Women Lead Tractor Marches in Panjab; CM Shifts Venue

On India’s Republic Day, 26 Jan, women took center stage during tractor marches organised by farmer unions in Panjab and Haryana highlighting their growing role in farming and activism. Sehajpreet Kaur, a 23-year-old BEd student from Sangrur, led a 40-km tractor march, while Harjinder Kaur, a 62-year-old from Ludhiana, also led a march demanding a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price and the scrapping of the National Policy Framework for Agricultural Marketing. Monika Nain, a 38-year-old farmer from Haryana, organised a march in Rohtak, supporting the ongoing farmer protests at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders. These marches, organised by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and other farmer bodies, saw participation by thousands of tractors across Panjab, Haryana and some other states of India. Meanwhile, Panjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann addressed the state’s Republic Day function in Patiala, criticising the Union government’s indifference towards farmers’ demands, including the release of USD 636M in pending Rural Development Fund dues. Mann highlighted Panjab’s sacrifices during Partition and its contribution to India’s food security, urging the Union government to stop its ‘step-motherly treatment’ of the state. The Republic Day celebrations in Panjab were marked by heightened security due to threats from pro-Khalistan elements, including a video by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs For Justice, who urged youth to wave Khalistan flags instead of the tricolour and threatened Mann at the event proposed at Faridkot. A red alert was issued, with over 15K police personnel deployed across the state. Increasingly, Pannun’s threats—whether to Air India flights, senior police officials conference, Indian CMs and so on—have been hollow, but force the state to up their security. Despite the tensions, Panjab’s Republic Day tableau made a comeback at the parade in Delhi after a two-year gap, showcasing the state’s rich heritage, including inlay art, traditional music, and the legacy of Sheikh Fariduddin Masud Ganjshakar, popularly Baba Farid.