Two hours’ drive from parliament in Delhi Mahendra Singh Tikait runs a Govt of his own He declares that all politicians are rogues and all policemen are bandits in uniform In 84 villages surrounding his own of Sisauli he claims that authority rests with a group of five village elders. In fact the group is controlled by Tikait.
Thousands of Tikait’s supporters bear guns Tikait tells farmers not to pay for canal water or electricity for their wells. No state Govt has dared cut off the farmers electricity supply for fear of losing votes or of tangling with Tikait’s gunmen. This erosion of the rule of law is happening not in secessionist-minded Punjab Assam or Kashmir but in Uttar Pradesh the very heartland of India.
In late June in the village of Miloha two policemen were killed by villagers claiming that they were really bandits. On July 16 in the village of Dhaulri another policeman was killed and four policemen were taken prisoner. The village elders claimed that the policemen were guilty of looting. Tikait refused to let police enter the area to investigate and at first would not even hand over the body of the dead policeman.
The state Govt headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party was told by Tikait that he would free the captured policemen only if eight villagers arrested for the murder of the two policemen at Miloha were also freed. The state Govt meekly agreed and tried to save face by ordering an official inquiry. Previous Govt’s in Uttar Pradesh headed by the Janata Dal and the Congress Party have been just as supine. Tikait is therefore a hero among the local people having taken on the might of the state and triumphed.
Law and order in Uttar Pradesh has also broken down in an area known as the Terai. This was once marshy tract that has been reclaimed and settled mainly by Sikhs. Sikh militancy has spread from Punjab into the Terai.
Ownership of guns in Uttar Pradesh is spreading. Now that the Pakistan border is being policed AK-47 rifles are coming into the Terai from Nepal and local gun-makers are proliferating. Tikait says with a laugh that politicians hand out arms to toughs to help capture booths at election time and afterwards the gunmen look to him for leadership.
The moral authority of the state is low. The reputation of politicians and police is in tatters and the judicial process is viewed as a farce which ensures that no resourceful criminal is convicted This is a modern India and a world in which Tikait gains strength.(From an Economist report)
Article extracted from this publication >> September 6, 1991
