Food, Medical Camps, Sanitary Products: How People Came Together To Help Protesting Farmers
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Shweta SengarUpdated on Dec 09, 2020, 15:39 IST
Farmers from the northern part of the country have been protesting the contentious farm laws introduced by the Centre for more than 12 days now. Tens of thousands of farmers are stationed at Delhi borders and are demanding a complete rollback of the farm laws.
Over the past few days, the farmers have garnered support from across the country. Multiple organisations, NGOs, doctors have volunteered to help and support the farmers. From offering medical services to the elderly farmers to providing langar to all, the protest sites around the national capital are full of humanity.
Khalsa Aid offers free sanitary pads
Doctors set up medical camps
Gurdwara sends food for farmers
Sukhdev Dhaba, Gurudwaras, Mosques help farmers
Muslim men serving langar
NGO offers free wifi
As thousands of women protesters gathered around Delhi borders to protest the Centre's contentious farm laws, a glaring issue they faced was that of menstrual hygiene.
While residents of neighbouring villages have opened their doors to women to take a bath and provide them with hot water, hygiene facilities at the border points are not satisfactory.
Many women who are taking part in the protests said that lack of hygiene facilities is an issue.
The Khalsa Aid has set up temporary toilets for men and women. The team also has sanitary napkins for the women in need.
A medical camp has been set up at Delhi-Haryana's Singhu border to medically assist farmers who are protesting against Centre's contentious farm laws.
The medical camp has been set up by doctors in wake of the coronavirus pandemic which has already infected more than 9.4 million people in the country.
The doctors who are volunteering at the health camps have urged Centre to carry out tests among the protesting farmers given that COVID protocol isn't being followed.
Delhi's Majnu Ka Tila Gurdwara has opened its kitchen for the farmers that have entered Delhi and are protesting at Nirankari grounds.
Earlier, places like Amrik Sukhdev Dhaba, also known as Murthal Dhaba, and Khalsa Aid, volunteered to feed the farmers as well as the police, as thousands of farmers marched from Punjab to Delhi, asking the government to roll back contentious farm laws.
Authorities at the gurdwara say that they will continue to dispatch food for the farmers arriving from Punjab and other states, till they camp here and their demands are met.
As the farmers' march slowly makes its way to Delhi, the protesters are receiving widespread support from the public.
Many have their own come forward to help the farmers who are in Delhi or are on their way to the national capital for the protests.
The famed Amrik Sukhdev dhaba in Haryana's Murthal has opened its doors for protesting farmers heading to the national capital and has offered them free food.
A couple of good Samaritans are also offering free 'langar sewa' or community kitchen food there to ensure that no protesters go hungry.
A group of 25 Muslim men have been serving langar (community kitchen) over the past few days to farmers protesting against the Centre's contentious new farm laws at Delhi's Singhu border. The team of the Muslim Federation of Punjab, led by Faaroqi Mubeen, say they have arrived at the Singhu border to "serve the farmers who feed everyone".
"The 'langar' will go on 24X7 till the protests continue. The farmers do so much for us. It is our turn to return the favour," he said. "It is our responsibility to take care of the farmers. We are a team of 25 volunteers who are working non-stop to keep the 'langar' going," Mubeen was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
With an aim to offer the farmers who are protesting a platform to share their stories from the heart and stay in touch with their families, a Delhi NGO is providing free WiFi at a Delhi-Haryana border point, as per a PTI report.
The Delhi side has a router with good internet speed. On the Haryana side, portable systems are helping them connect better. The kids are also using them for virtual classes.
"We started the facility of free WiFi about five days ago. We had originally come here to distribute food and other supplies. But, we realised that while the farmers had sufficient supplies, it was mobile connectivity which was getting difficult," said Abhishek Jain of the NGO.