Mahendra Singh Tikait’s eldest son Naresh Singh Tikait is the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). He is the head of the Balyan Khap Panchayat and his father became the Chaudhary (head) of Balyan Khap when he was eight years old.
Family and caste
Naresh Tikait belongs to the Jaat community.
Parents and siblings
Naresh Tikait’s father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, was considered the savior of farmers. The Jat farmer leader who led the Indian Farmers Union for nearly 25 years died of bone cancer on May 15, 2011 at the age of 75.
Chaudhary Mahendra Singh Tikait addresses thousands of farmer protesters at the CDA grounds in Meerut in 1988
Naresh Tikait’s mother’s name is Baljori Devi.
Naresh Tikait’s parents Mahendra Singh Tikait and Baljori Devi
Naresh Tikait has three younger brothers, namely Rakesh Tikait, Surendra Tikait and Narendra Tikait, and two younger sisters. Rakesh Tikait has been the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) since 1997.
Rakesh Tikait
Surendra Tikait is the manager of a sugar factory in Meerut while the youngest brother Narendra Tikait is in charge of agriculture.
Surendra Tikait
Narendra Tikait in the fields
Children
Naresh Tikait’s son Gaurav Tikait is the youth president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
Balyan Khap chieftain of the Jat
Balyan is the name of the Jaat confederation of Raghuvanshi gotra, which is located in western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Haryana in India. The chief of Balyan Khap is called Chaudhary. After the death of Mahendra Singh Tikait in 2011, Naresh Singh Tikait took over the Balyan Khap Panchayat. Also, the hereditary title “Tikait” used by male members of Naresh and Tikait family was originally given to the chief of Baliyan Khap by Raja Harshavardhana, the Jat ruler of Thanesar in the 7th century. Since then, every chief of Baliyan Khap and his male family members have used it as a surname.
Farmers’ rights protection actions
Naresh Tikait took over the leadership of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) after his father’s death in 2011. Since then, he has participated in and led many movements for farmers’ rights.
Peasant Kranti Pilgrimage
In October 2018, Naresh Tikait, as the head of the BKU, had issued the call for the Kisan Kranti Yatra from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar to Delhi. The move was aimed at putting pressure on the Union government to meet the various demands of farmers, including unconditional waiver of farmers’ loans, waiver of arrears by sugar mill owners, increase in crop prices, free electricity to farms, and reduction in diesel prices. Farmers also demanded implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report. As thousands of protesters reached the Delhi borders, Section 144 was imposed in East Delhi and Northeast Delhi. Over 3,000 security personnel of the Delhi Police and Uttar Pradesh Police were deployed in the area to prevent farmers from entering the capital. Police had to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Kisan Kranti Yatra at Delhi Border
Eventually, Union government ministers met with Tikait and other farmer leaders to convince them to stop the protest. The protest was called off after Tikait and other leaders agreed to the government’s promise to set up a committee to focus on the farmers’ demands.
2020-21 Farmers’ Protest
His brother, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Singh Tikait, is one of the prominent farmer leaders leading the farmers’ movement in Delhi, while Naresh Tikait, who supports the movement from Muzaffarnagar, used to visit the protest site occasionally.
Naresh Tikait addresses farmers during their protest against new farm laws at the Ghazipur border on December 23, 2020
On the morning of December 28, 2021, Naresh decided to call off the farmers’ agitation at the Ghazipur border in view of the violence that broke out during the farmers’ tractor parade on Republic Day.
Naresh Tikait, president of the Indian Farmers Union, said at a village meeting that the protest at the Ghazipur border will be called off. Meanwhile, Rakesh Tikait insisted that the protest will continue. pic.twitter.com/W15f1ZYG3Q
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) January 28, 2021
Before Naresh formally recalled the BKU protesters in Delhi, a video of Rakesh Tikait breaking down in front of the media cameras went viral. Hundreds of BKU supporters then gathered outside Tikait’s house in Sisoli and people from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh started moving towards the Ghazipur protest site. Rakesh Tikait’s tears became the panacea to weaken the protest. At midnight, Naresh, who had earlier agreed to evacuate the Ghazipur protest site, announced a big meeting in Muzaffarnagar to revive the protest movement again.
चौधरी महेंद्र सिंह टिकैत के बेटे और मेरे छोटे भईरश टिकैत के ये आँसू व्यर्थ नहीं जएंगे। कल सुबह महरपंचरयत होगी और अब हम इस आंदोलन को निर्णर यक स् थिति तक पहुंचा कर ही दम लेंगे। pic.twitter.com/gSaqoi4xzk
— किसरनों की आवरज़ (@KisanoKiAwaz) January 28, 2021
dispute
- Chaudhary Jagbir Singh, president of the Rashtriya Kisan Morcha in Muzaffarnagar, was shot dead in Alawalpur village in Uttar Pradesh on September 6, 2003. Jagbir Singh’s son, former minister Yograj Singh, accused Chaudhary Naresh Tikait and two young men of conspiracy to murder. The case is still before the Muzaffarnagar court.
- Naresh Tikait is one of the accused suspects in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots between Hindus and Muslims. This is a video from 2013 where Naresh Tikait incites people to violence against Muslims.
- In November 2018, Naresh Tikait made controversial remarks on free love marriages, saying that free love marriages are unacceptable in Baliankapur and they will never allow such marriages. While speaking to media reporters, Tikait said,
20-30 Month References: References किरकिरी हो गयी, परिवर तो बर्बद हो गय। हम तो न्यू कहवें के जब हमने पढ़ई लिखरई तो उसकी शरी भी तो हम ही करें। प्रेमविवहबहुतगलतहै, हमतोइसकीक दीभीमंजूरीक ोनीदेनेके।”
- On July 17, 2023, a court in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, acquitted Tikait of the murder, which took place 20 years ago, citing insufficient evidence. Tikait was accused of murdering farmer leader Chaudhry Jagbir Singh in 2003. However, the court ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove his involvement in the crime, and he was acquitted.
Facts/Trivia
- Although Naresh Tikait was appointed as the head of BKU after his father’s death (according to Khap rules, only the eldest son can be the head), all key decisions of the organization are taken by his younger brother Rakesh Tikait.
- In August 2019, Naresh Tikait claimed that the people of his tribe, Raghuvanshi, were descendants of Lord Rama. He is one of many who claim the legacy of Lord Rama
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education