Punjab ‘warriors’ land at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh to show solidarity

A large group consisting of men, women and children from various towns in Punjab on Wednesday arrived at Shaheen Bagh to show solidarity with the protesters and take part in the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC.

The people from Punjab, who arrived in buses and trains, have also brought provisions for “langar”, or the community kitchen, at the protest site. The food items like flour, sugar, rice and vegetables were donated by the villagers in large quantities. The ration is meant to last several days.

A large number of men and women – both young and elderly -- and children have come from Punjab towns of Bathinda, Mansa, Sangroor, Faridkot and Moga.

Harinder Bindu, a woman leader, said that Punjab’s women are standing like a rock behind the women of Shaheen Bagh who have been protesting against the discriminatory CAA for over a month now.

“We have come to Delhi to show solidarity with our sisters who are braving cold and other hardships during their protest,” Bindu said.

“Tum Bagh me hum Punjab me,” Malan Kaur, an elderly woman from village Kotha Guru of Bathinda, raised the slogan. Kaur has spent 13 days in Faridkot jail and 19 days in Bathinda jail on different occasions for taking parts in protests against various issues.

Amandeep Kaur, a class 12 student from village Lehra Dhoorkot said that she wants to show solidarity with JNU students. She was accompanied by several other students. Kaur had staged a sit in protest in front of Rampura police station to get justice for her father in suicide case.

Adeeb, a 12-year-old boy studying in class 7 is also part of the group. He fully understands what the protest is all about. Social activist Lok Bandu, whose rendition of ‘Bol ke lab azaad hain tere’ has become popular on Youtube is also part of the group.

The march to Delhi has been organised by Bharatiya Kisan Union, Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union and Naujawan Bharat Sabha. They arranged for the buses through donations from the common people. People who could not get a place in the buses travelled by trains.