The “five-day” promise Naresh Tikait | Trending

On May 30, Bharatiya Kisan Union ( BKU) chief and chaudhary (head) of the Baliyan khap in Uttar Pradesh, Naresh Tikait helped avert what would have been a national disaster when he persuaded the wrestlers to not immerse their medals — a rich haul from the Olympics, World Championships and Asian Games — in the Ganga. PREMIUM Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Naresh Tikait, rushed to Haridwar where wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and others had gathered to immerse their medals and persuaded them to not do so(ANI) Tikait, 62, rushed to Haridwar where wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and others had gathered to immerse their medals and persuaded them to not do so. With the medals in his custody, Tikait sought five days from the wrestlers to ensure their demands were met. Since then, he’s been a busy man. On June 1, he held a meeting of the khap chaudharies in Soram village of Muzaffarnagar, in which the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of farmers’ unions, also participated. General secretary of Sarv Khap Subhash Baliyan had said that the outcome of Soram’s meeting will play a vital role in deciding the direction that the wrestlers’ protest will take in the coming days. A few important decisions were taken at this meeting. For one, khap choudharies and the thambedars (regional heads), as well as representatives of different communities, discussed the situation that arose after police detained the wrestlers on May 28 for marching from Jantar Mantar, where they had been staging a protest for over a month, towards the newly inaugurated Parliament. At the meeting, it was decided that a delegation will meet the President of India and demand the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brijbhusan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment several wrestlers, including a minor. They would also petition the President to withdraw the cases regered against the wrestlers after their march. On June 2, a khap maha panchayat was held at Haryana’s Kurukshetra, where the leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Naresh’s younger brother and farmer leader, issued an ultimatum: arrest Singh June 9 or else, khaps representatives will descend on Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, and begin their protests. The SKM had also planned to burn Singh’s effigies across the country on June 6 and raise slogans against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief accused of sexually harassing at least 10 wrestlers. Tikait’s entry into the fray added heft to the wrestlers’ demands seeking the arrest of Singh, against whom the Delhi police have lodged two FIRs, including one under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) in April. Meanwhile, an embattled Singh said last week that the Delhi police was conducting its probe into the allegations against him. “If there’s any truth to the charges (levelled against him the wrestlers), an arrest will be made,” the six-time Member of Parliament said. Earlier, he had vowed to get the government “under the leadership of seers” to “change” the POCSO act on grounds that it was “being misused” against him. Several wrestlers who are part of the protest have questioned the delay in arresting Singh, in accordance with the requirements of POCSO that lays down immediate arrest. Last week, Singh also cancelled the grand rally in Ayodhya that he planned for “safety reasons”. “We have cancelled the rally, you can say, due to safety reasons. Still, I welcome those who have supported me,” Singh told reporters in Ayodhya on June 3. The ‘Jan Chetna Maha Rally’ was scheduled for June 5. However, on June 3, Union home miner Amit Shah reportedly met the wrestlers in a late-night meeting that went on till midnight. He reportedly asked them to allow due process to take its course. On learning of this meeting, the BKU and several khaps that were part of the mahapanchayats, decided on June 5 to pull back from the agitation. “Rakesh Tikait and scores of khap leaders are not happy with wrestlers approaching the home miner without informing them or consulting with them. They came to know about the meeting through the media,” a person close to Tikait said. Clutching the medals in his hands near the banks of the Ganga, Naresh Tikait accused the Centre of not honouring its own slogan “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”. “This is no way to treat our daughters,” he said. Naresh Tikait is a well-regarded farm leader who took over the leadership of Baliyan khap in 2011, after the death of his father, a renowned farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, who also headed the BKU. Rakesh Tikait, 54, is the national spokesperson of BKU, and has also been involved in organising ‘mahapanchayats’ of the clan-based outfits in support of the wrestlers’ protests. Baliyan khap and Deshkhap are two largest khaps in the region with clan members spread across 84 villages in western Uttar Pradesh. Gathwala khap has members in 52 villages; Deshwal khap in about another 70. Besides these, Ahlawat khap, Kundu khap, Latiyan khap, Beniwal khap are some of the other prominent khaps in western UP, Haryana and Punjab. All khaps get together under the banner of Sarv khap whenever a pressing social matter pertaining to their clans needs to be discussed. They issue either common or separate directions for their clans to follow. Khaps and their heads take on the responsibility of laying down prohibitions on the various members over social issues ranging from drug addiction to the right expenditures for a wedding, dowry and foeticide. Some khap heads in particular promote girls’ education and their participation in sports. For the khaps, which play a vital role in the social life of its clan members, the allegations of sexual assault simply could not be ignored: the dishonour claimed the women wrestlers became an issue involving the honour of the entire khap. Naresh Tikait’s scarring criticism of the government — so close to the 2024 general assembly polls — will no doubt be a concern for the ruling BJP, which has already encountered the Tikait brothers when they joined forces with the farmers’ protests to form the SKM in 2020. Both brothers played a significant role in the farmers’ protests held in 2020-21 to protest against the three farm acts passed the Parliament in September 2020. The acts were eventually rolled back. Farmer leader Surendra Singh explained that being head of Baliyan Khap and BKU, Naresh Tikait could not ignore injustice to women who also hailed from villages and farmers’ families. Subhash Baliyan said that most of the wrestlers came from different khaps, and it was the responsibility of their khap leaders to protect them. According to political analyst Jamshed Zaidi, BKU’s call for justice for their “daughters,” is no small ask. Though many farmers’ organisations broke away from BKU after the demise of Mahendra Singh Tikait, forming their own organisations, the farmers’ protests a few years ago showed the unifying role that the BKU still played. “BKU is an organisation of farmers and many khap chaudharies are also associated with it. So how can they ignore issues of village daughters,” Surendra Singh said. With the BKU withdrawing from the agitation, and the wrestlers back at their government posts (all three are OSDs in the Indian Railway), it remains to be seen what will happen of the agitation against Singh. One thing’s clear though: the five days Naresh Tikait sought were certainly eventful.