From Shamli protest in 1987 to Delhi borders now, Tikait s legacy lives on with diya, hookah, et al
The agitation outside a powerhouse in Shamli soon became over-three-lakh-farmers strong and established Baba Tikait as the most powerful farm leader of the region.
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Bharatiya Kisan Union Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait along with farmers leaders during the ongoing protest against the new farm laws at Ghazipur border. (Photo | Parveen Negi/EPS) By PTI
SISAULI: Ahead of a clarion call given by Mahendra Singh Tikait almost 34 years ago in April 1987 for farmers of Western Uttar Pradesh to protest against a proposed hike in power tariff, a diya was lit at his home here as a good omen and a hookah was set in the evening as per the routine.
Photographs by PTI outlookindia.com 2021-02-10T16:20:04+05:30
Time is a great healer, they say. On January 29, many in western Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar stood witness to a moment of rapprochement that could inflect India’s political history or not. It’s vital to offer that caveat right at the outset. For, the unseen undercurrents of our politics do not necessarily submit to neat surface syllogisms. Contrary pulls make up our political psychology to such an extent that its effects often seem irrational. And yet, when leaders of two communities Jats and Muslims came together to address a mahapanchayat in Sisauli village, no one could be faulted for seeing in that event a kind of tectonic shift. The ground itself moving.but back to its original, organic whole. Towards a suture, towards healing.
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At the Forefront of Farmers Agitation, Can Rakesh Tikait Dent Saffron Hold in West UP?
Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait addresses a press conference at Ghazipur border in New Delhi on December 10. (File photo/PTI)
The massive turnouts in the panchayats held in Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor and Meerut against the backdrop of the farmers protests have clearly raised concerns for the BJP and given new hope to opposition players like the RLD, Samajwadi Party and Congress.
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Till a day after Republic Day on January 26, the ongoing farmers agitation was not being seen as a significant threat to the Bharatiya Janata Party s political capital. The reason being the movement along Delhi s borders for over two months was primarily viewed as a protest by farmers of Punjab, the state where the BJP is a minor political force and had generally depended on its estranged ally Shiromani Akali Dal.
Like His Father, Rakesh Tikait Proves to Be Delhi s Achilles Heel
A video of Tikait in tears went viral at a crucial time in the farmers movement, turning the tide of the protests entirely.
Bharatiya Kisan Union Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait speaks to media representatives as RLD leader Jayant Choudhary (L) looks on during farmers ongoing protest against the new farm laws, at Ghazipur Border in New Delhi, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. Photo: PTI/Kamal Kishore
Rights30/Jan/2021
Jitu Singh, a farmer from western Uttar Pradeshâs Shamli, along with his brothers, was returning home from the Ghazipur border Thursday evening on their tractor. They had been a part of the farmers’ protest for more than a week and had also taken part in the tractor rally in Delhi on January 26 in which certain sections of farmers had resorted to violence.