Women Farmers Take Centrestage at Farmers’ Protest Sites on Women’s Day

On the occasion of International Women’s Day on Friday, women farmers took centrestage at the farmers’ ongoing protest sites at Shambhu and Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border. The women farmers said the ongoing stir will continue till the time Centre does not accept the demands of the farmers.

As the stir at Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites entered its 25th day, many women farmers reached there. A mahila panchayat was also organised in which a number of women participated. Senior farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher, who is among those spearheading the ongoing stir, had earlier said women farmers will take centrestage on international women’s day.

”Our theme will be what should be the role of rural women in winning this morcha,” he said. Women farmer leaders Sukhwinder Kaur, Samita Kaur Mangat and Gurpreet Kaur said on the occasion that thousands of women farmers from Punjab and Haryana participated at the protest sites. They thanked the women for coming to the protest sites and extending support to the ongoing protest in support of various demands of farmers.

Many women farmers said the stir will continue till the Centre gives a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Some also raised slogans in support of the farmers’ demands. They said women farmers have made a special contribution in the development of the country, be it green revolution or white revolution.

Women farmer leaders said they will also participate in the ’Rail Roko’ protest on March 10. History is witness that the women of the country have always contributed shoulder-to-shoulder with the men in the development and welfare of the country, they said.

Farmer leaders also said women have played a major role in several movements in the past. Farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal had on Sunday given a call to the farmers across the nation to reach Delhi on March 6 for a protest while they had also given a four-hour ’Rail Roko’ countrywide call for March 10 in support of their various demands.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) are spearheading the ’Delhi Chalo’ march by farmers to press the government to accept their demands which includes that the Centre should give a legal guarantee of MSP for crops. The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their ’Delhi Chalo’ march was stopped by the security forces.

They began their march on February 13 but were stopped by the security forces, which led to clashes at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points on Haryana-Punjab border.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)