On the occasion of international women's day, thousands of women farmers are joining the protests against the three contentious farm laws at the Singhu, Ghazipur, and Tikri borders of the national capital on Monday.
"We urge the Central government to roll back the three black laws," a woman protester who reached Tikri border on Monday morning.
Farmer unions have claimed that around 40,000 women from various parts of Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh will be part of a congregation at the protest sites.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), which has the largest women wing, has arranged 500 buses, 600 minibuses, 115 trucks besides 200 small vehicles to ferry women protestors, according to BKU (Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan.
The women will take the centre stage at the protest site, managing the stage, food and security to sharing tales of their struggles, and the significance of taking part in the farmers’ agitation.
“To celebrate women's day, the stage will be managed by women, and the speakers too will be women. And there will be a small march at Singhu border, the details for which will be shared later. We are expecting more women to join at different protest sites," senior farmer leader Kavita Kurugranthy, who is also a member of the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), told news agency PTI on Sunday.
They will be joined by students and activists too, along with college principals, teachers and social workers, the farmers' unions claim.
“Women are a big part of the farming community but they don't get recognised. In fact, they work more than the men. Approximately 10,000 women from different parts of Punjab and Haryana will come to the borders to be part of the women's day program," farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu said.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur --- since 26 November last year, demanding the repeal of farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.
The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the MSP system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.
However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.
With inputs from agencies.
