New Delhi: BJP MP Varun Gandhi in a tweet warned that the Lakhimpur violence should not be turned into Hindu vs Sikh battle saying it is dangerous to create these fault lines and reopen wounds that have taken a generation to heal.
“An attempt to turn #LakhimpurKheri into a Hindu vs Sikh battle is being made. Not only is this an immoral & false narrative, it is dangerous to create these fault-lines & reopen wounds that have taken a generation to heal.We must not put petty political gains above national unity,” he tweeted.
The Pilibhit MP, who was recently dropped from the BJP national executive, said the struggle for justice in Lakhimpur Kheri is about the “cruel massacre of poor farmers in the face of an arrogant local power elite”, and the issue has no religious connotations.
On Tuesday, he tweeted a rather grainy video of a black SUV ploughing through a group of peaceful protesters from behind, tagging it “murder” and saying the video was enough to “shake the soul”.
He has written to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, asking for a CBI probe and ₹ 1 crore compensation for the families of the dead farmers.
“Protestors cannot be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for the innocent blood of farmers that has been spilled and justice must be delivered before a message of arrogance and cruelty enters the minds of every farmer,” he said in another tweet.
Farmer organisations have blamed the father-son duo for the incident and are alleging that the minister had made a provocative speech while his son was inside a vehicle that hit farmers. Both have denied the allegations.
Ashish Mishra was named in an FIR following allegations that he was in one of the vehicles that mowed down four farmers protesting over Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit last Sunday.
Two BJP workers and their driver were allegedly lynched by angry farmers in retaliation. Local journalist Raman Kashyap also died in the violence, which has triggered a political storm and put the BJP government on the back foot in poll-bound UP.
Gandhi has been sympathetic to the farmers’ cause over their protests against three agricultural laws and often tweeted in their support, a stand which is said to have not gone down well with the BJP leadership. PTI
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