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When Farmers burn the Midnight Oil

Deborah Grey

Thousands of Farmers and Adivasis walked all night to ensure they reached their destination Azad Maidan early in the morning, just so that students appearing for their Tenth Standard Board SSC Exams would not get inconvenienced due to traffic jams.

The farmers who started the Kisan Long March from Nashik on Saturday, reached Thane on Sunday. They walked all day to reach Sion where they were going to camp for the night, but upon realising that the march would hold up traffic during the day and might cause students to reach their exam centers late, they all decided to march all night and reach Azad Maidan by 6am. The farmers and Adivasis took a break for a few hours to have dinner and to get some rest, but resumed their march post midnight. Here are a few inspiring images of the march from evening onwards and through the night. These are the faces of the men and women who care so much about us, that they not only work hard to put food on our plates, but also ensure that we are not inconvenienced when they protest peacefully.

As the Sun sets, the Kisan Long March reaches Central Mumbai
This is the face of a farmer who has been walking for three days to demand basic agrarian rights.
This is the face of the man who works in the field all day so you can enjoy a hearty meal.
This is the face of a farmer who cares enough about you to keep walking all day and all night on a weekend so that you can avoid a traffic jam on Monday morning.
Several Adivasis are walking in the Kisan Long March. Here a few can be seen taking a quick evening tea break to energise themselves for a long overnight walk.
The farmers took a quick pit stop at Sion where they decided to break for dinner and get some rest before marching onward to South Mumbai.
Farmers cooked their own meals, ate quietly and some even squeezed in a quick nap before the overnight march began.
As the clock struck the midnight hour the farmers resumed their march.

 

*** All images by Suhel Bannerjee

 

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