Sanskriti Talwar

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“It has been over two years since we have returned from
Delhi. The government had said they would fulfil all our demands, but no one
called us farmers to discuss those demands,” says the 60-year-old Charanjit
Kaur, resident of Sangrur district in Punjab. She and her family grow wheat,
paddy and a few vegetables for household consumption on their two acres of
land. “We are fighting for the rights of all the farmers,” she adds. 

Charanjit is sitting with her neighbour and friend,
Gurmeet Kaur among a group of women at the Shambhu border in Patiala district. The warm afternoon
sun is falling on the group. “They [government] didn’t even let us go to Delhi,”
says Gurmeet. She is referring to the
multilayer barricades of concrete walls, iron nails, and barbed wires that have
been placed on the roads along the Haryana-Punjab borders, and then along the
Delhi-Haryana borders, stopping protesting farmers from reaching Delhi. Read: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/i-feel-imprisoned-at-shambhu-border/">‘I feel imprisoned at Shambhu border’</a>



The
farmers gathered here say that the Centre has failed them on many counts:
guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) as per the recommendations of the
<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/all-reports-by-the-swaminathan-commission/">Swaminathan Commission</a>, a complete waiver of debts for farmers and farm
labourers, justice for the farmers affected in the Lakhimpur-Kheri massacre, arrest
of the culprits, a pension scheme for farmers and labourers, and compensation
to families of farmers who were martyred in the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/protests-against-farm-laws-full-coverage/">2020-2021 protest</a>. 

A few weeks ago on February 13, when these farmers began
a peaceful march to the national capital to press for their demands, they were
met with tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets from pellet guns, fired by the
Haryana police to stop them from moving further.

Surinder
Kaur’s son is among the protesters at the Shambhu border between Haryana and
Punjab. “Sade tey mobile, television band
hi nahi honde. Asi dekhde hai na sara din gole vajde, tado mann vich haul jeya
paenda hai ki sade bache tey vaje naa. [Our mobile phones and televisions
are constantly on. As we see tear gas shelling persisting through the day, we
worry for our children’s safety],” she says. 



Surinder
Kaur is from Khoje Majra village and arrived on the morning of February 24,
2024 to participate in the candlelight march for 22-year-old Shubhkaran Singh,
who died following a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at
another Haryana-Punjab border in Khanauri. 



“We
are protesting for our rights (hak),
we will not return until our rights are met,” she asserts. The 64-year-old is
accompanied by her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. 



Surinder Kaur’s family of
six rely on their two acres of farm in Fatehgarh Sahib district where they
cultivate wheat and paddy. She says that MSP for just five crops is not
enough. “Mitti de bhav
laende hai sadi fasal [They buy our crops for next to nothing],” she says
referring to the other crops like mustard sold in and around their fields. 



“Despite our peaceful
protests, why do the police resort to such extreme measures?” asks a worried
Devinder Kaur whose sons have been at the protest site since the beginning. A
resident of Landran village in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district of Punjab, Devinder
Kaur too had come with her family – daughters-in-laws and grandchildren aged 2,
7, and 11. 

“The government provides MSP on only two crops – wheat and paddy. Then they ask us to diversify to other
crops. How are we to
diversify under such circumstances?” Devinder asks. “The maize we grow is
brought at a price of 800 to 900 rupees a quintal, as against the Rs. 1,962 a quintal MSP on maize set by the Food Corporation of India for 2022-2023.”

Nearly 200 metres from the barricades,
standing on a makeshift stage built on a trolley, farm leaders are delivering
speeches and updating protesting farmers on upcoming events scheduled ahead.
People are seated on durries spread on the highway; a four-kilometre long caravan
of thousands of tractor trolleys stretches towards Punjab. 





A farmer from Rajpura,
Punjab, Parampreet Kaur, 44, has been here at Shambhu since February 24.
Tractor trolleys from the villages of Amritsar and Pathankot have four to five
women in each one. They stay for the entire day and the next day, other groups
of women come. The lack of toilets at the protest site, they say, is why they
cannot stay overnight. “I felt the urge that someone from the family should
come in support,” says Parampreet. Her 21-year-old son is ill and could not
come so she has come instead with her relatives. The family own 20 acres of
land on which they grow wheat and paddy, but since her husband’s stroke in
2021, they have not earned anything from the land. 



“No one is interested in
cultivating on the land on lease also because the groundwater there has been
polluted from the chemical released from a factory nearby,” she adds. 





Amandeep Kaur and her
family own 21 acres of farmland in Bhatehri village in Patiala district. They
mainly grow wheat and paddy. “The value of our crops remains negligible while
they’re in our fields. However, once they leave our possession, they are sold
at a double price in the market.” 



Speaking about the protest she says, “protesters are
unarmed, yet the government is resorting to using weapons against its own
citizens. There is little reason to remain in India. It’s no wonder the youth
are leaving the country. Not only are there limited jobs here, but when we
assert our rights, we’re met with such treatment.&quot;

Women farmers at Shambhu border

شمبھو بارڈر پر محاذ سنبھالے خواتین کسان

శంభూ సరిహద్దు వద్ద మహిళా రైతులు

ஷம்பு எல்லையில் பெண் விவசாயிகள்

ଶମ୍ଭୁ ସୀମାରେ ମହିଳା ଚାଷୀ

शंभू सीमेवरच्या शेतकरी महिला

ശംഭു അതിർത്തിയിലെ സ്ത്രീ കർഷകർ

ಶಂಭು ಗಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸೇರಿರುವ ಮಹಿಳಾ ರೈತರು

शंभू सीमा पर डटीं महिला किसान

શંભુ સરહદ પર અડીખમ મહિલા ખેડૂતો

शंभु बार्डर मं महतारी शक्ति

शम्भू बॉर्डर पर महिला किसानन के मोर्चा

শম্ভু সীমান্তে সমবেত পঞ্জাবের মহিলা চাষিরা

শম্ভু সীমান্তত থিয় দিছে মহিলা কৃষকে

ਸ਼ੰਭੂ ਬਾਰਡਰ ’ਤੇ ਮਹਿਲਾ ਕਿਸਾਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਹਾਜ਼ਰੀ

Shambhu Khurd, Rajpura Tahsil, Patiala District, Punjab, 140417, India

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Women farmers at Shambhu border

Across Punjab, farmers are at the protest site on the Shambhu border with Haryana asking to be heard

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