Hundreds of farmers from western Uttar Pradesh, most of them carrying cans of water and buttermilk, reached the Ghazipur protest site on Friday.
It was a response to the emotional outburst of a teary-eyed BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, who blamed the BJP for trying to vitiate the atmosphere at the site by sending its MLAs and their acolytes at the protest site.
“We are ready to be caned by the administration but we are not ready to submit to the BJP people,” said Mr. Tikait. He claimed that he would drink water only from his village. It created ripples across western U.P., particularly Muzaffarnagar, which is Tikait’s native place.
His elder brother and president of BKU Naresh Tikait, who had earlier in the day agreed to end the protest, quickly called an emergency meeting and appealed to supporters to reach Ghazipur in large numbers. Rashtriya Lok Dal President Ajeet Singh called him and promised support.
Meanwhile, administration sources denied the role of BJP leaders. “Mr. Tikait had agreed to court arrest on Wednesday evening but when the ADM [City] went to the stage with police personnel to serve the eviction notice, he changed tack and came up with the ‘attack by the BJP’ angle,’ said a senior official, requesting anonymity.
Mr. Tikait’s decision to stay put, despite a massive presence of police and paramilitary forces in riot gear, changed the course of events with the administration taking a step back. Perhaps, officials on the ground failed to realise the social standing that the Tikait family wields in the region.
Till Wednesday, most of the farmers on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway were Sikh farmers from Uttarakhand and the Terai region of UP. Scores of farmers from western UP were holding fort beneath the flyover.
With farmer leader V.M. Singh leaving on Wednesday with his supporters, the numbers came down. On Thursday, with electricity and water supply snapping and the possibility of a police crackdown, many tents and langars began to fold up.
Sources in BKU said the administration was clearly told that a possible clash between Sikh farmers and U.P. Police could spiral into “something big”. The added that the inputs from the Muzaffarnagar administration that Rakesh Tikait’s arrest would lead to a backlash in the district possibly forced the Ghaziabad administration to postpone the action.
Rajvir Singh, Vice President (BKU) said there was a confusion that Mr. Tikait would surrender. “This led to many farmers leaving the protest site. Later, he described Sikhs as a courageous community and gave a clear assurance that we are with them. The remaining people decided to stay put. Yesterday’s events helped us get over the mistakes of Republic Day and the protest is back on track,” he said.
“Most importantly,” he added, “the emotional appeal of our leader finally found resonance in western UP in a big way. Many farmers from the villages of Ghaziabad and neighbouring districts reached the spot in the night itself.”
