Muskan Nagpal - Field Production

THE WOMEN OF FARMERS' PROTESTS

In September 2020, the Modi government in India passed a set of three pro-market farm laws. The government wanted to reduce its role in the Indian agricultural sector. The farmers, barely scraping through with pre-existing governmental support, heavily protested these laws. They gathered on the three borders that the capital city of New Delhi shared with adjacent states. Millions of farmers braved everything from water cannons to trenches and trucks in their bid to make their voices heard. They sat at the borders for months, braving harsh weather - from heat to cold, until the government finally had to withdraw the laws. Farmers’ unions say, through the stretch of the protests, at least nine farmers died by suicide. And nearly 700 died while the protests went on, often leaving families in debt.

In this story we hear from the women at the Farmers Protests and their sentiments about the protests. Leading from the front were the brave resilient women who were in no mood to halt their agitation. Away from the comfort of their homes and families, these women stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their male counterparts to hold the government accountable.

My Role
Reporting
Voice Over Narration

HOW THE FARMERS' PROTESTS BECAME A REVOLUTION

When the Farmers Protests began in India, they began unlike any other protest. There was no singular leader. There was always a group of people with different ideologies and belief systems, raising their voice against the laws passed by the government. These laws were later repealed as a result of the protests.

This video is a look at the energy and enthusiasm at the protest sites.

My Role
Reporting
Production
Voice Over Narration
Camera

INSIDE THE SINGHU BORDER

Two months into the Farmers Protests, the protest sites had an ecosystem of their own. The farmers lived inside trucks, cooked food on the site. A big part of the population living on the bordering villages between New Delhi and neighbouring states faced a set of challenges, and described their complaints, not from the farmers but the government. As a producer at The Mojo Story, I accompanied my editor Barkha Dutt, along with a team of camera people, to the protest site. She talks to protesting farmers about the fortification of the protest camps with barbed wires, spikes, and barricades installed at the entrance. She gives a deep dive into the nuances of living at such a site for more than two months and how it changed the entire face of the Farmers Protest.

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Field Production
Post Production