10-Year-Old Girl’s 48-Hour Hunger Strike Forces Liquor Shop to Shift in Agra Village
Agra: A 10-year-old girl’s brave hunger strike under the scorching 40°C heat has pushed the Agra district administration to take action. After refusing food and water for 48 hours, young Anshika Sikarwar succeeded where weeks of village protests had failed — the process to shift a liquor shop from Kolara Kalan village has now begun.
Anshika joined the protest after her father, Bunty Sikarwar, a local farmer, fell ill on Thursday. “We tried to stop her, but she was determined,” Bunty said. “Now I feel proud. She became the voice of the whole village.”
Villagers had started protesting on April 1, when the licence of the liquor shop was renewed. Local women said the shop was causing serious problems, with men drinking nearby and harassing girls and women passing by.
District excise officer Neeraj Kumar Dwivedi confirmed the move. “The liquor shop, which has been there for 4–5 years, will be shifted. We’ll relocate it based on the villagers’ suggestions after a proper discussion,” he said.
