Shaheen Bagh's Bilkis Dadi Sets Out To Join Farmers' Protest; Detained By Police

Bilkis Bano, the elderly activist who gained recognition during the Shaheen Bagh protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, planned to join the farmers protest against the new agricultural laws at Singhu border. Fondly known as Shaheen Bagh Dadi, or Bilkis Dadi, she had gone there to support the farmers’ demands. However, as per the latest reports, she has been detained by police at the Delhi-Haryana border.

Delhi: Police detain Shaheen Bagh activist Bilkis Dadi who reached Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border) to join farmers' protest. https://t.co/UTnTit1oso pic.twitter.com/34lCCtXy5u

— ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2020

Talking to ANI about her plans to join the protest, 82-year-old Bilkis Dadi said, “We are daughters of farmers, we'll go to support the farmers' protest today. We will raise our voice, the government should listen to us.”A video shared by NDTV also quotes her saying that as the farmers supported them (the Shaheen Bagh activist) during their protest, she is supporting their demands now. Bilkis Dadi went on to say that she is also the daughter and daughter-in-law of a farmer. The Dilli Chalo farmer’s protest has been going on for six consecutive days. Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting against the new farm laws, which they fear will discontinue the minimum support price system and bring corporate hegemony into farming.

Bilkis Bano, fondly known as the Shaheen Bagh 'Dadi', is on her way to Singhu Border to join #FarmersProtest

"Kisan bhai supported us when we were protesting, now it's our turn"#DilliChalo pic.twitter.com/cip6Q8ayVX

— NDTV (@ndtv) December 1, 2020

Also Read: Shaheen Bagh’s Dadi Bilkis Says Release Young Protesters, Don’t Play With Their Future

Who Is Bilkis Dadi?

From January to March 2020, 82-year-old Bilkis protested against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh every day. She was joined by two of her friends - Asma Khatoon (90) and Sarwari (75) and the trio was famously hailed as “Dadis Of Shaheen Bagh” on social media. Consequently, she was named as one of ‘TIME’s 100 Most Influential People In The World’ as well as featured on BBC’s prestigious ‘100 Women of 2020‘ list. Read more about her here.

Notably, a few days back, Kangana Ranaut had confused another old lady for Bano and shared a social media post attacking the elderly woman by insinuating that she is an actress who attends protests for “100 rupees”. Consequently, Twitter users called her out for spreading misinformation and trolled her for discrediting Bilkis Dadi’s activism.

Tarini Gandhiok is an intern with SheThePeople.TV