Fathers at protest site, young girls pitch in

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 13

When Rupinder Singh, a farmer from Mirpur Maari village was protesting at Singhu border, his 12-year-old daughter, who is a horse rider, looked after their three horses.

In the absence of Rupinder Singh, when one of the horses fell ill, Ravjot Kaur (12) gave it ‘Himalayan Batisa’ and a homeopathy medicine and took care of the horse.

“I made sure that the horses had a proper diet and exercised daily. I wanted to join my father, but then, who would look after the horses?” Kaur said. She isn’t alone. While their fathers are at the protest sites fighting for their rights, the young daughters of farmers have taken on the responsibility and are looking after every kind of work, besides studying.

Rupinder Singh, who will be going to the protest again on December 15, said that he was relieved when he found out that his daughter — at such a small age — could look after the horses with such perfection. The family has been keeping horses for generations and his daughter developed love for horses and now, can ride horses without any training. “When I was away, she took care of the horses and also started going to the fields with her mother,” he said.

Passiran village resident 20-year-old Simran Kaur who is pursuing Bachelors of Physiotherapy is the daughter of farmer Nirmal Singh who owns a 15-acre field. When he spent eight days protesting at the Singhu border, his daughter was the one who looked after the fields. She used to wake up at 4 am to water the fields. At times, she would come back from her college in the evening and along with her mother, would go to the fields far away from her house. “I don’t have any experience. but, I call up my father for guidance,” Simran said.