Mahendra Singh Tikait’s elder son Naresh Singh Tikait is the president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). He is the head of the Baliyan Khap Panchayat, which he inherited from his father, who became the Chaudhary (head) of the Baliyan Khap at the age of eight.
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family and caste
Naresh Tikait belongs to Jat community.
parents and siblings
Naresh Tikait’s father Mahendra Singh Tikait was considered the messiah of the farmers. The Jat farmer leader, who led the Bharatiya Kisan Union for nearly 25 years, died of bone cancer on 15 May 2011 at the age of 75.
Chaudhary Mahendra Singh Tikait was giving a speech to thousands of farmer protesters at the CDA ground in Meerut in 1988.
Naresh Tikait’s mother’s name was Baljori Devi.
Naresh Tikait’s parents, Mahendra Singh Tikait and Baljori Devi
Naresh Tikait has three younger brothers named Rakesh Tikait, Surendra Tikait and Narendra Tikait and two sisters. Rakesh Tikait has been the national spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) since 1997.
Rakesh Tikait
Surendra Tikait is the manager of a sugar mill in Meerut, while the youngest brother Narendra Tikait looks after farming.
Surendra Tikait
Narendra Tikait in his fields
Children
Naresh Tikait’s son Gaurav Tikait is the youth president of Bharatiya Kisan Union.
Leadership of Baliyan Khap of Jats
Baliyan is the name of a group of Jats of the Raghuvanshi gotra found in western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Haryana. The head of Baliyan Khap is called Chaudhary. After the death of Mahendra Singh Tikait in 2011, Naresh Singh Tikait took charge of Baliyan Khap Panchayat. Furthermore, the hereditary title “Tikait” used by Naresh and male members of the Tikait family was initially granted to the head of the Baliyan Khap by Raja Harshavardhana, the Jat ruler of Thanesar in the 7th century. Since then, it is being used by every head of Baliyan Khap and the male members of his family as their surname.
Activism for farmers’ rights
After the death of his father in 2011, Naresh Tikait took charge of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). Since then, he has participated and led many movements for farmers’ rights.
Kisan Kranti Yatra
In October 2018, as BKU chief, Naresh Tikait called for the Kisan Kranti Yatra from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar to Delhi. This was done to put pressure on the central government to meet various demands of farmers, including unconditional loan waiver for farmers, payment of dues by sugar mill owners, higher prices for crops, free electricity and diesel for farms. Price cuts were included. Farmers also demanded implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report. Section 144 was imposed in East and North-East Delhi as thousands of protesters reached the Delhi border. Over 3,000 security personnel of Delhi Police and UP Police were deployed in the area to prevent farmers from entering the national capital. Police had to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Kisan Kranti Yatra on Delhi border
Eventually, central government ministers met Tikait and other farmer leaders and convinced them to end the agitation. Tikait and other leaders agreed to the government’s assurance of constituting a committee that would consider the farmers’ demands and thus ended the protest.
2020-21 farmers protest
While his brother and BKU national spokesperson, Rakesh Singh Tikait, was one of the prominent farmer leaders leading the farmers’ movement in Delhi, Naresh Tikait supported the movement from Muzaffarnagar. He used to visit the protest site occasionally.
Naresh Tikait was addressing farmers during the protest against new agricultural laws at Ghazipur border on 23 December 2020.
On the morning of 28 December 2021, the King decided to call off the farmers’ movement at the Ghazipur border in view of the violence at the farmers’ tractor parade on Republic Day.
Bharatiya Kisan Union President Naresh Tikait said during a panchayat that the protests at Ghazipur border will be ended. Meanwhile, Rakesh Tikait insisted that the protest will continue. pic.twitter.com/W15f1ZYG3Q
– Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) 28 January 2021
Before Naresh could officially call the BKU protesters back from Delhi, a video of Rakesh Tikait crying in front of media cameras went viral. As a result, hundreds of BKU supporters gathered outside Tikait’s house in Sisauli and people from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh started moving towards the Ghazipur protest site. Rakesh Tikait’s tears proved to be nectar for the weakening protests. At midnight, Naresh, who had earlier agreed to vacate the Ghazipur protest site, announced a mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar to revive the movement once again.
Chaudhary Mahendra Singh, Aamir Khan’s son and my younger brother Rakesh Akhtar will not have these hopes. There will be equity tomorrow morning and now we will take this movement to the final stage. pic.twitter.com/gSaqoi4xzk
– Farmers’ Voice (@KisanoKiAwaz) 28 January 2021
controversies
- Chaudhary Jagbir Singh, president of Rashtriya Kisan Morcha in Muzaffarnagar, was shot dead on 6 September 2003 in village Alawalpur in UP. Former minister Yograj Singh, son of Jagbir Singh, took the names of two youths including Chaudhary Naresh Tikait in the murder conspiracy. The case is still going on in Muzaffarnagar court.
- Naresh Tikait was one of the accused named in the FIR registered over the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots between Hindus and Muslims. Here is a video from 2013 in which Naresh Tikait is inciting people to commit violence against Muslims.
- In November 2018, Naresh Tikait made a controversial comment on love marriage, saying that love marriage is unacceptable in Baliyan Khap and they will never allow it. Talking to media reporters on this subject, Tikait said,
We educate girls, 20-30 lakh rupees are spent on their education and if they marry as per their wish, then the family gets disgraced, the family gets broken. Let us say that when we finish our studies, we will marry her also. Love marriage is very wrong, we should not even accept its link.”
- On 17 July 2023, a court in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh acquitted him in a 20-year-old murder case, citing lack of evidence. Tikait was accused of murdering farmer leader Chaudhary Jagbir Singh in 2003. However, the court determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove his involvement in the crime, resulting in his acquittal.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Although Naresh Tikait was appointed chief of BKU after his father passed away (as per Khap rules, which say only the eldest son can be the chief), all major decisions of the organization are taken by his younger brother. Rakesh Tikait.
- In August 2019, Naresh Tikait had claimed that the people of his Gotra Raghuvanshi are descendants of Lord Ram. He was one of many individuals claiming the legacy of Lord Rama
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn