‘Farmer leader’ Rakesh Tikait was spotted raising the slogan ‘Allahu Akbar’ during his speech at the ‘Mahapanchayat’ in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. He claimed that such slogans were raised during the time of his father. He also mentioned ‘Har Har Mahadev’ from the stage as well (11:10 onwards).
Rakesh Tikait said that such slogans will continue to be raised and that ‘they’ will seek to divide them but anti-farm law leaders will seek to unite. He also claimed that their protesters did not go to the Red Fort but at the same time, asserted that they were misled into going there.
He said, “These people (BJP) have always worked to divide people and are responsible for riots. We will have to stop them. We will have to work constructively. We will not give our Uttar Pradesh in the hands of those responsible for riots.”
The ‘Allahu Akbar’ slogans appear a bit odd as Tikait was one of the accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots. In 2013, Tikait was booked for stoking communal disharmony with his allegedly inflammatory speeches which eventually led to 2013 Muzaffarnagar flare-up. According to the residents of Muzaffarnagar, Rakesh Tikait and his brother, Naresh, had both been “primary culprits” for the gruesome communal riots.
Tikait had reportedly attended the mahapanchayat on September 7 and the police had booked him for whipping up communal passions through his incendiary speeches. But here is now raising slogans of ‘Allahu Akbar’.
He also said at the Muzaffarnagar Kisan Mahapanchayat on Sunday, “We take a pledge that we will not leave the protest site there (at Delhi borders) even if our graveyard is made there. We will lay down our lives if needed, but will not leave the protest site until we emerge victorious.”
“We are not going anywhere till our demands are met. We want an MSP guarantee on our farming produce. Till our demands are met, we will protest all over the country,” he added.
