Lakhimpur Kheri: Violent Fallout
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-10-05 02:55:10
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
What happened in Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district of UP was tragic and if reports that Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni's son was heading the convoy that ran over farmers (both the minister and his son have denied that he was in the car) are true, showed how the progeny of politicians are drunk on the power wielded by their parents. Mishra had earlier made provocative remarks against the farmers' agitation and hence the speeding convoy in an area where the farmers were protesting was further provocation. That the convoy ran over three farmers and a journalist (although some reports say that the journalist was lynched by the angry mob after the run over) was disgusting. It either means those driving had no respect for lives or they were scared that if they were stopped, they would be beaten.
Whatever the reason, the deaths and injuries which happened in the accident and then again in the mob fury that followed when 4 BJP workers were killed and scores of farmers and others were injured in the fight as well as the lathicharge by the police, must be probed and the guilty, from both sides must be brought to book. Although the UP government moved swiftly to pacify the farmers by announcing liberal compensation (Rs 45 lakh for the dead and a government job for kin and Rs 10 lakh to the injured as well as the promise of a judicial inquiry) and an uneasy truce was reached for now, the issue is bigger than the incident at Tikunia. The farm agitation has become a headache for the BJP and the tension is now boiling over. More such incidents will happen if the government does not take the initiative to break the impasse.
Further, the other actions of the UP government need to be condemned. It prevented the leaders of other parties from fulfilling their democratic duty of listening to people's grievances and helping them by not allowing them to reach the area. It imposed a ban on internet services and barricaded the entry points, as a police state does. This has become a recurring feature of the crisis handling policy of the Yogi Adityanath government. It must change. In the instant case, although an FIR has been lodged against Mishra's son (he has been charged with murder) there have been no arrests yet. Due process must now be followed and an impartial inquiry must be conducted to punish the guilty.
