Farmers Movement Archive

Women farm activists power up protest on Jyani & Grewal’s turf

Bathinda: Hundreds of women activists from farm organisation BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) — mothers, grandmothers, sisters and sisters-in-law — sporting dupattas of yellow hues to match the outfit’s flag, gathered at Dhanola village in Barnala and Katehra village in Fazilka, the native places of Punjab BJP leaders Harjit Singh Grewal and Surjit Kumar Jyani respectively, to protest against them on Mahila Kisan Diwas on Monday for their “anti-farmer utterances’’. The women from five districts each of Punjab assembled at the villages of the two Punjab BJP leaders to raise their voice against the two leaders, who had been mediating between farm organisations and the central government and who upset farm organisations due to their objectionable language against farmers and their anti-farm laws protest. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha had on January 10 given a call for social boycott of both these leaders and had asked the farmers to oppose their entry into Punjab. “The massive protest by women against BJP leaders, a day ahead of the 10th round of talks of the farmer groups with central ministers, was to show that farmer activists are not going to sit back. They will remain on roads till the BJP government agrees to repeal the anti-farmer laws,: said BKU (EU) activist Sandeep Kaur while addressing thousands of woman activists at Dhanola. BKU (EU) women wing head Harinder Kaur Bindu said women are standing shoulder to shoulder in protests against the central government. “They assembled in large numbers, not only in ministers’ villages, but many other places in Punjab and also at various Delhi borders,” she added. She said the impact of the farm laws is being felt by women equally, even if many may not directly contribute to farm work. The residents of border villages of Fazilka said, “We had not seen such a massive participation of women in any protests in the border villages. The women using their power in such a way is an eye-opener for us,” said Mukhtiar Kaur, a resident of Katehra village in Fazilka.

The Times of India

2021-01-19

Chandigarh