Naresh Singh Tikait, the elder son of Mahendra Singh Tikait, is the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). He is the head of the Balian Khap panchayat, which he inherited from his father, who became the chaudhary (headman) of Balian Khap at the age of eight.
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family and caste
Naresh Tikait belongs to the Jaath community.
parents and siblings
Naresh Tikait’s father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, was considered a farmer’s messiah. The Jat farmer leader, who led the Bharatiya Kisan Union for nearly 25 years, died of bone cancer on May 15, 2011, at the age of 75.
Chaudhary Mahendra Singh Tikait addressed thousands of farmer protesters at Meerut’s CDA grounds in 1988.
Naresh Thikait’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 the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) since 1997.
Rakesh Tikait
Surendra Tikait is the manager of a sugar factory in Meerut, while his younger brother, Narendra Tikait, is engaged in farming.
Surendra Tikait
Narendra Tikait in his fields
children
Naresh Tikait’s son Gaurav Tikait is the youth president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
At the head of Jaats Balian Khaf
Balian is the name of a union of Jaats of the Raghuvanshi gotra found in western Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Haryana. The head of Balian Khapi is referred to as Chaudhary. After the death of Mahendra Singh Tikait in 2011, Naresh Singh Tikait took charge of Balyan Khap Panchayat. Also, the hereditary title ‘Tikait’, used by the Naresh and male members of the Tikait family, was originally conferred on the head of the Balian Khapi by Raja Harshavardhana, a Jat ruler of Thanesar, in the 7th century. Since then, it has been used as a surname by all Balian Khapi chiefs and male members of his family.
Activism for farmers’ rights
Naresh Tikait took over the reins 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.
Kisan Kranti Yatra
In October 2018, as head of BKU, Naresh Tikait called the Kisan Kranti Yatra from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar to Delhi. This was done to put pressure on the union government to meet various demands of farmers, which included unconditional loan waiver for farmers, tax clearance by sugar mill owners, higher crop prices, free electricity for farms and reduction in diesel prices. The farmers also demanded implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report. As thousands of protesters reached the Delhi border, Section 144 was imposed in East and North-East Delhi. More than 3,000 security personnel from Delhi Police and UP Police were deployed in the district to stop the farmers in the national capital. Police had to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Kisan Kranti Yatra on Delhi border
Eventually, the union government ministers met Tikait and other farmers’ leaders and convinced them to end the agitation. Tikait and other leaders agreed to the government’s assurance of setting up a commission to look into the farmers’ demands, and the protests ended.
2020-21 farmers protest
While his brother and BKU national spokesperson, Rakesh Singh Tikait, was one of the prominent farmers’ leaders leading the farmers’ agitation in Delhi, Naresh Tikait supported the movement from Muzaffarnagar. He visited the protest hall from time to time.
Naresh Tikait addressed farmers during a protest against new farm laws at Gazipur border on 23 December 2020.
On the morning of 28 December 2021, Naresh decided to call off the farmers’ agitation at the Ghazipur border in the wake of the violence that erupted during the Republic Day tractor parade by farmers.
Bhartiya Kisan union president Naresh Tikait said during the panchayat that the protest will be stopped at Ghazipur border. Meanwhile, Rakesh Tikait insists that the protest will continue. pic.twitter.com/W15f1ZYG3Q
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) January 28, 2021
Before Naresh formally called the BKU protesters out of Delhi, a video of Rakesh Tikait breaking down in front of media cameras went viral. Consequently, hundreds of BKU supporters gathered near Thikait’s house in Sisauli, while people from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh started moving towards the protest site in Ghazipur. Rakesh Tikaiti’s tears proved to be the elixir to weaken the protest. At midnight, Naresh, who had earlier agreed to vacate the Ghazipur protest site, announced a Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar to revive the movement once again.
Read More pic.twitter.com/gSaqoi4xzk
— KisanoKiAwaz (@KisanoKiAwaz) January 28, 2021
confrontations
- Chaudhary Jagbir Singh, president of Rashtriya Kisan Morcha in Muzaffarnagar, was shot dead on September 6, 2003 in Alawalpur village, UP. Former minister Yograj Singh, son of Jagbir Singh, has named Chaudhary Naresh Tikait along with two youths in the assassination plot. The case is still ongoing in Muzaffarnagar court.
- Naresh Tikait was one of the accused named in the FIR filed in connection with the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots between Hindus and Muslims. Here is a video from 2013 showing Naresh Tikait inciting people to commit violence against Muslims.
- In November 2018, Naresh Tikait made a controversial comment on love marriages and said that love marriages are not acceptable in Balian Khapi and they will never allow it. Talking to media correspondents on this topic, Tikait said:
हम चिक्सी को पुधाई, अंग्री पदाधाई 30-2002 हम तो न्यु कहेवेन के जब है है है लिक्षा शादी भी तो हम ही करें. प्रेम विवाह भूत गालत है, हम तो इस्ती कात री कोनी देनेके.”
- 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 killing farmer leader Chaudhary Jagbir Singh in 2003. However, the court found that there was not enough evidence to prove his involvement in the crime, and as a result he was acquitted.
Facts/Trivia
- Although Naresh Tikait was appointed as the head of BKU after his father’s death (as per the Khapi rules that say the eldest son can be the head), all the key decisions of the organization are taken by his younger brother Rakesh Tikait.
- In August 2019, Naresh Tikait claimed that the people of his gotra Raghuvanshi are descendants of Lord Rama. He was one of the many persons who claimed the succession of Lord Rama
Categories: Sports
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
