ET BureauNEW DELHI: A day before the tractor rallies are to be taken out by hundreds of farmers protesting at the Singhu border, the crowd at the site has swelled as family members of the protesting farmers have arrived in a show of solidarity and to witness the event that marks two months of farmers’ resistance against the Centre’s three farm laws. And just as in the Shaheen Bagh protests, this time too, the women are the silent moral supporters to the cause, having set aside their domestic duties, family chores and children’s education till the larger issue of their livelihood is resolved.
Balbir Kaur (72) from Patiala, who has been at the site for a week, quickly checks her bag of medicines when a volunteer comes asking her if she needs anything. With a heart problem and high cholesterol, she has to take seven tablets a day. “I have to also remind my husband to take his medicines too. He is 78 and has been here for two months.”
Balbir Kaur’s only son works for the BSF and is posted in Tripura. “My son warned me to not go. Asked me what is the need... I looked at his daughters and his wife who live with us... They wouldn’t understand but farming is what my husband and I have done all our lives. Coming here, and staying here felt right,” she said. “It is just that with my knee joint pain, I can go to the makeshift toilet only twice a day.”
Amanpreet, whose family of five in Ferozepur has a yearly income of ₹40,000 per acre they earn from leasing out their 10-acre holding after her husband suffered a stroke and has been bedridden since four years, said: “My other son is a central government employee. But he came too with his family. Land is all we have, for our children.”
Although there is an overwhelming presence of men at the Singhu protest site, it is the women who are holding this together both at the forefront and backstage, and acting as the moral anchor to drive the protest forward. They are helping out in kitchens, healthcare centres, carrying banners and placards.
Balbir Kaur (72) from Patiala, who has been at the site for a week, quickly checks her bag of medicines when a volunteer comes asking her if she needs anything. With a heart problem and high cholesterol, she has to take seven tablets a day. “I have to also remind my husband to take his medicines too. He is 78 and has been here for two months.”
Balbir Kaur’s only son works for the BSF and is posted in Tripura. “My son warned me to not go. Asked me what is the need... I looked at his daughters and his wife who live with us... They wouldn’t understand but farming is what my husband and I have done all our lives. Coming here, and staying here felt right,” she said. “It is just that with my knee joint pain, I can go to the makeshift toilet only twice a day.”
Amanpreet, whose family of five in Ferozepur has a yearly income of ₹40,000 per acre they earn from leasing out their 10-acre holding after her husband suffered a stroke and has been bedridden since four years, said: “My other son is a central government employee. But he came too with his family. Land is all we have, for our children.”
Although there is an overwhelming presence of men at the Singhu protest site, it is the women who are holding this together both at the forefront and backstage, and acting as the moral anchor to drive the protest forward. They are helping out in kitchens, healthcare centres, carrying banners and placards.
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