Jagmati Sangwan, (born 2 January 1960) is an Indian political activist and a former Central Committee member of the

CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electoral seats, and one of the six national parties of India. ...

. She was part of the Indian team that won bronze at the Asian Volleyball Championships. She is the first woman sportsperson to receive the 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. She's serving as the national Vice-President of AIDWA and

Rohtak district Rohtak district is a district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is located in the southeast of the state and northwest of Delhi, bounded by Jind and Sonipat districts to the north, Jhajjar and Sonipat districts to the east, and Hissar, C ...

secretary of the CPI(M).

Work

Sangwan is known for her work against honour killings in

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

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 rights, women's emancipation. It has an organisational presence in 23 states in India, with a current membership o ...

and was a Central Committee member of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

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, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

in the

2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in 2016 for 294 seats of the ''Vidhan Sabha'' in the Indian state of West Bengal. The All India Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee won 211 seats, and thus was re-elected with an enhanced majority. ...

. 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 (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in l ...

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

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 {{India-volleyball-bio-stub