‘Sorry, this isn’t a man’s protest’: Women farmers on SC wanting them to go home

On January 11, at a hearing on the farmer protests in the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde expressed confusion as to “why old people and women are kept in the protests”. “I want to take a risk. I want you to tell them that the CJI wants them to go back. Try to persuade them,” he said. “At some time, we might say in the order that old people and women need not be there in the protests.”

Advocate AP Singh, who claimed to be appearing for one of the farmer unions, the Bharatiya Kisan Union, subsequently told the court that in view of Covid and the harsh Delhi winter, women, children and the elderly would not participate in the protests any longer. The top court placed his statement on record and expressed appreciation for this position.

But what do the women farmers who are protesting against the Narendra Modi government’s new farm laws feel about the court’s suggestion? Nidhi Suresh and Aditya Varier met some of the women camping and protesting at Singhu on Delhi’s border to find out.

Watch.