Video Editor: Vivek Gupta
“She is from Bombay and I am from here. She hasn’t met me and I haven’t met her. What proof does she have that I have taken 100 rupees to protest?,” says 75-year-old Mohinder Kaur, whose picture went viral on social media after she was misidentified as Shaheen Bagh’s Bilkis Dadi by many including Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut.
Ranaut had alleged that the old woman is “available in 100 rupees” and is now protesting with the farmers’ against the contentious farm laws.
Retorting to Ranaut’s allegations, Kaur, who is a farmer from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bhatinda told The Quint:
“I am willing to pay Kangana Rs 400 if she wants to do this (farm) work. If she will milk my cattle, feed them and clean after them, I am willing to pay her Rs 500 rupees. I will face huge losses if I go there (protesting site) for Rs 100 rupees. She is talking ill of other people because she is not a nice person herself.”Mohinder Kaur, Farmer
Kaur further clarified that the picture in circulation is about 2 months old and was probably from a protest which was held at a petrol pump near Kanchian Toll Plaza in Bhatinda. She went on to add that she was ready to go to Delhi but was asked to not join because of her old age.
'GOVERNMENT SHOULD TAKE BACK THE BLACK LAW’: KAUR
Appealing to the government to think about the farmers, Kaur said that the government passed these laws without thinking about the welfare of the farmers.
“The Modi government has passed these black laws and say that these are in favour of the farmers. If the laws were in our favour, we would not hit the streets in the cold. The government should take back these laws and give the farmers their rights so that they can return to their homes.”Mohinder Kaur, Farmer
Kaur is undeterred and determined to fight for the rights of the farmers and says, “It doesn't matter if I die, I have seen everything in life. But the farmers protesting there have family and responsibility at home.”
The farmers have been protesting against the farm laws which were passed by the Parliament in September 2020.
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