Lakhimpur Kheri: Contradictions In Official And Real Versions, Ashish Mishra Stays Out

Family members of Gurvinder SIngh, 18, of Mohraniya village in Bahraich, refused to cremate his body alleging that the farmer was shot dead.

The Lakhimpur Kheri incident has shocked people across the country. As visuals surfaced on Tuesday which showed a ‘Thar’ jeep belonging to Union Minister Ajay Mishra and allegedly driven by his son Ashish Mishra mowing down farmers, farms unions and political parties have initiated an all out attack against the state and central government, demanding resignation of the minister and arrest of his son.

Rakesh Tikait’s deal

On Monday, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait discussed the demands of farmers with the UP admin’s high-ranking officials to ‘settle’ the issue. They reached an agreement that an ex-gratia of Rs 45 lakh each will be given to the victims’ families, a job will be provided to decreased’s kin and a judicial inquiry will be ordered in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. This also meant the farmers dispersed from the places they had blocked in Lakhimpur Kheri and allowed the bodies of the deceased to be cremated. This discussion took place when opposition leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Akhilesh Yadav were detained by the police on their way to Lakhimpur Kheri.

However, by Tuesday, Rakesh Tikait was clarifying that it was not an end of the agitation. “The verdict in Lakhimpur Kheri is not the end of the agitation. The minister and his son should be arrested immediately by sacking the minister from the government. The government should fulfill its promises within the stipulated time frame.”

लखीमपुर खीरी में फैसला आंदोलन की समाप्ति नही है। सरकार से मंत्री को बर्खास्त कर मंत्री व उनके बेटे को तुरन्त गिरफ्तार किया जाय।
सरकार को तयसीमा में अपने वादे पूरे करे।#LakhimpurKheriViolence @ANI @PTI_News @fpjindia

— Rakesh Tikait (@RakeshTikaitBKU) October 5, 2021

The statement by Rakesh Tikait came after the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) made it clear that their key demands had not been met yet. “SKM clarifies: The agreement with the admin yesterday was only to pave way for the last rites. Key demands of SKM remain: immediate arrest of Ashish Mishra Teni and his accomplices; dismissal of MoS Ajay Mishra Teni and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Our struggle continues.”

The statement by the SKM and Rakesh Tikait, clarifying their stand, were released on Tuesday because of two major reasons- 1) The minister’s son had not been arrested yet, nor had the minister resigned 2) There were multiple discrepancies in the official version of the event and the version of those who witnessed the event.

There, in fact, was a rumour doing the rounds on social media that when almost all opposition leaders were detained, Rakesh Tikait was swiftly allowed to reach Kheri. Mr Tikait, rumours said, could have struck a deal with administration by diluting farmers’ demands.

Why would anyone be surprised that Rakesh Tikait may have done a palti? As the old J-school nugget says, always look at a politician’s record.

— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) October 6, 2021

Family alleges foul play in post-mortem

Out of four farmers who were killed in this incident, three were cremated on Tuesday after Rakesh Tikait and UP officials reached an agreement. However, the family of the fourth one demanded a second post-mortem examination of the body, said officials.

Family members of Gurvinder SIngh, 18, of Mohraniya village in Bahraich, refused to cremate his body alleging that the farmer was shot dead and the post-mortem report did not reveal this.

However, his cremation was performed on Wednesday morning after a second autopsy was conducted on him as demanded by his family, police said.

Talking to PTI, Sukhdev Singh, uncle of Gurvinder Singh, said, “Post-mortem was done in front of us and our leaders. At that time doctors told us that Gurvinder was not shot.”

“When in both post-mortems, doctors say that he was not shot, we had no option left but to cremate him,” he added.

FIR talks of “conspiracy”

The FIR lodged on a complaint of Jagjit Singh, a native of Bahraich district, claims that the incident was “premeditated” for which the “conspiracy was hatched” by the Union minister and his son. The FIR clearly states that minister’s son Ashish/Monu Mishra, along with 15-20 armed men in three speeding four-wheelers, reached the protest spot in Banbirpur. “Monu Mishra opened gunfire while he was seated on the left side of his Mahindra Thar, which mowed down the crowd and sped ahead,” it states.

In a video doing the rounds on social media, a Mahindra Thar is seen mowing down farmers walking on the street. The Yogi Adityanath government has come under fire after multiple accounts indicate that minister’s son was present at the location when this incident took place. He and his father have denied that he was there at all.

This is how events unfolded in #LakhimpurKheri .

What does the minister, the chief minister or any other BhaJaPayi have to say about it ?

Above all, the zombies of NOIDA ? pic.twitter.com/zcF3YbesJO

— thakursahab (@65thakursahab) October 4, 2021

Journalist’s family says run over by car

Raman Kashyap, a journalist who was covering the Tikonia protests, was also among the eight people killed in this incident. Earlier, the union minister had named Kashyap among the BJP workers, who died in the violence, and who he claimed were lynched by the angry farmers.

However, Kashyap’s father says his son was killed after being run over and was not lynched by the farmers. “When the three-four cars came…he may have been shooting some photos…the cars ran over people. My son died in that,” said Mr. Kashyap.

According to a newslaundry report, Raman’s family wanted to file a separate FIR initially.

Pawan Kashyap, brother of Raman Kashyap, told newslaundry: “In our complaint, we have written that three vehicles with Ashish Mishra’s workers rammed into the crowd and killed my brother.”

But after a discussion with their lawyer, the family decided to include Raman’s name in the FIR filed by the farmers directly against Ashish Mishra, newslaundry reported.

“It was a matter of either naming Ashish or not. And we felt that since the sequence of events is the same, we might as well include his name in the FIR filed by the farmers,” Pawan said.

Injured eyewitness names Ashish Mishra

Tejinder Virk, a protestor injured in the incident and hospitalised in Medanta, told NDTV that Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish was driving the car that ran over farmers.

“They ran us over on purpose. Ajay Mishra’s son and his men were in the car,” he said.

After the video of the minister’s Thar mowing down farmers came out, minister’s son became the prime suspect in the case, who’s already been booked for murder. Also, because of all the accounts narrated by the eyewitnesses, including the one by the deceased journalist’s family, there is a strong case against Ashish Mishra and he should have been taken into custody by now.

Police avoids arrest

On the other hand, Senior police officer SN Sabat on Wednesday said that the police cannot conclude anything on the basis of one video and stated that more evidence are being investigated in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

“The viral video may prove as evidence in the incident but we cannot reach any conclusion by seeing just one video,” Mr Sabat said on video of farmers being runover by vehicle.

The UP police, which has been rather courageous in detaining political opposition without an order or warrant, is perhaps fearful of arresting the union minister’s son, who has been named by victims in the FIR.

‘No resignation’

On the front of seeking the minister’s resignation, the BJP has refused to fire Mr Mishra. He even met union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday. According to an NDTV report, government sources have ruled out his resignation.

Sources said Mr Mishra had clarified “not once but twice” that neither he nor his son was present at the site of the violence.

The government sources should also understand that the cars which mowed down farmers belong to the union minister. There could not be a fair investigation if he continues in such powerful position and perhaps tries to influence the investigation. His son has been accused of killing farmers in a most horrific way. He has no moral authority to continue on his position, that too in the ministry that oversees internal security of the country.