Lakhimpur Kheri victims have not received compensation, Samyukt Kisan Morcha writes to Narendra Modi
Eight persons, including four farmers, died in October last year during a protest against the three farm laws that have now been repealed.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, farmers’ body Samyukt Kisan Morcha has alleged that those who died in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in October last year have not received compensation yet, The Hindu reported on Friday.
“The government had reached in an agreement with the families of farmers who died and with the protesters but most of the points in this agreement are not implemented yet,” the letter stated.
The farmers’ body also urged Modi to remove Union minister Ajay Mishra from his Cabinet. The minister’s son Ashish Mishra is among the persons accused of involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on October 3 last year, which left eight persons dead.
Eight persons, including four farmers, were killed on October 3 after violence broke in the Lakhimpur Kheri district during a protest against the Centre’s agricultural laws that have now been repealed. Farmer bodies had alleged that a vehicle belonging to Ashish Mishra had run over a group of demonstrators.
Mishra was first arrested in the case on October 9. He walked out of jail on February 15 after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail on February 10.
However, families of those killed in the violence challenged the bail order in the Supreme Court, which overturned the High Court verdict and cancelled Mishra’s bail on April 18. He is currently lodged in Lakhimpur prison.
In its letter, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha said it was shameful that Ajay Mishra continued to be a minister, and accused the central government of protecting him.
The government has not fulfilled its promise of giving a government job to a relative of each of the victims, and four of the protestors were still in jail as the government lodged false cases against them, the farmers’ body alleged.
“We were told that the government will withdraw the charges and they will be released,” the letter noted.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha said that it will hold protests across the country on October 3 to mark the first anniversary of the violence.