Will return to protest if promises are not met, says farmer leader

Noida: Protests are nothing new for Sukhbir Khalifa, the 52-year-old farmer who had been leading the sit-in demonstration outside the Noida Authority’s office for the past 120 days.
As the protest was called off on Friday, the farmers’ families served prasad to Khalifa to break the fast, which he had been observing for more than a week. For the farmer leader, this was the second major win after his protest against the Noida Authority’s decision to set up a dumping ground in Sector 123.
In 2018, the Authority had planned to set up a landfill in Sector 123 after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed it to stop dumping waste at a site in Sector 54. Several residents’ bodies had started a protest against the decision and Khalifa was at the forefront. The Authority had to eventually backtrack. This time, Khalifa remained on hunger strike for 12 days. He was advised hospitalisation last week itself, but chose to stay put at the protest site.
On Tuesday morning, however, he was forced by police and his own supporters to get admitted to the District Hospital. “He was given fluids at the protest site for two days. But when we realised that his health was deteriorating, we decided to take him to a hospital,” said Sudhir Chauhan, one of the protesters.
An ex-Armyman who taught wrestling to jawans, Khalifa initially galvanised the local youths and his community against the sale of gutkha and liquor along the main roads around Sarfabad village. “He started an academy where the local youths come for wrestling,” said Subodh Pehalwan, one of the wrestlers. He added that for the past five-six years, Khalifa had even started a movement against dowry. “Those taking dowry were publicly shamed,” he said.
A visibly weak Khalifa told TOI he would return to resume the protest if the Authority went back on its promises. “This time, they have approved the demands. But if they are not approved in the board meeting as promised, we are just a call away,” Khalifa said.