Farmers Movement Archive

At Rakesh Tikait's village, an eternal flame and pledge of solidarity

Tribune News ServiceSisauli (Muzaffarnagar), Dec 16All roads today led to Muzaffarnagar’s Sisauli, the ancestral village of Tikait brothers, who emerged as the faces of the farmers’ movement in the western part of the election-bound Uttar Pradesh.On Thursday, hundreds of farmers visited the house of BKU president Naresh Tikait and his younger brother and union’s chief spokesperson Rakesh Tikait in a show of solidarity, a day after the duo ended the sit-in against farm laws at Ghazipur.Every visitor brought with him “ghee” as a contribution to the eternal flame that burns in the room where family patriarch Mahendra Singh Tikait spent his life, planning and leading several farmers’ agitations with much success.The flame, lit by Mahendra Tikait on March 1, 1987, has remained illuminated ever since, with the family and supporters ensuring it never dies.Visiting farmers renewed their pledge of unity and struggle before the eternal flame which they treat as a sacred symbol of farmers’ unity, a cause Mahendra Tikait lived for with his sons now furthering it. Canisters of ghee lie around in the family patriarch’s room with visitors contributing their part to the offering.“Everyone who visits here believes that Baba Tikait (Mahendra Tikait) still lives in this room. As a family tradition, we have kept everything here just as Babaji would have liked. The flame he lit burns constantly,” said Gaurav, Naresh Tikait’s son.Gaurav recalls the day Mahendra Tikait left the house for the 1987 agitation against a proposed power bill hike in the region. “The Shamli district power house was gheraoed that day. Soon the agitation which started with a few farmers gathered momentum and turned into a gathering of over three lakh,” recalled Reshpal Singh, who participated in various agitations.The family legacy of struggle for farmers’ rights continues with Rakesh Tikait leading the anti-farm law agitation at Delhi borders to a major conclusion. But the Tikaits are in no mood to rest on their past laurels.They are meeting top leaders of the Baliyan khap panchayat at Sisauli tomorrow to assess the gains and losses of the 383-day agitation and discuss other issues of concern. Naresh Tikait, chief of the Baliyan khap which has 84 village heads, said, “The stir has ended, but the story of farmers’ unity has just begun.”Keeping flame burningFlame lit by BKU leader Rakesh Tikait’s father Mahendra Tikait on March 1, 1987, has remained illuminated ever since. The family treats it as a symbol of farmers’ unity

The Tribune

2021-12-17