Mahendra Singh Tikait is a famous farmer leader in India who has led many movements to safeguard the interests of farmers.
Wiki/Biography
Mahendra Singh Tikait was born on Sunday, October 6, 1935 (he died at the age of 75) in Sisauli village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. This is the ancestral village of Tikait’s family. Tikait studied in a high school in the village till the seventh grade, then dropped out to take on his own responsibilities.
appearance
Height (approximate): 6′ 2″
Eye color: Black
Hair color: Gray
Family and caste
Mahendra Singh Tikait belongs to the Jaat community.
Parents and siblings
Mahendra Tikait’s father Chauhal Singh was a farmer and the Chaudhary (chief) of Baliyan Khap who died in 1943. Tikait’s mother’s name was Mukhtyari Devi.
Wife and children
Mahendra Tikait married Baljori Devi when he was a teenager.
Mahendra Singh Tikait and his wife Baljori Devi
They have four sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Naresh Tikait, is the head of Baliyan Khap Panchayat and president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).
Naresh Tikait
The second oldest is Rakesh Tikait, who has been the national spokesperson for the Indian Farmers Union since 1997.
Rakesh Tikait
The third son, Surendra Tikait, is the manager of a sugar factory in Meerut, while the youngest son, Narendra Tikait, works in the fields.
Surendra Tikait
Narendra Tikait
Baliyankapu
The Balyankhap is a confederation of the Balyankot Rajats, who live in more than 80 villages in western Uttar Pradesh. The confederation has been in existence in India since the 7th century. Mahendra Singh Tikait inherited the leadership of the Balyankhap at the young age of 8. It was a difficult task to lead the confederation of the Balyankot Rajats, who live in more than 80 villages in western Uttar Pradesh. His being given the throne at such a young age was in line with a rule of the Balyankhap that only the eldest son could inherit the throne after the death of a Balyan leader. During his leadership of the Balyankhap, Chaudhary Tikait made significant contributions to controlling social ills such as dowry, domestic violence and female infanticide. The hereditary title of Tikait was reportedly given to his family by Thanesar Harshavardhan, a Jat emperor in the 7th century. From then on, the title was inherited by the eldest son of the Tikait family. However, every male member of Mahendra Singh Tikait’s family uses the surname Tikait.
Master BKU
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) was founded on October 17, 1986 by Mahendra Singh Tikait as a non-political farmers’ organization, replacing the Punjab Farmers’ Union (PKU) founded in 1978 by Chaudhary Charan Singh. The organization was formed to fight against the oppression of farmers in India. Here is the background story of Mahendra Singh Tikait’s election as the president of BKU. In 1986, farmers across Uttar Pradesh protested against the increase in electricity prices. They also demanded exemption of water and electricity charges, higher remuneration prices for sugarcane products, fair prices for crops, etc. Since they could not put pressure on the state government to meet their demands, they realized the need to form a farmers’ organization. On October 17, 1986, a large village meeting was held in Sisauli, attended by several Khap chiefs and thousands of farmers and farmers’ representatives belonging to various castes and religions. Subsequently, Chaudhary Mahendra Singh Tikait was unanimously appointed as the national president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).
Major peasant movement
Tikait did not become the savior of Indian farmers overnight, he rose to fame through his unyielding stand for farmers. He fought for farmers’ rights throughout his life. During his 25-year tenure as the president of BKU, Tikait led more than 60 farmers’ movements. Here are a few major farmers’ movements led by Chaudhry Mahendra Singh Tikait.
- 1987 Shamli Protest: This was the first major protest organized by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). More than 300,000 farmers gathered in Shamli on the call of Mahendra Singh Tikait. The cause of the protest was the increase in the price of electricity supply to tubewells.
Mahendra Singh Tikait speaking during the Shamli farmers’ protest in 1987
Violent clashes broke out among the crowd at the protest site, leading to the end of the protest.
- 1988 Boat Club Rally: Whenever people recall the farmers’ movement led by Mahendra Singh Tikait, the Boat Club protest of October 1988 always tops the list. More than 5 lakh farmers thronged the Delhi Boat Club in kurta-pyjama and Baba Tikait was a prominent figure among those who led them.
(Left) Mahendra Singh Tikait, leader of the Indian Farmers’ Union, with then Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, Samajwadi Party President Kanshi Ram, BJP leader Chandra Shekhar, Prime Minister, BJP leader Deve Gowda and Akali Party leader Prakash Singh Badal at a farmers’ rally at the Delhi Boat Club on September 9, 1990
What was planned to be a one-day rally turned into a sit-in protest and continued for a week until the Rajiv Gandhi government succumbed to the BKU’s demands, including raising the sugarcane procurement price and exempting farmers from water and electricity bills.
Besides leading the farmers’ movement, Tikait also organised large farmer committee meetings every year between 2001 and 2010 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to address various issues faced by farmers.
Naima Lao Movement
In August 1989, Baba Tikait led a protest against the abduction and murder of a Muslim girl, Naiyma, from Sikri village in Muzaffarnagar district. Under Tikait’s leadership, thousands of farmers gathered on the banks of the Ganges canal in Bhopal, demanding that the state government find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. The protesters also laid siege to a local police station. Although the movement lasted for 40 days, the girl’s killer was never found. The movement helped Tikait gain a strong position as a secular leader.
A photo taken by the Naima Lao Movement in Bhopa Village in 1989 shows Tikait speaking to people on stage.
dispute
On March 30, 2008, Mahendra Singh Tikait allegedly made casteist remarks against BSP supremo Mayawati while addressing a farmers’ rally in Bijnore. On April 1, 2008, Mayawati, then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, sent a team of 300 police officers to arrest Tikait under the SC/ST Act. The police went to the village but failed to arrest Tikait as his supporters refused to enter. The next day, Tikait surrendered peacefully in the Bijnore court and was granted bail after apologizing that “my remarks were wrong”.
die
75-year-old legendary Jat farmer leader Chaudhary Mahendra Singh Tikait passed away at 7:08 pm on May 15, 2011 after a long battle with bone cancer.
Facts/Trivia
- The veteran farmer leader was known for his simplicity. He used to sit among the farmers for his meals. Even during processions, he used to sit among the farmers instead of standing on the stage. Tikait would come on stage only when he was giving a speech and then return to his place among the crowd.
- Mahendra Singh Tikait was a remarkable figure. His influence was so great that he did not need to knock on the doors of the government to negotiate his demands, instead, prominent political leaders would come to him personally.
- In his early years, Tikait often traveled with a gun on his shoulder or with armed men following him.
- Even as he emerged as a powerful leader in North India, Mahendra Singh Tikait chose to stay away from electoral politics.
- In 2019, on the eighth anniversary of Baba Tikait’s death, the poster for the film based on his life, Tikait: Ek Kisan Messiah, was released. The film was written, produced and directed by members of Baliyan Khap.
Poster of Tikait: Ek Kisan Messiah
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education