Delinker at 14:14, 25 July 2023

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{{Use Indian English|date = February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Bharatiya Kisan Union
| native_name =
| caption = Logo of BKU
| logo =
| abbreviation = BKU
| motto =
| predecessor = Punjab Khetibari Union Kisan Sangarsh Samiti (Haryana) Raytu Sangha (Karnataka) Vyavasayigal Sangham (Tamil Nadu)
| formation = {{Start date and years ago|df=yes|p=y|1978|7|01}}
| founders = [[Chaudhary Charan Singh]] [[M. D. Nanjundaswamy]] Narayanswamy Naidu Bhupinder Singh Mann [[Mahendra Singh Tikait]]
| extinction = 
| status = Active
| purpose = 
| headquarters = Kisan Bhawan, [[Sisauli]], [[Muzaffarnagar]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]
| region_served = [[India]]
| membership =
| leader_title =
| leader_name =
| leader_title2 = National Spokesperson
| leader_name2 = [[Rakesh Tikait]]
| key_people =
| parent_organization =
| affiliations = [[All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee]] [[Via Campesina]]
| website = [http://www.bku.co.in/ Official Website]
| general = Yudhvir Singh
}}
'''Bharatiya Kisan Union''' (abbreviated '''BKU''') ([[English language|English]]: Indian Farmers' Union) is a farmer's representative organisation in [[India]]. It was founded by [[Chaudhary Charan Singh]] from the ''Punjab Khetibari Union'' (Punjab Farming Union) which became its [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] branch.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=L_JRM7CCrMUC&pg=PA201|title=New Farmers' Movements in India|last=Brass|first=Tom|date=1995|publisher=[[Frank Cass]]|isbn=0-7146-4609-1|volume=vol 12|pages=201|author-link=Tom Brass}}</ref> The union is affiliated to the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee and [[Via Campesina]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://viacampesina.org/en/bharatiya-kisan-union-backs-tamil-nadu-farmers-protesting-with-human-skulls-in-new-delhi/|title=Bharatiya Kisan Union backs Tamil Nadu farmers protesting with human skulls in New Delhi – Via Campesina|date=2017-03-28|website=[[Via Campesina]]|url-status=live}}</ref> The national headquarters of the union is located in [[Sisauli]], [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/bku-leader-mahendra-singh-tikait-dead-133781-2011-05-15|title=BKU leader Mahendra Singh Tikait dead|date=15 May 2011|website=[[India Today]]|url-status=live}}</ref>

== History ==
The foundation of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) began with the formation of the ''Punjab Khetibari Zamindari Union'' (later renamed ''Punjab Khetibari Union'') in May 1972 with the merger of 11 peasants group in [[Chandigarh]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=India: Government and Politics in a Developing Nation|last=Kochanek|first=Stanley A.|last2=Hardgrave|first2=Robert L.|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0495007494|pages=255}}</ref> In 1978, the PKU was transformed into the BKU with the intention of creating a national forum for farmers with association to the [[Bharatiya Lok Dal]] of the [[Janata Party (Secular)]], but it failed to provide a substantial mobilization of farmers initially.<ref name=":2" /> In 12 December 1980, an "All-India Kisan Sammelan" was organised which saw the unification of the ''Kisan Sangarsh Samiti'' (Haryana), ''Raytu Sangha'' (Karnataka) and ''Vyavasayigal Sangham'' (Tamil Nadu) under the ambit of the BKU. In 1982, the union underwent a brief split under the designation of BKU (N) led by Narayanasamy Naidu and BKU (M) led by Bhupendra Singh Mann. The organisation was however reunited by the intervention of [[Sharad Anantrao Joshi]] under a [[Federalism|federal]] structure with [[autonomous]] state units.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Omvedt|first=Gail|url=https://books.google.com/?id=Wlxb0uacnRcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage|title=Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India|publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]]|year=1993|isbn=0-87332-784-5|pages=122}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bentall|first=Jim|last2=Corbridge|first2=Stuart|author2-link=Stuart Corbridge|year=1996|title=Urban-Rural Relations, Demand Politics and the 'New Agrarianism' in Northwest India: The Bharatiya Kisan Union.|journal=[[Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers]]|volume=21|issue=1|pages=30|doi=10.2307/622922|jstor=622922}}</ref> It was reorganised in 17 October 1986 by [[Mahendra Singh Tikait]] with its headquarters in [[Sisauli]] in western [[Uttar Pradesh]] as a non-partisan organisation contrary to its previous association with the former [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]], [[Charan Singh]].<ref name=":2">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=FhStCwAAQBAJ|title=Populism and Power: Farmers' movement in western India, 1980–2014|last=Dhanagare|first=D. N|date=2016|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-138-96327-6|location=India|page=130|author-link=D N Dhanagare}}</ref>

During the 1980s, it emerged through a number of agitations which began with the rising wave of [[Social movement|people's movements]] since the [[Bihar Movement]] following [[Indira Gandhi]]'s [[The Emergency (India)|Emergency]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=L_JRM7CCrMUC&pg=PA201|title=New Farmers' Movements in India|last=Brass|first=Tom|date=1995|publisher=[[Frank Cass]]|isbn=0-7146-4609-1|volume=vol 12|pages=95|author-link=Tom Brass}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/1974-is-this-really-as-real/278136|title=1974... Is This Really As Real? {{!}} Outlook India Magazine|last=Reddy|first=Sheela|date=5 September 2011|website=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook India]]|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref> The Bharatiya Kisan Union attained popularity by leading the "Meerut siege" in January–February 1988 which was a 25-day long [[dharna]] (picketing) around the [[commissioner]]'s office in [[Meerut]] that witnessed the gathering of hundreds of thousands of farmers from around the area into the city.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=FhStCwAAQBAJ|title=Populism and Power: Farmers' movement in western India, 1980–2014|last=Dhanagare|first=D. N|date=2016|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-138-96327-6|location=India|page=125|author-link=D N Dhanagare}}</ref> Later, in the same year, the BKU under the leadership of [[Sharad Anantrao Joshi|Sharad anantrao joshi]] lead the "Boat Club Rally" which witnessed a mass gathering of 800,000 farmers from western Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country into the boat club lawns of the [[Gentrified|upscale neighborhood]] between Udyog Bhavan and Krishi Bhavan in [[New Delhi]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19790115-kisan-rally-farmers-throng-the-capital-with-festive-gaiety-821763-2014-12-08|title=Kisan Rally: Farmers throng the capital with festive gaiety|last=Louis|first=Arul B.|date=19 December 2014|website=India Today|orig-year=15 January 1979|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref> The crowd of protesting farmers who arrived with tractors and bullock carts stretched for 3 km from [[India Gate]] to [[Vijay Chowk]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/boat-club-is-back-on-map-as-indias-resistance-square/articleshow/65108848.cms|title=Lutyens' Delhi: Boat Club is back on map as India's resistance square {{!}} India News|date=23 July 2018|website=[[The Times of India]]|url-status=live}}</ref> Their demands were that of the implementation of measures such as control over prices of [[sugarcane]], [[loan waiver]]s to farmers and lowering of water and power [[tariff]]s during the early stages of the process of [[economic liberalisation in India]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=FhStCwAAQBAJ|title=Populism and Power: Farmers' movement in western India, 1980–2014|last=Dhanagare|first=D. N|date=2016|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-138-96327-6|location=India|pages=128–129|author-link=D N Dhanagare}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/messiah-for-farmers-who-laid-siege-to-capital/cid/392440|title='Messiah' for farmers who laid siege to capital|last=Chakraborty|first=Tapas|date=16 May 2011|website=[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref> The BKU achieved relative success in acquiring several concessions during this time period.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=L_JRM7CCrMUC&pg=PA201|title=New Farmers' Movements in India|last=Brass|first=Tom|date=1995|publisher=[[Frank Cass]]|isbn=0-7146-4609-1|volume=vol 12|pages=201–203|author-link=Tom Brass}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/agriculture/kisan-union-farmers-march-delhi-kisan-kranti-yatra|title=Tikait's Kisan Union to Bring Thousands of Farmers to Delhi in 'Kisan Kranti Yatra'|last=Sharma|first=Raghavi|date=1 October 2018|website=[[The Wire]]|url-status=live}}</ref> The western Uttar Pradesh branch of the union was founded in 17 October 1986 by [[Mahendra Singh Tikait]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bhartiya-kisan-union-activists-not-to-contest-lok-sabha-polls/articleshow/29990366.cms?from=mdr|title=Bhartiya Kisan Union activists not to contest Lok Sabha polls|date=2014-02-07|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url-status=live}}</ref>it has 31 unions

== Ideology ==
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) maintains itself as a non-partisan farmers' representative organisation. The stated purpose of the Union is to act as a [[pressure group]] from outside the establishment of electoral politics.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=L_JRM7CCrMUC&pg=PA201|title=New Farmers' Movements in India|last=Brass|first=Tom|date=1995|publisher=[[Frank Cass]]|isbn=0-7146-4609-1|volume=vol 12|pages=168|author-link=Tom Brass}}</ref> The union terms the World Trade Organization (WTO) as an "unreasonable regime" which serves the interests of corporations and facilitates uneven competition by victimizing Indian farmers and the farmers of other developing countries. The BKU maintains the position that agriculture should be excluded from the ambit of the WTO, [[patent]]s on products abolished and patents on process to last for only 10 years.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/bku-wants-agriculture-out-of-wto/articleshow/1195702.cms?from=mdr|title=BKU wants agriculture out of WTO|date=2005-08-09|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url-status=live}}</ref> The union has also shown skepticism towards the introduction of [[genetically modified]] crops and raises concerns that it could jeopardize [[sustainability]] and consumer health.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/farmers-groups-split-over-htbt-cotton-cultivation/articleshow/70261861.cms?from=mdr|title=Farmers' groups split over HTbt cotton cultivation|date=2019-07-17|work=The Economic Times|access-date=2020-02-06|url-status=live}}</ref> It provides issue-based support to candidates across party lines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/BKUs-issue-based-support-to-parties/articleshow/211590948.cms|title=BKU's issue-based support to parties|date=6 February 2002|website=[[The Times of India]]|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref> The union however has come into conflict with the [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] movement which it asserts creates division on [[Sectarianism|sectarian]] lines and is of no consequence to the farmers' movement.<ref name=":13">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=L_JRM7CCrMUC&pg=PA201|title=New Farmers' Movements in India|last=Brass|first=Tom|date=1995|publisher=[[Frank Cass]]|isbn=0-7146-4609-1|volume=vol 12|pages=114–115|author-link=Tom Brass}}</ref>

== Organisation ==
The Bharatiya Kisan Union has an overarching federal structure with autonomous state units. The state units operate under their own designation in Karnataka as the ''[[Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha]]'' and in Tamil Nadu as the ''Vyavasayigal Sangham'' which are interpreted as regional equivalent designations of the ''Bharatiya Kisan Union''.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ray|first=Raka|title=Social Movements in India: Poverty, Power, and Politics|last2=Katzenstein|first2=Mary Fainsod|author-link2=Mary Fainsod Katzenstein|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|year=2005|isbn=9780742538429|location=[[United States of America]]|pages=185–186|author-link=Raka Ray}}</ref>

The organisation of the union is modeled on the lines of a [[grassroots]] system of [[village panchayat]]s. The BKU meetings are noted to be informal, rustic and egalitarian in their structure while making use of the traditional institutions of [[khap panchayats]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sahay|first=Gaurang|date=1 October 2004|title=Traditional Institutions and Cultural Practices vis-à-vis Agrarian Mobilisation: The Case of Bhartiya Kisan Union|journal=[[Indian Sociological Society|Sociological Bulletin]]|volume= 53|issue=3|pages=406–407|doi=10.1177/0038022920040305|jstor=23620470}}</ref> It has presence in the states of Uttar Pradesh, [[Haryana]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/cancel-all-stubble-burning-cases-in-a-month-farmers-body/articleshow/72249705.cms|title=Jind farm fires: BKU gives government 30-day ultimatum for dropping charges {{!}} Gurgaon News|date=27 November 2019|website=[[The Times of India]]|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Punjab, India|Punjab]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/rights/malerkotla-punjab-caa-rally|title=Punjab: Nearly 20,000 Farmers, Women Take to Malerkotla Streets Against CAA|date=2020-02-02|website=The Wire|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-05}}</ref> [[Uttarakhand]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-bharatiya-kisan-union-protest-118100200666_1.html|title=All you need to know about the Bharatiya Kisan Union protest in Delhi|date=2018-10-02|work=[[Business Standard]]|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Gujarat]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uniindia.com/bhartiya-kisan-union-to-oppose-bjp-in-gujarat-hp-elections/india/news/1040001.html|title=Bharatiya Kisan Union to oppose BJP in Gujarat, HP elections|date=7 November 2017|website=[[United News of India]]|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Madhya Pradesh]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/may/29/madhya-pradesh-farmers-begin-three-day-stir-supplies-affected-1983276.html|title=Madhya Pradesh farmers begin three-day stir, supplies affected|date=29 May 2019|website=[[The New Indian Express]]|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref> [[Chhattisgarh]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bhaskar.com/news/indian-farmer-union-will-be-active-in-cag-state-president-fixed-023040-2954952.html|title=भारतीय किसान यूनियन छग में होगी सक्रिय, प्रदेशाध्यक्ष तय|date=2018-10-12|website=[[Dainik Bhaskar]]|language=hi|trans-title=Bharatiya Kisan Union to be active in Chhattisgarh, the state president will be active|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-10}}</ref> [[Rajasthan]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.patrika.com/jaipur-news/100-villages-people-said-the-cradle-of-the-agreement-were-not-traveled-alwar-1460643/|title=100 गांवों के लोगों ने कहा, समझौते की पालना नहीं हुई तो अलवर कूच|last=Soni|first=Aniket|website=[[Rajasthan Patrika|Patrika News]]|language=hindi|trans-title=People from 100 villages have threatened to march to Alwar if the agreement is not followed|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref> [[Karnataka]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bhartiya-kisan-union-to-launch-stir-in-national-capital-from-march-17/articleshow/50266582.cms?from=mdr|title=Bhartiya Kisan Union to launch stir in national capital from March 17|date=2015-12-21|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Maharashtra]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/hisar-farmers-to-defy-ban-plant-gm-ht-cotton-in-fields-today/articleshow/70080188.cms|title=Hisar farmers to defy ban, plant GM cotton today {{!}} Gurgaon News|last=Mukesh|first=Kumar|date=5 July 2019|website=[[The Times of India]]|url-status=live|access-date=2020-02-06}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

== See also ==
* [[Sahajanand Saraswati]]
* [[Narmada Bachao Andolan]]
* [[All India Kisan Sabha]]
* [[Biopiracy]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|2}}
* {{cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Dipankar|author-link=Dipankar Gupta|year=1988|title=Country-Town Nexus and Agrarian Mobilisation: Bharatiya Kisan Union as an Instance|journal=[[Economic and Political Weekly]]|volume=23|issue=51|pages=2688–2696|jstor=4394150}}
* {{cite journal|last=Hasan|first=Zoya|year=1989|title=Self-Serving Guardians: Formation and Strategy of the Bhartiya Kisan Union.|journal=[[Economic and Political Weekly]]|volume= 24|issue= 48|pages=2663–2670|jstor=4395653|author-link=Zoya Hasan}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Bentall|first=Jim|last2=Corbridge|first2=Stuart|author2-link=Stuart Corbridge|year=1996|title=Urban-Rural Relations, Demand Politics and the 'New Agrarianism' in Northwest India: The Bharatiya Kisan Union.|journal=[[Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers]]|volume=21|issue=1|pages=27|doi=10.2307/622922|jstor=622922}}
* {{cite journal|last=Sahay|first=Gaurang|date=1 October 2004|title=Traditional Institutions and Cultural Practices vis-à-vis Agrarian Mobilisation: The Case of Bhartiya Kisan Union|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263203299|journal=[[Indian Sociological Society|Sociological Bulletin]]|volume= 53|issue=3|pages=396–418|doi=10.1177/0038022920040305|via=JOUR}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=FhStCwAAQBAJ|title=Populism and Power: Farmers' movement in western India, 1980--2014|last=Dhanagare|first=D. N|date=2016|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-138-96327-6|location=India|author-link=D N Dhanagare}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.bku.org.in/ Official Website]

[[Category:Farmers' organizations]]
[[Category:Rural community development]]
[[Category:Agricultural organisations based in India]]
[[Category:1978 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1978]]

Bharatiya Kisan Union - Revision history

Delinker at 14:14, 25 July 2023