Farm Laws Repealed: Tracing Women Farmers' Role As The Backbone Of Protests

The men and women at farmers protests around the national capital secured a massive win with the centre's unprecedented announcement of the repeal of the contentious farm laws they were agitating against. Celebratory scenes erupted at the Singhu and Tikri borders where farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, had been staging sit-ins since the past year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address on Friday morning that timely coincided with Guru Nanak Gurpurab, said the government had decided to roll back the three laws passed by the Parliament last year in September. Stating it was "not the time to blame anyone" and that we could "move forward afresh," Modi appealed to the farmers to call off the protests and return to their families. More here.

Whether the decision of repealing laws that the centre said would bring positive agricultural reform to India was a wise one or not is being debated hotly on social media, with strong arguments for both sides. There is also an understanding among experts that this sudden verdict comes in view of the Uttar Pradesh and Punjab polls in 2022 that are crucial for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Notwithstanding these circumstances, the fact of the matter remains that farmers - who refused to bend over, braving deaths, harsh winters, police assaults and vilification - are witnessing their demand come to fruition.

The power of protests, especially in a country like India that is born from and built on its foundation, has been reaffirmed yet again. And it would be impossible to take stock of its account without recognising the role of women farmers, who despite pushbacks, stood tall and sturdy like a backbone behind the movement.

In January this year, when the Supreme Court stayed the centre's farm laws, the then-Chief Justice of India SA Bobde appreciated a proposition that pushed for women to refrain from partaking in protests, along with elders and children. Read here. Overturning that reductive proposal, women sustained shoulder-to-shoulder with men unabated at the farm protests, showing the historic dubbing of them as the 'weaker gender' has always been false.

To mark their irreplaceable participation, the protest site at Singhu celebrated 'Women Farmers Day' on January 18. Women took centre stage, organising tractor rallies, managing crowds and rousing the campaign significantly. What's more, their resistance and resilience made for a front cover feature for the prestigious TIME magazine in March, telling tales of how they refused to be oppressed and beaten down.

Many women farmers emerged as icons of inspiration in the one year that they dominated headlines. A most definitive visual was of Manjeet Kaur, a 62-year-old woman, who drove down from Patiala to Singhu, with an army of women behind her, to join the protests.

62 Year old Manjeet Kaur, drove from Patiala to #SinghuBorder to join protest.#FarmersProtest #KisanAandolan pic.twitter.com/jORrkE3O5Y

— Kisan Ekta March (@KisanEktaMarch) December 21, 2020

Oxfam data from 2018 shows women form a major chunk of agri practices in India. 85 percent of rural women are employed in agriculture with 60-80 percent of all food produced by them, indicating a "feminisation" of India's agricultural scene. With that context, how could women ever have been expected to sit out of decision-making for laws that would decide their future?

In an open letter last year, six National Women’s Organisations expressed opposition to the farm laws pointing to the "adverse" effects they would bring to the lives of women farmers. Among the many concerns raised was how "Women farmers from the suicide affected families are in a totally vulnerable situation. Women are not the holders of land titles. Hence they receive no help from the governments to cope with the double calamity of indebtedness and suicide that hits them."

Against that background, the resolution of the farm laws dissension - at least to some degree, since farmers' unions are saying they will continue protesting till they have proof of the repeal on paper - promises some peace after a very difficult year. The question is: Will farmers' issues now be given, as they did the past year, the spotlight they deserve or will they be accorded a backseat again?

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