Monday, May 16, 2011

Thousands attend Tikait’s cremation

Thousands attend Tikait's cremation

Bharatiya Kisan Union President Mahendra Singh Tikait died on Saturday. Tikait, 76, was suffering from protracted bone cancer for the last three years and died at his son Rakesh Tikait's residence in Muzaffarnagar. Tikait led several farmers' protests against the state and central governments to support the rights of the farmers, the latest one being last week's farmer agitation in Greater Noida, where he was detained in Meerut.

Sisauli (Uttar Pradesh), May 16 (IANS) Tens of thousands of farmers descended on this village Monday to bid their final adieu to powerful leader and founder president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Mahendra Singh Tikait, who died of bone cancer Sunday morning.

After being taken around the entire village, Tikait's body was consigned to flames around 4.15 p.m. here Monday in the presence of VIPs and commoners who began pouring in here right since the morning.

The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest son Mahesh, who said, 'in keeping with my father's wishes we will carry out each and every traditional ritual'.

While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati andUttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank condoled the death of the leader,Haryana Chief Minister B.S.Hooda came down to Sisauli to pay his homage to the farmer leader.

Among other political leaders to join the funeral were state Agriculture Minister Chaudhary Laxmi Narain, Congress MP Jagdambika Pal, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, besides a host of MPs and legislators from many parts of the state.

Former Lok Sabha speaker Balram Jhakhar had visited Tikait's family Sunday evening itself to express his condolences.

Tikait, 76, had emerged as the most powerful farmer leader in north India.

His clout with the farmer community was such that he could collect hundreds of thousands of farmers at one call.

His younger son Rajesh Tikait, whom he had appointed as BKU general secretary, is likely to inherit the father's legacy.

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Mahendra Singh Tikait

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.

Mahendra Singh Tikait (Hindi: महेन्द्र सिंह टिकैत) (1935–15 May 2011) was a noted Indian farmer leader from western Uttar Pradesh state. He was born in 1935 at village Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar District of Uttar Pradesh. He was the President of the 'Bharatiya Kisan Union'. Tikait died in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on 15 May 2011 due to protracted illness from bone cancer at the age of 76. He was a Jat of Raghuvanshigotra and Choudhary of Balyan Khap.

Contents

 [hide]

[edit]Biography

[edit]Leader of farmers and peasants

He was a farmer leader and President of Bharatiya Kisan Union. He led a number of mass Kisan movements against the state and central governments in India to support the rights of the farmers. He led many international delegations with him around the globe.[citation needed] The character of Kisan movements since the 1970s has been a matter of considerable debate. Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) worked in close cooperation with international organizations like La Via Campesina, Farmers Coordination Committee India etc.[citation needed]

The BKU received national attention in 1988, when its supporters organised a virtual siege in Meerut in pursuit of higher prices for Sugarcane, cancellation of loans and lowering of water and electricity rates.[citation needed]

In 2006, around one lakh (100,000) farmers[citation needed] gathered in Mumbai during heavy rains to protest against Government's WTO and anti-farmers policies.A memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was released urging to keep agriculture out of WTO. Mahendra Singh Tikait, president of BKU said " It does not matter how much it rains here. We will not stop our fight. The Government will have to hear us. We need a change of Policies".[citation needed]

[edit]Rise of Bhartiya Kisan Union

Poverty and Lack of Political power was a constant theme in the discourse of Tikait, the leader of Kisan Union. After the death of formerPrime Minister of India late Ch.Charan Singh(1979–80)in western U.P. was called the second 'Maseeha'or The Savior of farmers. On 17 October 1986 he formed a non-political organization named 'Bhartiya Kisan Union(BKU)' to protect the interests of all the farmers of India, who form an overwhelming majority in the population of the country.[citation needed]

One journalist asked him "Whether the Kisan Union also represnted the land-less labourers, Tikait attempted to side-step the question by saying "There is no Mazdoor(Labourers) as such. We are all labourers...Some are big labourers, some are small...Who is the rich farmer? There is no rich farmer.The house we are sitting in belongs to a farmer who is considered the third richest in this village of 20,000 people.And yet he does not have even 18 acres (73,000 m2) of land-the ceiling".[1]

[edit]Mahendra Singh Tikait-Rural Agitation and Farmer's Movement

The villages adjoining his village have not paid electricity bills for a long time, yet have not been penalised by successive governments.[citation needed]

[edit]Remarks against Mayawati

Tikait was arrested and later released on bail on April 2, 2008 for allegedly making derogatory and caste-based remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at a rally in Bijnore on March 30, 2008.[2] Almost 6000 men from the security forces had surrounded Tikait in his village. The entire row sparked off after Tikait had referred to Mayawti by her caste.

[edit]Farmers plan protest march against talks

Thousands of farmers, under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), are expected took part in a protest march on Thursday against India hosting an informal WTO meeting in the Capital, BKU said on Wednesday.[3]

[edit]Only whores choose their partners: Recent controversy

Tikait infamously said that "Only whores choose their partners".[4]

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ Cooper, Frederick; Packard, Randall M. (1997), International development and the social sciences: essays on the history and politics of knowledge, University of California Press, p. 335, ISBN 9780520209572
  2. ^ Tikait arrested | 'Calling Maya names was a mistake'
  3. ^ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Farmers-plan-protest-march-against-talks/articleshow/4966118.cms
  4. ^ Only whores choose their partners

[edit]External links



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