Farmers’ protest: 26 women farm labourers join stir at UP Gate

A group of 26 women from Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur, who work in the agricultural fields, have joined the farmers’ protest against the three new farm laws at Ghazipur-Ghaziabad

A group of 26 women from Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur, who work in the agricultural fields, have joined the farmers’ protest against the three new farm laws at Ghazipur-Ghaziabad (UP Gate) border, where the land owning farmers who provided them employment themselves are camping for the past 20 days.

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The eldest among the new protesters is 80-year-old Ramkali, who, the women said, inspired them all to join the protest.

“We work in the fields of the farmers who are part of this protest. The battle that our employers are fighting is our fight as well, since farming is our main occupation and we also consider ourselves farmers or children of farmers. There was no point sitting at home and waiting for farmers to protest and resolve our issues. We have come here to strengthen their agitation,” said Ramkali, sitting on mattresses spread on the road at UP Gate.

Most of these women said they were debt-ridden and their only source of income -- the wages they got for working in the fields either as sharecroppers or labourers -- has been affected because their employers are protesting at Delhi’ borders. Many said they earlier owned land but had to sell it under financial duress.

Sitting inside the tractor with other women and eating halwa served in the langar, 58-year-old Madhuri Kushwaha, said, “My family owned a small piece of agricultural land. We sold it four years ago for my husband’s treatment. I also took ₹1 lakh loan on interest. My husband did not survive and my family now has a debt of ₹2.5 lakh. All my family members work in the fields. But no work is happening now because the landowners are protesting here. So, we came here in solidarity.”

Asked how they are braving the chilling cold at the protest site, one of the women, Morkali Devi, said, “We sit around the bonfire at night. While women and children sleep inside the trolley, the men occupy the space on the road beneath the trolley. They use mattresses or plastic sheets to shield themselves from the cold.”