BKU calls emergency panchayat after Rakesh Tikait ‘heckled’ at anti-terror rally in UP

The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) has called for an emergency ‘Kisan Panchayat’ in Muzaffarnagar on Saturday after a section of people at a protest rally against the Pahalgam terror attack opposed farmer leader Rakesh Tikait’s participation.

BKU national president Naresh Tikait announced that the panchayat would be held at the GIC ground in Muzaffarnagar to deliberate on the incident.

Naresh Tikait said the incident at the ‘Akrosh rally’ was part of a conspiracy orchestrated by “a political party" to weaken the farmers’ movement.

On Friday, Rakesh Tikait was allegedly heckled at the rally, organised by right-wing groups, to protest the Pahalgam attack and asked to go back. In the commotion, his turban also fell, purported videos of the incident showed.

“The incident was not spontaneous. It was pre-planned and driven by political motives," Naresh Tikait said, adding that farmers from across the region were beginning to gather in Sisauli and Muzaffarnagar ahead of the panchayat scheduled to begin in the afternoon.

Rakesh Tikait also denounced Friday’s “heckling" and reiterated that he thought it was a political sabotage.

“This is a conspiracy by a particular political party to suppress the farmers’ voice. Some youths were deliberately sent to disrupt the rally," he told reporters on Friday. He claimed that those shouting slogans against him appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.

In a related development, Tikait announced that the BKU would organise a tractor march to protest against the recent terrorist attack in Kashmir Valley’s Pahalgam that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.

The date for the march will be decided in the coming days. He urged the Union government to take strict action against terrorist activities to calm public anger.

Uttar Pradesh