Jagmati Sangwan, born 2 January 1960 in Butana village in Sonipat, Haryana, is an Indian activist and a former Central Committee member of the

CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

. She is an Indian volleyball player who was part of the Indian team that won bronze at the Asian Volleyball Championships. She is the first woman sportsperson to receive the prestigious Bhim Award for outstanding sportspersons in Haryana. She headed the Kisan Mahila Samiti formed by

Samyukt Kisan Morcha Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) (), formed in November 2020, is a coalition of over forty Indian farmers' unions to coordinate satyagragh (non-violent resistance) against the three farm acts initiated in September of the same year. The SKM in oppo ...

(SKM) to look into issues related to women's safety during the Indian farmers' agitation. Presently, she is the national Vice-President of

AIDWA All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) is a women's organisation committed to achieving democracy, equality and women's emancipation. It has an organizational presence in 23 states in India, with a current membership of more than 11 m ...

and Rohtak district secretary of the CPI(M).

Work

Sangwan is known for her work against honour killings in

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

and in India. She was the General Secretary of the

All India Democratic Women's Association All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) is a women's organisation committed to achieving democracy, equality and women's emancipation. It has an organizational presence in 23 states in India, with a current membership of more than 11 m ...

and was a Central Committee member of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

but was momentarily expelled after she opposed the party's seat sharing with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

in the

2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election A Legislative Assembly election was held in 2016 for the 294 seats (out of 295 seats) of the '' Vidhan Sabha'' (Vidhān Sabhā) in the state of West Bengal in India. The All India Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee won 211 seats, and th ...

. She has campaigned against honour killing and started a campaign against female foeticide. Sangwan is also known for challenging (legally and on ground) the Haryana government's decision to disallow "uneducated" candidates in contesting local panchayat elections. She worked at the University College at Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU) Rohtak and was the Founding Director of MDU's Women's Studies Centre. In June 2016, Sangwan quit the CPI(M) during a Central Committee meeting to protest the seat sharing with the Congress in West Bengal. She was expelled for indiscipline, but her party membership was eventually restored. Later CPM also fielded her as its Mayoral candidate in Rohtak, Haryana.

Personal life

Born in a Sangwan

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

family of Haryana, her father was a Nambardar in Butana village. She was educated at the Sports College for Women, set up in 1978. She is a well known alumna of the Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar. She played volleyball for India at international level. She has a PhD on status of sports women in Haryana. She is married to Inderjit Singh, former State secretary and Central Committee member of the

who is presently active in the nationwide farmers agitation. Singh was also the Students Union President at the HAU, elected more than once. They have one daughter, Akhila who is a journalist and is married to the grandson of Maj Gen Stanley William Burrett

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sangwan, Jagmati Indian human rights activists Indian women activists Indian women's volleyball players Volleyball players from Haryana Living people Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians Women human rights activists 1960 births