Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have now joined the growing movement for justice for victims of the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri killings. They too are calling for a just trial against those accused in the incident. This is significant because the key accused Ashish Mishra is the son of none other than Ajay Mishra, who is not only a member of the BJP, but is also a Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
On October 15, BJP leader Ram Iqbal Singh accused Ajay Mishra of involvement in the death of eight people and a local journalist at Lakhimpur Kheri, and demanded his dismissal to allow a fair trial into the matter. According to Rediff, he said questions were being raised about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s failure to sack Mishra. Speaking to reporters, Singh said Mishra should have apologised to farmers instead of trying to defend his son Ashish.
“He has not regretted the incident yet. This incident is a blot on humanity,” said Singh, who is also the state executive member of the party.
Further, he said that the BJP government’s image has been “tarnished” due to the Lakhimpur and the Gorakhpur businessman murder case. He reminded that BJP workers were also killed during the Sunday incident.
Singh is not the first BJP leader to speak against Mishra. Shortly after the incident unfolded, BJP MP Varun Gandhi condemned the attempt to mow down peacefully protesting farmers and urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to call for investigations into the matter.
Recently on October 14, he also shared a video of former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee from 1980 in which he warns the then Indira Gandhi government against farmer repression.
Wise words from a big-hearted leader… pic.twitter.com/xlRtznjFAx
— Varun Gandhi (@varungandhi80) October 14, 2021
Varun Gandhi stressed that videos of the incident showed ample evidence regarding the incident and that “justice must be delivered before a message of arrogance and cruelty enters the minds of every farmer.”
He also decried the attempt to colour the incident as communal violence. “Not only is this an immoral and false narrative, it is dangerous to create these fault-lines and reopen wounds that have taken a generation to heal. We must not put petty political gains above national unity,” he said in a tweet.
Farmers group Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said on Thursday that those injured during the incident are yet to receive their due compensation. It questioned why Mishra remained in the Cabinet despite openly threatening, promoting hatred and disharmony and speaking about criminal antecedents nearly three weeks ago.
“The SKM reiterates its strong demand that Mishra be dismissed from the government and arrested immediately. Otherwise, it is clear that justice in the Lakhimpur Kheri Farmers’ massacre will certainly be compromised,” it said in a press release.
To compel the Centre to arrest those accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri killings, farmers announced a rail roko all over India on October 18. On October 15 and October 16, farmers will burn effigies of PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other oppressive leaders in a show of dissent.
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