Will boycott May 4 talks if Punjab invited: Farmer leader Dallewal

Chandigarh: Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal Sunday said the farmers will be forced to boycott the May 4 talks with the Centre if they invite the representatives from the Punjab government, which earlier removed the agitators camping at two of its border points.

The farmers received a formal invite for the talk from the Centre earlier this week.

“We received a letter from the Union Agriculture Ministry in which we have been invited for the May 4 meeting. It has been mentioned in the letter that the representatives from the Centre as well as Punjab government will be present in the meeting,” Dallewal said in a video message.

Dallewal is a senior leader of a joint forum of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), which spearheaded the agitation at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points. SKM (Non-Political) and KMM also wrote a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday, urging him not to invite representatives of the Punjab govt to the meeting in Chandigarh.On March 19, Punjab Police cracked down on farmers, detaining their leaders in Mohali when they were returning from a meeting with a central delegation led by Chouhan in Chandigarh. The detainees were later released.

Last month, Punjab Police evicted farmers and dismantled temporary structures from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points where they had been sitting in for more than year.

“We understand that the solution to any issue can be found through dialogue. We have always favoured a dialogue... but the way Punjab authorities arrested farmer leaders and evicted us from the morchas has angered farmers across the country,” Dallewal said.

“We request the Centre that we are ready for talks, but Punjab govt representatives should not be invited for the May 4 meeting. If they still invite them, then we will be forced to boycott that meeting … We will await Centre’s response in this regard,” he said.