Lakhimpur violence: 'Yogi promised Ram Rajya, party workers running amok'

Muzaffarnagar, Sitapur, and several other kisan mahapanchayats which were called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha had at least one common attendee — Daljit Singh, one of the four farmers mowed by an SUV belonging to Union Minister of State (Home) Ajay Mishra in Lakhimpur. He was primed for another showdown with BJP leaders, this time with Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Mishra. “He had called dozens of farmers, asking them to join the protest. I tagged along,” said Rajdeep Singh, son of Daljit Singh.
 
“We were marching peacefully when three cars ran over us,” he claimed.
 
“When Yogi (Adityanath, chief minister of UP) came to power, he promised us ‘ram rajya’ (rule of law). Today, his party workers are killing people in broad daylight and the government is not taking any action,” said Sukhvinder Singh, father of Gurvinder Singh, another farmer killed in the incident.
 
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to provide financial assistance of Rs 45 lakh and a government job to the next of kin of the four farmers. The bereaved families have only one thing to say: “We don’t want money. Give us back our sons.”
 
Farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri have alleged that it was Ashish Mishra, son of Ajay Mishra, who was in the car that ran over farmers agitating against the farm laws.



 Asked if Ashish was present at the accident site in Tikunia, Rajdeep maintained he was in the convoy. The minister’s son has been arrested for murder following the incident.
 
Also, the family of Gurvinder claimed he died of bullet wou­nds, though the post-mortem report did not mention any bullet injury. “The government must have created pressure on authorities to falsify the post-mortem report. Those present at the site claimed that he was shot dead,” said Miskeen Singh, Gurvinder’s uncle. Miskeen wasn’t at the site when the incident took place.

 On the question of people calling protesters “Khalistani”, Sher Singh, uncle of Daljit, said: “This is not the first time they are slandering the farmers’ protest.” Though the families of farmers have lost their children, they are determined to support the farmer’s movement till their last breath. “This is a fight for our rights, we will fight until we get justice for the sacrifices by our brothers.”
 
The bereaved family is pained to read reports of the protest being called with an intention of provoking violence. “Had farmers had such intentions they would not have taken their children to the site,” said Sher Singh, adding, “look at the videos, the sounds and flames … it is clear that they had weapons and the violence was premeditated.”
 
“We want the government to ensure that Ajay Mishra steps down, and his son Ashish Mishra is arrested. That is the only way for our son to get justice. If he st­ays out, our son cannot get justice,” said Satnam Singh, the fat­h­er of 20-year-old Lovepreet Singh.