At the helm of rebellion: Women who are the face of protests in India

India has been rocked by many protests over the last few years. Thousands, if not lakhs of people have thronged the streets demanding to be heard by the Modi government, which has been dubbed infamous for preferring one-sided talking over communication.

At the centre of these protests have been women, who are taking an equal share of the burden of the demand for rights.

Let us look at two of the most recent of these protests: against the Citizenship Act, and the ongoing farmers' protest against the three agricultural reform laws.

Citizenship Act and Shaheen Bagh

The Narendra Modi government has seen general criticism and pushback against several of its laws, but none hit it as hard at the time as the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

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Brought in as a way to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities who had migrated from neighbouring countries, except for Muslims from Muslim-majority countries, the Act has generally seen much criticism for being discriminatory towards Muslims. It didn't help that Home Minister Amit Shah went on record to equate certain immigrants with termites.

The protests first broke out in Assam, before expanding and covering much of the North and Northeast. Thousands of people across the states rallied against the Act and the accompanying National Register of Citizens, fearing they would be made stateless if their documents were not in order.

The protests turned violent at various places, with scenes of severe destruction of property and high police presence being commonplace. But in the middle of this was Shaheen Bagh, a simple sit-in protest led by women whih rocked the Central government more than any of the violence. And it was led by women.

Thousands of women, informal and leaderless in their stir, took up protesting the CAA and the NRC. For over three months, the women stood firm against police action, threats to their life and political strife to exert their will and right to expression.

The woman who became the face of the protests, Bilkis Bano (who came to be called 'Dadi Bilkis'), said she stood for the idea of a plural India. “I will sit here till blood stops flowing in my veins so the children of this country and the world breathe the air of justice and equality,” she told journalist Rana Ayyub, who described her as a "symbol of resistance in a nation where the voices of women and minorities were being systematically drowned out by the majoritarian politics of the Modi regime."

Eventually, of course, the coronavirus pandemic hit, and the Shaheen Bagh protest was cleared out. But the role of women in protests did not end there.

Farmers protests and the women who powered it

The Modi government came under fire yet again in 2020, this time for its trio of controversial agricultural reform laws.

Entered into law in September 2020, the three farm laws were described by the BJP government and PM Narendra Modi as a complete overhaul of the agricultural sector of the country and to empower the farmers.

And despite visible support from the intelligentsia, academicians, and even the IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath, opposition parties and state governments began passing resolutions to try to stymie the implementation of the laws.

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And then came the farmers. Thousands of farmers under the banners of several farmer unions such as Bharatiya Kisan Union took to the streets to demand the repeal of the farm laws, in a protest that has lasted over 100 days now.

And at the centre of the protests here, too, were women. Not willing to be left to do housework as their families literally drove to Delhi on tractors, women from various states joined the protests, taking up management duties to keep the stir against the laws going.

From managing stages, food and security to sharing tales of their struggles, and the significance of taking part in the farmers’ agitation, thousands of women farmers, students and activists took over key roles at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur protest sites.

Irrespective of their age, their profession, or even their physical disabilities, women powered through the protests, all for the sake of their rights, fighting the government which has repeatedly asked them to go home.

“Something snapped within us when we heard the government tell the women to go back home,” Jasbir Kaur, a sprightly 74-year-old farmer from Rampur in western Uttar Pradesh, told TIME Magazine which put out a cover story on the women spearheading the farmers' protest.

“Why should we go back? This is not just the men’s protest. We toil in the fields alongside the men. Who are we, if not farmers?”

Rana Bhatti, who is from a farming family in Haryana state, said the protests were a way for women to show their strength.

"I feel the time has come for us to take to the frontlines and steer the challenge against this arrogant government," said Bhatti as she led a group of women holding flags and placards. One read: "No farmers, no food, no future."

Time and time again, women have proven that once they put their mind to something, they are not to be trifled with. The protests that have been spearheaded by them are just another testament to their indomitable will.