Farmers Movement Archive

Gurugram: Back on tractors, women to lead farmers’ stir today

GURUGRAM: Women camping at protest sites are set to celebrate International Women’s Day by leading the agitation in districts like Jind, Karnal and Nuh. From addressing gatherings to taking out tractors, women will be out on the streets to mark March 8 as Mahila Kisan Divas. Farmers have also decided to resume their door-to-door campaign and khaps are trying to ensure that more women take part in the agitation. From Tuesday, women will visit villages in Palwal, Jhajjar and Sonipat and garner support for the agitation. At most major protest sites across the state, a resolution has been passed to ensure maximum participation of women on Monday. Panchayats have declared that men would take a back seat and only women will lead the agitation. In Jind, khaps have urged women farmer leaders to hold meetings and mobilise local residents. “Women have been participating in huge numbers. They are rallying behind us and standing by our side. Now, it is time for them to take the lead and ask us to follow them. Hundreds of women will take out tractors and reach Khatkar toll plaza on Monday. A few others will head towards Tikri border to join the agitators there,” said Virendra Singh Sindhu, a local farmer leader. Women leaders said they have chalked out a detailed plan. “We will organise cultural programmes and for that school girls and elderly women have been preparing for the past few days. Women will display their strength and take the protest forward,” said Shikhim, the district head of the women’s unit of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). In Nuh, farmer leaders and former councillors are mobilising women. “There is growing support for the protest,” said Mohammadi, a women rights activist from Ferozpur Jhirkha. On Saturday, BKU state president Gurnam Singh Chaduni held a meeting with farmer leaders in Rohtak and it was decided that the protest would intensify and other issues, like fuel price hike, would also be taken up. He added that more women should take part in the protest. From Tuesday, women from Jhajjar, Palwal, Sonipat and Rohtak will start visiting villages to seek support for the protest. Mahender Chauhan, a farmer leader from Palwal, said: “We will go to each and every household and organise meetings to make people aware of the farm laws. Since the talks are not yielding results, it is clear that the farmers will have to remain at the protest sites for a long time. So, it is important to strengthen the agitation.” Anita Gulia, a woman camping at Dhansa border, said: “We will start in the morning and return in the evening. The farmers don’t get their dues anyway and now, the government has forced these laws on us. History says women have managed to push many movements. We will do the same.” Meanwhile, farmers in Nuh have said they will observe “Sahadat Diwas” on former ruler Hasan Khan Mewati’s death anniversary on March 15 and hold a mahapanchayat at Sunehra Jurhera border.

The Times of India

2021-03-08

Gurgaon