Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), May 15 (ANI): Bharatiya Kisan Union President Mahendra Singh Tikait died here on Sunday morning following a losing battle with cancer. He was 76.
Tikait, who also served as the council head of Baliyan Khap, was suffering from bone cancer for the past year and died at his son's residence, family sources said.
Scores of people, mostly farmers, paid tributes to the senior farmer leader. His cremation would be held tomorrow at BKU headquarters in Sisauli.
Tikait was a farmer leader and President of Bharatiya Kisan Union. He led a number of pro-farmer movements against the state and central governments in India to support their rights.
He led many international delegations.
The BKU received national attention in 1988, when its supporters organised a virtual siege in Meerut in pursuit of higher prices for sugarcane, cancellation of loans and lowering of water and electricity rates.
In 2006, around 100,000 farmers gathered in Mumbai during heavy rains to protest against government's WTO and anti-farmers policies.
A memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was released urging to keep agriculture out of WTO.
Tikait, president of BKU then said: " It does not matter how much it rains here. We will not stop our fight. The government will have to hear us. We need a change of policies".
Tikait, the leader of the Kisan Union, was often referred to as the second 'Maseeha'or "Savior" of farmers after the death of former prime minister Chaudhry Charan Singh. (ANI)
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