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Farmer
leader Tikait dies
Monday May 16, 2011 08:56:02 AM,
IANS
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Muzaffarnagar
(Uttar Pradesh): Mahendra Singh Tikait, a prominent north Indian farmers'
leader and founder president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), died
here Sunday morning, his family said. He was 76.
Tikait was suffering from bone cancer. The end came at his son
Rajesh's residence here.
Thousands of farmers, politicians and social workers poured in to
pay their respects to Tikait, who enjoyed a strong following in
this region.
According to his son, Tikait's funeral will be held his native
village Sisauli at 11 a.m on Monday.
Tikait's death was condoled by top political leaders of the
country including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Chaudhary Tikait's commitment to the welfare of farmers and to
rural India was deep and unswerving. His work was a powerful
influence across the country and inspired the formation of many
other organisations devoted to the cause of farmers," the prime
minister said in his message to Tikait's eldest son Naresh Pal
Tikait.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati described Tikait as a "true
and committed leader of farmers".
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari and Delhi
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also condoled Takait's passing away.
Born Oct 6, 1935, Tikait emerged as a powerful farmer leader in
the agriculturally rich western Uttar Pradesh in 1987 when he
raised his voice for the cause of sugarcane growers.
Eventually, he was called by then Uttar Pradesh chief minister
Narain Dutt Tiwari for talks, which resolved the crisis.
His last formidable show of strength came in 2010, when he staged
a massive panchayat in Muzaffarnagar to oppose moves in favour of
intra-gotra (sub-caste) marriages.
The farmer community, largely dominated by Jats in western Uttar
Pradesh, is deeply wedded to their age old social tradition of not
allowing marriages within the same gotra of a particular caste.
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