Thousands of farmers travelled to Tikunia village on October 12, 2021 to honour Nacchattar Singh, Lovepreet Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Daljeet Singh and Raman Kashyap who died during the Lakhimpur Kheri killings.
On October 3, four farmers and a local journalist were allegedly run over by Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish and accomplices. To pay tribute to these deaths, farmers called upon all citizens to observe antim ardas and prayer meetings across India. In Tikunia, farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and other states arrived for the event.
Reports came in that the state government barricaded some of the roads leading to Lakhimpur Kheri. Nonetheless, people managed to reach Tikunia in large numbers, said farmers group Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). Along with the five martyrs, the SKM also paid homage to five soldiers who sacrificed their lives during an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir – Jaswinder Singh, Saraj Singh, Gajjan Singh, Mandeep Singh and Vaisakh HK.
“The SKM notes with grief and pride that Sepoy Gajjan Singh who was married only four months ago, took a farmer union flag proudly on his baarat. The SKM has always been saying that farmers and soldiers are in this struggle together, of protecting the country. We also pay homage to innocent civilians killed in the past ten days in terrorist attacks,” said the SKM.
Many citizens lit five candles in memory of the Lakhimpur Kheri deaths.
Amplifying voice of our Anndatas, @NSUIPunjab president @AkshaySharmaOrg along with other activists took out a candle march at Amritsar. The atrocities against our farmers are the most heinous crime BJP has committed. Nobody would tolerate this inhuman act ever.#SackAjayMishra pic.twitter.com/17m9IEAngW
— NSUI (@nsui) October 7, 2021
Protesting farmers in different parts of the country have started a candle march in Lakhimpur Kheri to pay tribute to the martyr farmers.#JusticeFor_MartyredFarmers pic.twitter.com/brV4Hp3bWL
— Priya Hooda (@PriyaHooda_) October 12, 2021
A candle march was held from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk to Bindu Chowk at Kolhapur today to protest the brutal massacre of farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri, UP. We stand in solidarity with the families of our martyred farmers and demand that the culprits be brought to justice. pic.twitter.com/QiTnN2Tm16
— Satej (Bunty) D. Patil (@satejp) October 10, 2021
“We will continue with our plan of action for the Shaheed Kalash Yatras in all districts of Uttar Pradesh and other states, burn effigies of BJP leaders on October 15, Dussehra and observe a nationwide rail roko on October 18,” said SKM leaders in a joint statement. Leaders said that the farmers’ struggle will not be dissuaded by the regime’s attempts to “crush a powerful peaceful democratic movement.” So far over 630 farmers have died in the struggle. The SKM said it will not let these deaths be in vain. Therefore, representatives of different states started an asthi (ashes) kalash yatra
These demands involved the repeal of the three farm laws, the four labour codes and privatization of PSUs along with dismissal of Mishra from his ministerial post. Additionally, farmers in every district will burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and similar leaders on Dussehra.
“To ensure that morality prevails and constitutional values are protected in politics and government formation, the SKM will continue its struggle to get Ajay Mishra Teni sacked and arrested,” said SKM leader Darshan Pal.
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