NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JULY 24
A Muslim fruit and vegetable seller from Indore hogged the limelight when a video of her protest went viral on the social media.
The reason for her instant fame of the woman, Raisa Ansari, was her relatively fluent English. A vegetable vendor speaking in English!
In Indore a vegetable vendor Raisa Ansari protested against the municipal authorities when they came to remove the handcarts of vegetables.The woman later claimed that she has done Phd in Materials Science from DAVV Indore. @ndtvindia @ndtv @GargiRawat #lockdown #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/RieGffTMyP
— Anurag Dwary (@Anurag_Dwary) July 23, 2020
What was all the more surprising about her was her claim that she holds a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in Material Science from Indore’s Devi Ahilya University.
Protesting against the civic agency for allegedly removing the pushcart on which she was selling vegetable, the lady raised many vital issues the common man encounters in his day-today life. She was very forthright in her comments on the public policies that go against the citizens.
@Howzzda_Josh, a Twitter user, posted the video with a caption, “Nowadays uneducated people are joining politics & educated ones R selling fruits & vegetables. Indore’s “PhD” Vegetable Seller’s Protest In English goes Viral !!”
While interacting with a crowd drawn by her English, she said narrated how poor vendors are allegedly harassed by municipal officers in the city. When asked about her education, she said she had been a research scholar.
Recounting the plight of the fruit and vegetable sellers in the viral video, Raisa says how repeated curbs at Indore’s markets because of the coronavirus pandemic have rendered them penniless.
“At times, one side of the market is closed, the second one is shut by the administration; and there are hardly any buyers. What we are supposed to feed our families. I am selling fruits and vegetables here. People standing here are my family and friends. There are more than 20 members in the family. How will they survive? How they will earn? There is no rush on the stall but still, these officials keep telling us to run away,” she says.
In an interaction that barely lasted for a minute, she touched upon the problems the vendors are facing due to curbs on market.
On being asked by someone in the crowd as to why she was selling veggies despite being a research scholar, she said it’s the vocation she inherited from her forefathers for the past six-seven generations. She had to take up the job as her mother at 75, grew too old to carry forward the family legacy and earn a living.
When someone suggested that she should apply for a government job, she shot back, “Who will give the job?”
Citing anti-Muslim sentiments prevalent in the country today, especially in the aftermath of Covid-19 outbreak, she said, “(At a time when public perception is that) corona is being spread by Muslims, who is ready to give me a job? Because my name is Raisa Ansari, no institution, nor any educational institute or college would give me a job… or anybody from the community…”
