FIRE IN THE SOUL

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait almost single-handedly turned around the agitation against the new farm laws which at one point looked like a lost cause, staying steadfast even when many other farmer leaders had given up following the R-Day violence. In the end, a seemingly omnipotent central government had to back down, repeal the laws and apologise to the farmers

- Prashant Srivastava

If there was a turning point in the farmers’ agitation, it happened on January 28, 2021. Images of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait bursting into tears at a media briefing after spending the whole day in Delhi Police custody shocked the nation. The agitation, which was almost on the verge of petering out over the violence by some rogue elements at Red Fort on Republic Day, became a tidal force again, and 52-year-old Tikait was now the voice of millions of India’s farmers. That set in motion a series of events that finally led to November 19 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only backed down and announced the repeal of the three contentious farm laws but also apologised to the farmers, saying the government had failed to convince them about the merits of the laws.

It wasn’t looking too good on January 26 after protesting farmers and the police clashed near Red Fort in Delhi. The movement had lost its moral high ground, and many farmers vacated the Ghazipur and Singhu borders of the capital, where they had been camping. The farmers’ unions were on the verge of a split, with even Naresh Tikait, elder brother of Rakesh and BKU president, saying he was calling off the agitation. Meanwhile, the security forces were amassing at the protest sites, suggesting a forced eviction of the remaining protesters was on the cards. BKU spokesperson Rakesh and his supporters were among the few who were adamant that the protests would continue. That’s when the government overplayed its hand, trying to steamroll the waning protests.