March 19, 2025: The Punjab Police on Wednesday detained prominent farmer leaders Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher in Mohali following clashes between farmers and security personnel. The farmers were attempting to march toward the Khanauri and Shambhu border points, where protests have been ongoing since February 13 last year.
The confrontation escalated when security forces blocked the farmers from marching to Delhi to press their demands. In response, internet services were suspended at the Khanauri border and nearby areas of Sangrur and Patiala districts as a precautionary measure.
Alongside Dallewal and Pandher, farmer leaders Abhimanyu Kohar and Kaka Singh Kotda were also taken into custody. Dallewal, known for his prolonged 54-day hunger strike demanding a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) on 24 crops, has been a key figure in the protests.
The farmers are demanding a range of reforms, including a legal guarantee for MSP, debt waiver, pension for farmers and agricultural laborers, a rollback of electricity tariff hikes, withdrawal of police cases against farmers, justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation for families of farmers who died during the 2020-21 protests.
The government has strategized to open the Shambhu and Khanauri border points and has asked the protesting farmers to vacate these sites. However, tensions remain high as farmers continue their demonstrations, refusing to back down until their demands are met.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Punjab Police Detain Farmer Leaders Jagjit Dallewal, Sarwan Pandher During Protest in Mohali
March 19, 2025: The Punjab Police on Wednesday detained prominent farmer leaders Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher in Mohali following clashes between farmers and security personnel. The farmers were attempting to march toward the Khanauri and Shambhu border points, where protests have been ongoing since February 13 last year.
The confrontation escalated when security forces blocked the farmers from marching to Delhi to press their demands. In response, internet services were suspended at the Khanauri border and nearby areas of Sangrur and Patiala districts as a precautionary measure.
Alongside Dallewal and Pandher, farmer leaders Abhimanyu Kohar and Kaka Singh Kotda were also taken into custody. Dallewal, known for his prolonged 54-day hunger strike demanding a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) on 24 crops, has been a key figure in the protests.
The farmers are demanding a range of reforms, including a legal guarantee for MSP, debt waiver, pension for farmers and agricultural laborers, a rollback of electricity tariff hikes, withdrawal of police cases against farmers, justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation for families of farmers who died during the 2020-21 protests.
The government has strategized to open the Shambhu and Khanauri border points and has asked the protesting farmers to vacate these sites. However, tensions remain high as farmers continue their demonstrations, refusing to back down until their demands are met.