Farmers Movement Archive

Sikh-Jat bonding fires up farmers’ movement in Uttarakhand, western UP

Chandigarh: The bonding among Sikh and Jat farmers over their opposition to the three contentious agriculture marketing laws is not restricted to Punjab and Haryana — it is felt in the Terai belt of Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh. As people of the region rally behind Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)’s Rakesh Tikait and other peasant leaders, common concerns of the landowners of Uttarakhand and western UP have galvanized the association of the Sikh and Jat farmers. Punjabis and Sikhs, who have been settled in the Terai belt since the 1950s, are among a visible minority in the farming belt, especially in the districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital in Uttarakhand and Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur, Pilibhit, Sitapur, Hardoi, Shahjahanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri in UP. While retaining their identity, Sikhs have formed a strong association with the locals and other outside settlers in the region. A young and progressive farmer, Ranjandeep Singh Sandhu of Samaspur Katebad village in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, says the push to the agitation came from the Sikh farmers in his area and neighbouring districts of western UP. “It’s a do-or-die situation for the farmers, and it is a common thread that binds us all. You can say it is purely a movement for the farmers’ rights and not restricted to a class or religion. I know several youngsters, who have their roots in villages, in Saharanpur and Haridwar districts, who are trying to mobilise people for the protests.” Malkhan Singh, a Jat farmer of Najibabad tehsil of Bijnor district in UP, said there were some mischievous elements who had tried to discredit the farmers’ agitation on January 26. “People realise it was a conspiracy to defame the movement, and now more farmers of all communities are heading to Ghazipur to join the protest there,” he said. Yadvinder Singh Dhillon, a lawyer-cum-farmer from Ahraula village in Rampur district of UP, said Sikh farmers always had a deep bonding with the people of all communities in the region. “As farmer leader V M Singh, a Sikh, decided to leave the protest, it had left the farmers demoralized. However, Tikait has given them hope of sustaining the struggle as his appeal has worked like a shot in the arm for the protesting farmers.” Punjab-born Balli Singh Cheema of Madiya Bakshi village near Bazpur, the “jan kavi” (people’s poet), who gave the clarion call for statehood of Uttarakhand in the late 1990s, said Sikh and Jat farmers always had a common ground to stay together — the agricultural issues. “Earlier, affluent Punjabi farmers were with Tikait. Now, smaller farmers are joining him as he has gained in stature. Their involvement in the farmers’ movement is growing stronger,” said Cheema, whose famous poem, ‘Le mashaale'n chal pade hain log mere gaon ke, ab andhera jeet lenge log mere gaon ke’ became the anthem for people of Kumaon and Garhwal regions, who were fighting for separate statehood from UP. A former teacher of sociology in Chandigarh’s Panjab University, Professor Manjit Singh, whose family had land in Sama Farm near Palia Kalan town in Lakhimpur Kheri district of UP, said Punjabis, Sikhs and Jats had always shared bonhomie in the Terai belt. “We Sikhs have always had a great relationship with other communities in UP. I can say it is purely a farmers’ movement and everyone is bound by a common cause — to save our land and existence.”

The Times of India

2021-01-30

Chandigarh