Lakhimpur: UP police helping Ajay Mishra's son, says SKM

According to the organisation, the one-member judicial panel is not according to their demands and does not instil confidence in farmers of the country

A policeman pastes a notice outside the residence of Ajay Kumar Mishra, summoning the main accused of Tikonia violence Ashis Mishra, for his personal appearance at crime branch office on Friday at 10 am, in Lakhimpur Kheri on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021.: PTI

TT   |   New Delhi   |  08.10.21: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Thursday accused the Uttar Pradesh police of helping junior home minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashis Mishra abscond and expressed dissatisfaction with the one-member committee set up to probe the Lakhimpur Kheri killings.

The one-member committee, which was promised by the Uttar Pradesh administration on Monday to ease the tension over Sunday’s incident, was notified on Wednesday. The Morcha, which is describing the deaths as “farmers’ massacre”, maintains that the panel was hurriedly notified in view of the Supreme Court hearing on Thursday.

According to the Morcha, the one-member judicial panel is not according to their demands and does not instil confidence in the farmers of the country.

“The order does not mention anything about the key reason or objective of setting up such a commission. The inquiry should be on whether or not the incidents of Lakhimpur Kheri were pre-planned intentional murders, with the aim to intimidate and quell protesters.

“In the notification issued, there is no mention of the open threat issued by the Union government minister (Teni) in a public meeting, about the role of the MoS and his son in the gruesome developments of Sunday and thereafter,” the Morcha said, referring to reports of the deceased journalist Raman Kashyap’s family saying that they were being asked to change their complaint.

The family, lifelong supporters of the BJP, have alleged that they are being pressured to file a complaint stating that Raman was beaten up by the farmers. The family has said that Raman was run over by the SUV.

“Members of the BJP want to include my brother’s name in their FIR to show that an equal number of deaths happened on both sides. Four farmers and four BJP workers will make the cross case equal and balanced. They want to use my brother for this balancing act,” Raman’s brother Pawan told news website News Laundry.

The Morcha said: “Further, the notification gives a time window of two months and indicates that the timeline can be extended too. From all of this, it is clear that this ordering of a judicial inquiry into the matter is to essentially buy time, to whitewash the actual set of events and to postpone justice for the victims.”

Upset with the manner in which both the state and central governments are handling the case, the SKM said it would announce the future course of action on October 12 if its demands were not met by then.

The Morcha has demanded the arrest of Ashis, who eyewitnesses insist was in the car that mowed down the farmers, and dismissal of his father from the Union council of ministers.

The Morcha’s collective leadership is slated to meet on Friday to chalk out the future course of action, but the announcement will be made only on October 12 as it wants to wait for the antim ardas (last prayer) for the farmers who were killed.

Meanwhile, a protesting farmer was injured in Naraingarh area of Ambala in Haryana on Thursday morning after being allegedly hit by a car that was part of a BJP MP’s convoy.

The farmers had converged on the Naraingarh-Sadhaura road to protest the presence of Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini at a function in the area. While the convoy was returning from the event, one of the cars hit a farmer, prompting the protesters to wonder if this was a coincidence or a strategy.