Tajamul Haque’s Life Crusade for Inclusive Land Rights

In these trying times, a harsh blow has silently hit the India’s farm, forest and land sectors, creating an irreparable void that would be felt for years to come by the poor farmers to policymakers alike. In Tajamul Haque’s untimely demise on 2 May 2021, India has lost a scholar policymaker, a champion of the causes of farmers, Adivasis, an advocate of land rights for women and Dalits, and a messiah for marginal farmers and tenants.

In her obituary, Unninathan (2021) termed Haque as “a people’s economist, a rare breed nowadays” quoting agri-expert Devinder Sharma. “His combination of kindness, warmth, intellect, humility, and commitment to and contributions for the downtrodden was unparalleled” said Tim Hanstad, co-founder of global non-profit (Landesa 2021). P K Joshi, noted agricultural economist and his close friend, rates him as a great champion of the poor and downtrodden and underlines his equal popularity among students, academicians, bureaucrats, politicians, media, farmers and his friends as an agricultural economist and a policymaker and expert on farm pricing (Joshi 2021).