and the lawyers from Punjab and Haryana should also fight such cases without charging anything.’ This agitation continued for three years. When V.P. Singh was the Prime Minister he had written off all the loans of the farmers to the extent of Rs. 10,000. He wanted to write off the entire loan amount, but because of the strong opposition from the then finance minister Madhu Dandavate he could not do that. As a compromise, Singh accepted the limit of Rs. 10,000 to that loan waiver. While writing about Joshi’s attempts to take farmers’ issues to the national level, it is important to note his association with Mahendra Singh Tikait, a strong and rustic Jat leader from Western UP. He came from a village called Sisouli where he had a small ancestral farm. That region was divided into different Khaps and Tikait was head of one such Khap called Baliana. Eighty four surrounding villages came under his jurisdiction. Head of the Khap is referred to as Choudhary. It is a hereditary position. All disputes in the area, including family feuds, are settled in the Khap and Choudhary’s decision is final. To be a Choudhary was regarded as a matter of great pride. Charan Singh was also a head of a Khap and even after Charan Singh became the Prime Minister, he insisted on adding the title ‘Choudhary’ behind his name. Tikait had studied only up to the sixth standard in school and was not known as a scholar. But he was very popular in his jat community and was respected for his honesty. He could at any time gather thousands of Jat farmers. The sphere of his influence extended in Western UP from Meerat to Muzaffarnagar. This was a fertile area and comparatively close to Delhi. Several agitations led by him had taken place in Delhi and since most of the media was centered in Delhi, the news was carried far and wide. As a result, he had large influence in Delhi as well and 270
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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage
