Tikri— Pillar number 783 is the latest hotspot for farmers holding a peaceful sit-in against the Centre’s contentious farm laws at Tikri border. The area near the Metro pillar hosts Shaheed Bhagat Singh library, a most recent addition to the thousands of trolleys parked across a stretch of 29 kilometres.
Brainchild of three friends, all in their early 20s, the library has received 600 books since the idea was first floated two days ago on December 19. The youngsters—Navkiran Natt, Mukesh Kulharia, Jyothi Das KV, had observed that the youth, despite an active participation in the farmers’ protest and knowledge about the cause, lacked articulation of thoughts and political awareness. They felt that nothing would do these young farmers better than books and before they knew it, the trio were already spreading a word on their new project. “A lot of youths are participating in a protest of this magnitude for the first time. It is a new territory for them. They still do not know a lot of things historically, politically and socially,” said Natt who is studying to be a dentist. “They also find it difficult to express their opinions. Some are not clear about the ideology they identify with. So we decided to use the power of reading to help them,” she added.
The first set of books for the library came from her friend. After that, Natt and her friends put up posts on social media, urging people to donate books. Two days since its inception, the library stocks 600 books across genres of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, biographies and autobiographies in Punjabi, Hindi and English. People have also started sending them new books through online shopping.
“As of now, we have more books in Hindi since the titles donated from Delhi are mostly in this language. We have a prominent readership in Punjabi. We requested for books in Punjabi and numbers are rising now,” shared Natt who has been volunteering at Tikri for 20 days now as part of All India Students’ Association(AISA). The library has received a good response from young and old alike with the group having issued 50 books in the first two days.
Natt and friends have plans to soon start daily debates and discussions at the library on current affairs, farmers rights and books. According to Natt, they would be inviting intellectuals and authors from Punjab for discourses and interactive sessions.
