Farmers Movement Archive

Protesters helped me keep biz running: Woman shopkeeper at Tikri border

Tikri Border (Jhajjar): Ruby Upadhyay (40), who belongs to Chhapra district in Bihar, runs a sweet shop at Tikri border, where farmers have been protesting against the three agricultural laws. Ruby, who runs the shop with her husband, said she wanted to close her establishment when she first learnt that farmers from Punjab were coming to Tikri border in large numbers, but was pleasantly surprised at the treatment meted out to them by the farmers. “They (Sardars) come to my shop for tea and snacks and ensure that every protester pays the bill. If they learn that someone has not paid, they pay from their own pocket,” she said. According to her, the behaviour of Punjab farmers camping out in the biting cold gave her the courage to keep her shop running amid the protest. “The best thing I like about Sardars is the respect they give to girls and women passing through the protest site. They ensure that no one causes trouble in the chaos of the agitation,” she said, adding that some elderly farmers keep coming to ask her whether their presence is causing issues. “It was so kind of them to ensure my comfort while running their massive protest,” she said. Ruby, whose shop is located close to the main stage set up at Tikri border by farmers under the banner of BKU (Ugrahan), said she wished she had settled in Punjab instead of Delhi after migrating from Bihar a decade ago.

The Times of India

2020-12-15

Chandigarh