Naresh Singh Tikait, the eldest son of Mahendra Singh Tikait, is the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). He is the head of the Balyan Khap Panchayat, which he inherited from his father who had become the Chaudhary (head) of the Balyan Khap at the age of eight.
Family & Caste
Naresh Tikait belongs to the Jaat community.
Parents & Siblings
Naresh Tikait’s father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, is 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 addressing thousands of peasant protesters in Meerut’s CDA area 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 named 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 his younger brother, Narendra Tikait, handles agriculture.
Surendra Tikait
Narendra Tikait in his farm
Children
Naresh Tikait’s son, Gaurav Tikait, is the youth president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
Heading to Balyan Khap from Jaats
Balyan is the union name of Jaats of Raghuvanshi gotra found in Western Uttar Pradesh and in some parts of Haryana. The head of Balyan Khap is referred to as 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 Naresh and the male members of the Tikait family was initially given to the head of the Baliyan Khap by King Harshavardhana, the Jat ruler of Thanesar in the 7th century. Since then, it has been used by every Baliyan Khap chief and his male family members as their surname.
Activism For Farmers’ Rights
Naresh Tikait took over the reigns of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) after his father’s death in 2011. Since then, he has participated and led many movements for farmers’ rights.
Kisan Kranti Yatra
In October 2018, as head of BKU, Naresh Tikait gave a call for Kisan Kranti Yatra from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar to Delhi. This was done to put pressure on the union government to meet the farmers’ various demands, which included unconditional loan waivers for farmers, tax clearance by sugar mill owners, higher prices for crops, free electricity for farms, and a cut in diesel prices. The farmers also demanded the implementation of the Swaminathan Committee Report. As thousands of protesters reached the borders of Delhi, section 144 was imposed in East and North East Delhi. Over 3,000 security personnel from Delhi Police and UP Police have been 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 at Delhi border
Eventually, union government ministers met Tikait and other farmers’ leaders and persuaded them to end the agitation. Tikait and other leaders agreed to the government’s guarantee to set up a committee that would look into the farmers’ demands, and thus, the protest was called off.
2020-21 Farmers’ protest
While his brother and national spokesperson of BKU, Rakesh Singh Tikait, was one of the prominent farmers’ leaders who led the farmers’ agitation in Delhi, Naresh Tikait supported the movement from Muzaffarnagar. He used to visit the protest site occasionally.
Naresh Tikait addresses farmers during a protest against the new farm law in Ghazipur Border on December 23, 2020
On the morning of 28 December 2021, Naresh decided to stop the farmers’ agitation at the Ghazipur border following the violence that broke out in the Republic Day tractor parade by farmers.
Bhartiya Kisan union president Naresh Tikait during the panchayat said the protest at 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 could formally recall the BKU protesters from Delhi, a video of Rakesh Tikait breaking down 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 the elixir for the waning 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 Tikait ke bete and my younger brother Rakesh Tikait ke ye আসুসু বিন্তান নাযাযাত Tomorrow morning the Mahapanchayat will be held and we will stop this movement. pic.twitter.com/gSaqoi4xzk
— KisanoKiAwaz (@KisanoKiAwaz) January 28, 2021
Controversy
- Chaudhary Jagbir Singh, president of the Rashtriya Kisan Morcha in Muzaffarnagar, was shot dead on September 6, 2003 in the village of Alawalpur, UP. Former minister Yograj Singh, son of Jagbir Singh, named Chaudhary Naresh Tikait along with two young men in the assassination conspiracy. The case is still pending in the 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 use violence against Muslims.
- In November 2018, Naresh Tikait made a controversial comment about love marriage saying that love marriage is not acceptable in Balyan Khap, and they will not allow it. While speaking to media reporters on the topic, Tikait said,
We teach girls, spend 20-30 lakh rupees on their education, and the marriage is ruined, the family is ruined. हम तो न्यु कहेवेन के जाब है मग्धि लिकहाई तो उस्की शादी भी तो हम ही करें. Love marriage is भूत गलात है, हम तो आशिसी कदी भी भी कोनी देनेके.”
- On July 17, 2023, a court in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, acquitted him in a murder case dating back 20 years, citing lack of evidence. Tikait was charged with the murder of farmer-leader Chaudhary Jagbir Singh in 2003. However, the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove his involvement in the crime, acquitting him.
Facts/Trivia
- Although Naresh Tikait was appointed head of BKU after his father’s death (according to Khap rules, which say that only the eldest son can be the head), all major 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 is one of the many individuals who claim Lord Rama’s legacy
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
