Women to strengthen farmers' stir at Tikri

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, August 25

The BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), the biggest farmers’ union in Punjab, is mobilising women by organising meetings to increase their participation at the Delhi protest sites.

Union leaders said on every Tuesday, a special stage would be set up for women at the Tikri protest site. There were 700-800 women present at the protest site, so we want to increase their participation. The leaders urged women to reach Tikri on Tuesdays in large numbers to intensify their fight against three farm laws.

BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) women wing president Harinder Bindu on Wednesday headed a meeting with women at Bhucho Khurd village in the district. Similarly, farmers had organised a meeting of women at Budhlada in Mansa district a few days back.

Talking to The Tribune, Bindu said: “I am holding meetings to increase the participation of women at Tikri. A large number of women attended today’s meeting and they assured us that they will be going to Delhi on Monday. We even discussed about the problems pertaining to funds, travel and other things, if any, faced by women protesters.”

Bindu said: “I am talking to women protesters, motivating them and telling them to be strong. Giving each other strength is the most crucial part of our struggle.” Bindu’s work started back in 2020 when she mobilised rural women to join the farmer protests in Punjab. It’s because of her that so many women have joined the protest at Tikri.

“More than 60,000 women participated in a protest on the International Women’s Day at Tikri earlier this year. We knew this fight against the three farm laws will bigger, so we planned that farmers along with their families will participate in the protest and mobilise others accordingly,” she added.

Bindu said college-going women, married women and elderly, all were participating in the protest and even after nine months, all were in high spirits.