36-year-old Sardanand Rajli, a Dalit youth activist, has been leading the farmers of 58 villages of Hisar district at the Baddo Patti toll plaza for the past eleven months. Rajli is one of the many local farmer leaders who emerged during the farmers’ agitation against the three laws in Haryana.
Prior to the farmers’ movement, Rajli was busy highlighting the issues of youth and Dalits by running a library by the name of Munshi Prem Chand in his native village Rajli (Hisar). When the farmers’ movement started in November 2020, they started taking part in many activities. Recalling his nomination as the head of the toll plaza committee set up to oversee the dharna, Rajli said, “The villagers chose me because I was always available for their programs and despite the fact that my family had no one. Agriculture was not land, knew the seriousness of it. I preached how the laws would adversely affect the poor and downtrodden.
Rajli was among the local farmer leaders who were booked by the police under 11 sections of the IPC – including 307 (attempt to murder) – in connection with the May 16 clashes in Hisar. On May 16, several farmers and policemen were injured during protests near a site where Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had gone to inaugurate a COVID hospital. The police later withdrew the FIR after facing huge protests from the farmers.
Similarly, before this movement, a local farmer leader Mandeep Nathwan had formed committees of his farmer organization Kisan Sangharsh Samiti in some villages of Fatehabad district. But now Nathwan has active committees in three districts – Fatehabad, Hisar and Sirsa – besides small teams of volunteers in some other districts as well.
Another example is that of Gurjant Singh. On August 28, Gurjant, 23, was admitted to the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College in Karnal after he was injured during a lathi-charge by the Karnal police and claimed to have lost one eye. A few days later, he was discharged from the hospital, but soon became the face of the farmers’ movement in Gurjant district, participating in all the events.
Similarly, Azad Palwa in Jind and Nain Sikkim and Annu Sura in Hisar have emerged as new faces among the peasant leaders in their respective regions. In Hisar, 24-year-old Rieman Nain is at the forefront of stirring up the enthusiasm of the protesters with poems and slogans.
Reeman, a resident of Khedar village (Hisar), is doing post graduation in Hindi from Kurukshetra University. he told earlier Indian Express: “I have a keen interest in poetry since school days. When I was in class VIII, I used to attend a program of Rohtak radio station via phone to share my poems. When I was in class XII, I started going to Rohtak radio station and Hisar Doordarshan because I was fond of poetry. The poet recalls that she was adjudged the best athlete and won a gold medal in 2018-20 after completing a junior teacher’s course from a private college in her village.
Reiman said, “I decided to join the movement to raise the voice of farmers when I came to know that three agricultural laws would adversely affect them. I started educating women about the three agricultural laws which led to toll plazas. But attendance increased.I believe that the agricultural movement has given women an opportunity to step out of their homes in large numbers and interact with their male counterparts.
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