Farmers Movement Archive

Women join hands with protesters in Punjab

Tribune News ServiceJalandhar, August 22Raksha Bandhan was celebrated on the Jalandhar-Phagwara highway near Dhanowali railway tracks today, with scores of women tying rakhis to agitators and joining the protest.For the past two days, women have been extending their support by supplying cooked food. Now they will also lead from the front.Satnam Kaur, a farmer leaderTime to amplify our voice in unisonWe are ready to join our male counterparts. If we can raise our voice against the Centre at the Singhu border, we can also do the same here. Now is the time to amplify our voice in unison. Satnam Kaur (45), a woman farmer leader from Bhogpur, said: “We are ready to join our male counterparts. If we can raise our voice against the central government at the Singhu border, we can also do the same here.”Jeevan Singh, a BKU (Doaba) leader, said for over nine months, women farmers had been at the forefront in raising their voice against the three farm laws. They knew how to conduct a protest and speak up for their rights. We celebrated the fact that how women of all age groups had lent their support to the farmers’ protest. Like other crops, women equally participated in cultivating sugarcane.On the occasion of Rakhsha Bandhan, farmer leaders said women contributed to nearly 70 per cent of all agricultural activities. It’s in fact a return gift for us that they were taking the baton for leading the protest. Gurmail Singh, a farmer under the banner of Doaba Kisan Union, at Dhanowali railway tracks, said: “It comes a little surprise for us if women are joining the protest. We also want our daughters and women to understand what it takes to safeguard our rights.”

The Tribune

2021-08-23