Farmers’ protest: Time magazine cover showcases women leading from front

Time magazine's new international cover: 'The women leading India's farmers' protests'

Women members leading the ongoing farmers’ protests against the three new contentious farm reform laws have made it to the TIME magazine's new international cover.

The magazine’s cover story talks about women farmers mostly from the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh who are not only participating, but also leading the agitation. The article notes that beyond pushing the Centre to repeal the farm reform laws, the women leaders of the protest are also fighting patriarchy and to change mindsets about femicide, sexual violence and gender discrimination.

The 'Delhi Chalo' farmers' protest at border points of New Delhi has been on for 100 day now. Thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab and Haryana, are staging a sit-in protest along Delhi’s borders. The protest started on November 26, 2020.

The farmers are demanding a complete rollback of the new farm reform laws and a guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system being retained. Multiple rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmers’ union leaders have ended in a stalemate. Protesting farmers fear that the new laws will dismantle the MSP system and corporatise farming. The government, on its part, has claimed that the laws will lead to major reforms aimed at helping farmers and increasing their income.

This came just days ahead of the International Women's Day on March 8. Farmers protesting at the inter-state Haryana-Rajasthan borders have planned to observe the day as ‘Mahila Kisan Diwas (Woman Farmer Day)’. Women will lead the protest at both sites that day, farmer union leaders announced.

Women farmers are considered to be the backbone of Indian agriculture. However, while 85 percent of the women are in agriculture, only 13 percent own land, according to Oxfam India. The article suggests that the women protesters are seeing this as a unique opportunity to address the gender imbalance in the Indian society.

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