GHAZIABAD: Aparna Mallikar, a widow from Maharashtra whose husband — a farmer — had killed himself 12 years ago, arrived at UP Gate on Saturday to be a part of the agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws.
Like her, more women from the state have arrived at the protest site to lend support to the farmers’ cause. These women, mostly from Yavatmal, are the widows of those farmers who are believed to have committed suicide over debt. These women are of the view that the new farm laws are not good for the farmers in India and will worsen their plight.
“Unlike Punjab and Haryana or even other North Indian states, Maharashtra has witnessed a huge number of farmer suicides over the years. However, it never caught the attention of the nation in a manner that the current protest has done,” said Aparna.
Her husband, Sanjay Mallikar was a cotton farmer. In 2008, he killed himself after being unable to repay Rs 2 lakh. “The pain and anguish that we have gone through was due to wrong government policies and we do not want the same for farmers from other states,” added Aparna.
The 12 women have come to the protest site under the aegis of Grand Maratha Foundation, an NGO that works for the uplift of farmers.
Bharati Pawar, who lost her husband Pradeep Pawar in 2008 over a debt, said: “The farm laws are a recipe for disaster. No government cares about the interest of farmers. All they say and do is a farce. We know this because we have seen it and are bearing the consequence of it. It is only right that farmers have taken up the cudgels and we support it wholeheartedly.”
The BKU, meanwhile, has started preparations for a mega tractor rally on 26 January. “More than 2,000 tractors are due to reach UP gate in a couple of days,” said BKU spokesperson Dharmendra Malik.