The mowing down of farmers using car and by shooting was orchestrated on back of carefully calculated conspiracy. Days before the carnage, the Union Deputy Minister For Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra had warned he would teach protesting farmers a lesson in a matter of what would take just two minutes. Mishra made good on that threat on Sunday, when his son rammed his car into the crowd of protesting farmers, killing four and then opened fire. The tragic drama unfolded U.P’s Lakhimpur Keri District, where Mishra’s son Aashiq and his henchmen ploughed car into the protest congregation.
In an eerie warning ahead of the incident Ajaykumar Mishra had threatened saying, “I shall teach the protesting farmers a lesson. I shall put them in place in matter just 2 minutes.” Following the threat, the farmers had staged strong protests against the minister’s proclamation.
Ajaykumar scheduled scheme inaugurals in his home constituency of Banvirpur on Sunday and invited Deputy Chief Minister of U.P., Keshav Prasad Maurya as Chief Guest and farmers gathered in peaceful protests at Maharaja Agrasen Maidan where the helipad for Maurya’s landing was located. BJP workers accosted the farmers them ordering them to end protests and vacate. The confrontation led to heated arguments between the two. Soon, a convoy of three cars racing above speed limits, including the one with Mishra’s son, rammed into the farmers’ midst causing a death trail.
Four farmers died instantly and several were wounded seriously. The official numbers on farmer deaths is yet to be out, said leaders of Samyukt Kissan Morcha(SKM) – the umbrella group representing farmers’ unions countrywide. 19-year-old Gurvinder Singh, also a protest participant, died of gunshot wound to his head.
Ashiq Mishra and his goons had opened fire when farmers tried to block the killer cars. Several SKM leaders, including Tejinder Singh Veer, suffered critical injuries. The driver who rode car carrying Mishra’s son too died after the vehicle skid over after crashing. Several vehicles in the vicinity were blazed shortly after the farmers’ deaths.
Farmers across the country organised protest seeking the Union Minister’s resignation. In a bid to prevent news surrounding the deaths, the government suspended internet in Lakhimpur area and the district administration has begun sealing borders to prevent influx of farmers into Lakhimpur. Tthere is heavy police deployment in the region. Swaying black flags, thousands of farmers from villages of Beera, Bijuva, Khajauriya and Sampoor Nagar are protesting at the site at Maharaja Arasen Maidan.
