Photo Source: Babushahi Network
Tikait has been sent to jail a total of 44 times in connection with his fight for the farmers
Harshabab Sidhu
Chandigarh, January 29, 2021: The man who wept like a child at the Ghazipur Border protest site on Thursday evening, is not a fragile figure but a life time fighter for the farmers' rights and faced several ups and downs police during last 30 years of life from a police cop to Kisan leader.
After braving cold weather, rain while staging dharna at the Delhi borders for the last two months, Rakesh Tikait is now standing strong against the government's accusation of inciting violence in Delhi.His tears done a miraculaous effect on the rural psyche of farmers and changed the situation overnight.
National spokesperson of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Rakesh Tikait brings with him years of experience where he fought for the rights of farmers while being a part of several moments.
A force to reckon with, Tikait has been sent to jail a total of 44 times in connection with his fight for the farmers through agitations. He remained in jail for 39 days, during the protest of farmers against the Land Acquisition Act.
A farmer leader from Uttar Pradesh, also spent few days in Tihar Jail when he protested against the government in front of the parliament with the demand to increase the sugarcane price. Not only this, Rakesh was sent to Jaipur jail in connection with a farmers' protest.
Rakesh Tikait, son of Mahendra Singh Tikait alias Baba Tikait, can be seen everywhere in the posts of social media as well as display pictures of people.
The national spokesperson of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Rakesh Tikait, has gone through several stages of his life, just like his father, to fight for the rights of farmers. Rakesh Tikait can be seen following the paths of his father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, the founder of Indian Farmers Union (IFU) and was also popularly known as farmers messiah.
IFU was formed following the incident of two persons who died in the police firing during a massive movement in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh led by Chaudhary Mahendra Tikait.
Rakesh's father, Mahendra Tikait, was just eight-year-old when he became Chaudhary of Baliyan Khap. He had also opposed the Supreme court's verdict of marriage between the same gotras. His main fight was against the dowry system which also impacted the life of his son, Rakesh, as he also boycotted dowry at the time of his marriage.
Born on June 4, 1969, in the Sisauli village of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, Rakesh studied LLB from Meerut University. After completing his education, Rakesh was married to Sunita Devi in 1985. He has two children, Charan Singh and Seema Jyoti. Rakesh started his career as a constable in Delhi police in 1992 but did not stay in the police department for long as in 1993-94, he joined the massive farmers' movement of Baba Tikait at Red Fort, Delhi. It was the movement, which gave birth to the new Rakesh Tikait, who keeps fighting for the rights of farmers since then.
After the death of Baba Tikait on May 15, 2011, at the age of 75 due to bone cancer, Rakesh became the national spokesperson of IFU whereas his elder brother, Naresh Tikait was made president of IFU. Rakesh has also tried his hands in Indian politics but failed to fit in.
In 2007, he fought independently from Khatauli assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar. After that in 2014, he contested the elections from Amroha Lok Sabha seat for the Rashtriya Lok Dal party. He lost both the elections following which he left the politics and again moved to his 'agitation life'.
In 2018, Rakesh became a leader of Kisan Kranti Yatra, which was conducted from Haridwar to the National Capital.