This Women’s Day, Vinta Nanda looks out for women in India resisting food capitalism, environmental destruction and human rights violations — reminding us that the struggles for food, health, land and dignity are deeply connected.

International Women’s Day often arrives wrapped in celebration. There are greetings, flowers, social media posts and speeches about empowerment. But somewhere beyond the celebrations are women who are doing the quieter, harder work of resistance.

Across India, women activists are questioning systems that affect how we live, what we eat, the air we breathe and the rights we hold as citizens. Their work shows that issues like food, environment, labour and health are not separate conversations. They are deeply connected.

When food systems are controlled by corporations, farmers lose autonomy. When forests are taken away, indigenous communities lose their livelihoods. When cities grow without planning, pollution becomes a public health crisis. On this Women’s Day, it feels important to pause and applaud women whose work continues to shape these conversations.

Food Sovereignty and Corporate Agriculture

For many years, Vandana Shiva has been one of the strongest voices questioning the growing control of corporations over food and agriculture. Through her work with Navdanya, she has argued that seeds, soil and farming knowledge belong to communities — not to multinational companies.

Industrial agriculture, she warns, damages biodiversity and traps farmers in cycles of dependency. For Shiva, food is not just a commodity; it is a relationship between people, land and culture. She often explains this in simple terms: “In nature’s economy, the currency is not money — it is life.”

Her work asks us to rethink something very basic: who controls the food we eat?

Development and the Cost of Displacement

Another powerful voice in India’s landscape of activism is Medha Patkar, known for her leadership in the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

For decades she has raised uncomfortable questions about the way development is defined in India. Large dam projects and infrastructure developments are often presented as progress. But for thousands of families, these projects have meant displacement and loss of livelihood. Patkar’s work reminds us that economic growth cannot be the only measure of progress.

As she has often said: “Development must include the people who live on the land — not displace them.”\

Environment and the Right to Breathe

Environmental issues are often discussed as distant concerns. But for Sunita Narain, environmental damage is directly linked to everyday survival. As director of the Centre for Science and Environment, Narain has spent years studying how pollution, water scarcity and climate change affect people’s lives.

In cities across India, air pollution has become a seasonal emergency. In rural areas, water stress and climate shifts are affecting agriculture.

Narain’s message is clear and urgent: “The environment is not a luxury issue; it is about survival.” In other words, environmental protection is not an optional conversation. It is about the basic right to live.

Grassroots Resistance and Indigenous Land

Away from policy discussions and international conferences, many battles are being fought quietly at the grassroots. Dayamani Barla, an Adivasi activist from Jharkhand, has spent years resisting mining projects that threaten tribal lands and forests. For indigenous communities, land is not just property. It is culture, livelihood and identity.

Mining and industrial projects often promise development, but they also destroy forests, rivers and food systems that communities have depended on for generations. Barla’s work reflects a deeper understanding of sustainability — one that comes from living in close relationship with the land. 

Democracy and the Power of Information

Another essential dimension of resistance is transparency. Aruna Roy, one of the key figures behind India’s Right to Information movement, has shown how access to information can change the relationship between citizens and the state.

Through the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Roy helped mobilise communities to demand the right to see government records — especially those related to wages, public spending and welfare schemes. This movement eventually led to the Right to Information Act, one of the most important democratic tools in India.

Roy has often summed up this idea simply: “Information is power, and democracy belongs to those who have access to it.” When citizens know how systems work, they are better equipped to challenge injustice.

A New Generation Speaking Up

Alongside these established voices, a younger generation is also stepping forward. Climate activist Ridhima Pandey has spoken globally about the urgency of climate action and the responsibility governments have towards future generations. For her, climate change is not only an environmental problem but a matter of justice.

As she puts it: “Climate change is not just an environmental issue — it is a human rights issue.” Her voice represents a generation that will live with the consequences of decisions made today.

Women Defending the Future

What connects these women is not simply activism. It is the way they link different struggles together. Food justice connects with farmers’ rights. Environmental protection connects with public health. Land rights connect with human dignity. Access to information connects with democracy itself.

These women remind us that progress cannot be measured only by economic growth. It must also be measured by whether people live with dignity, whether the environment is protected, and whether communities have a voice in decisions that affect them.

On International Women’s Day, their work stands for  the fact that resistance is not only about opposing injustice. It is also about imagining better systems. And perhaps that is the real meaning of this day — not just celebrating women, but recognising the courage it takes to challenge power and defend the future.

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