Nobody to look after at home, kids join kin at farmers' protest venues
Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Sangrur, October 10
The number of children in protests against the farm Acts has been increasing by the day. Singing self-composed songs against the laws and waving banners, children can be seen mobilising support at several places.
At Kalajhar, six-year-old Randeep Kaur from Sanghreri village is the youngest at the protest site. Though she doesn’t much knowledge about the protest, she is excited to wave a small banner to catch the attention of passers-by.
Whenever their parents and grandparents raise slogans, the children try to mimic them and start waving flags and banners. There are many teenagers such as 15-year-old Mehakpreet Kaur and 14-year-old Kamalpreet Kaur, who understand the gravity of situation.
“Our grandfather and father have been working hard in fields, but they are not able to earn the required money and debt has been mounting every year. The latest Acts are against the farming community. Therefore, we all are with them in their fight against the Acts,” said both of them.
Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, general secretary, BKU (Ugrahan), said though there were multiple reasons for the increasing number of children at protest sties, the main is that there is nobody at home to look after them in the wake of ongoing protests. They, therefore, accompany their family members to the sites.
