Meet Sukhwinder Kaur, the lone woman in the 28-member farmers’ delegation to hold talks with Centre today

“During the five rounds of talks held previously with Union ministers in February last year, I had joined once – on February 12.”

After completing Class 12, Kaur did a course at Rajindra Medical College and Hospital, Patiala and qualified as a medical lab technician. She said she was an active student union leader during her college days.

Initially, she was part of BKU (Ekta). “I used to gather women in Rampura Phul and tell them about farming issues. I had no direct role in the union’s decision-making at the time. In 1996, I started the Aurat Mukti Manch which focused on women’s issues and the need to have women in farming. The organisation was active in Bathinda till 2000 but we could not succeed in raising women leaders,” she said.

“In 2000, farmer union leaders in Punjab and other states recognised my work. That year, two young farmers got killed in police firing in Jethuke village where we had been protesting against bus fare hike. I was among those who led the protest and the police booked me on charges of attempt to murder. Farmer leader Surjeet Singh Phool and others were also booked,” Kaur said.

She added that she remained underground for about four months till she was able to obtain anticipatory bail. “The same year, another case was lodged against me for protesting outside a bank against the attachment of farmland over non-payment of loans. In 2001, the Punjab government lodged another attempt to murder case against me in a suicide case but I didn’t buckle under pressure and fought against the cases. All this, honed my leadership skills over the years,” she said.

In 2004, BKU (Krantikari) was formed as an offshoot of BKU (Ekta) and she formed its women’s wing in over 15 districts of Punjab. The most growth happened during the farmers’ agitation against the now-repealed three farm laws in 2020-21, she said, adding, “At the time, I remained at the border for 13 months. Even now, I have been at the Shambhu border over the past year. Once in a while, I go home to meet my family.”

Kaur was elected the general secretary of the union in February 2023.

Last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) searched her home in August in connection with a 2023 case lodged in Lucknow against her husband Harbhinder Singh Jalal. He was the editor of the Chamkda Lal Tara magazine around 15 years ago. At the time, an NIA statement had said that the raid was held to scuttle attempts by the banned CPI (Maoist) to revive its presence. She was at the Shambhu border when the search took place.

Jalal and Kaur have two children. “Our daughter is a scientist who has settled in Canada’s Ontario with her family while my son, his wife and their children stay with us,” she said.

On January 5, 2022, BKU (Krantikari) leaders and others staged a dharna at the Piareana flyover in Ferozepur district, forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy to return to Bathinda and cancel his planned rally.

While the protesting farmers were initially booked for blocking the highway, in December that year, 25 of them were charged with attempt to murder. This January, arrest warrants were issued against them (most were from BKU-Krantikari) following which Kaur has been leading an agitation in Ferozepur seeking to get the charges dropped.

“The PM security breach case is not part of today’s talks. We will focus only on the 12 demands, including legal guarantee for MSP,” said Kaur.

Jagjit Singh Dallewal, convenor of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political), and Sarwan Singh Pandher, coordinator of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, are also part of the 28-member delegation. The meeting will take place at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) at Sector 26, Chandigarh.