Bilkis Bano, the 82-year-old woman of the Shaheen Bagh fame has reportedly been detained by the police at the Singhu Delhi-Haryana border, where she had reached to join the ongoing farmers’protest in solidarity.
According to a report by The Wire, “No fewer than 20 members of police personnel were involved in escorting Bilkis from the site.”
The Wire quoted her son saying, “Police are escorting her back to the city, although it is unclear if they will be taken to a police station or back home.”
Before leaving for the protest site at Singhu, Bilkis had said that she would sit for the protest through the night if need be.
“We are daughters of farmers, we’ll go to support farmers’ protest today. We will raise our voice, the government should listen to us,” she told ANI.
Bilkis Bano, who is popularly known as the Bilkis Dadi, recently featured in the BBC’s top 100 women of 2020 list. Earlier, she was also named in the list of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2020.
Bilkis Dadi became a household name in India for her participation in the anti-CAA-NRC protests at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh.
The farmers, who have been camping outside Delhi since Friday, have intensified their protest to press the government to repeal three “pro-corporate” farm laws enacted by the Centre.
Under these laws, the farmers are allowed to sell produce anywhere in the country and deal directly with big corporations. However, the farmers have found the new laws alarming as they feel they would be left at the mercy of corporators.