Lakhimpur massacre: Even after two years, families of martyred farmers are suffocating under police guard
https://followupstories.com/politics/two-years-of-lakhimpur-kheri-farmers-killing-and-justice-out-of-sight/ by Imtiaz Ahmed
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Two years is a long time to change a small town; To remember some and to forget some; To acquit some and to punish others. Even in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, after October 3, 2021, everything is not the same as it was that day – when four farmers and a journalist protesting against a Union Minister were brutally crushed to death by a jeep, in which The minister's son was riding. In retaliation, the farmers beat the driver of the vehicle and two political workers to death. There were a total of eight deaths and the paths of dozens of lives were forever changed.
On the second anniversary of that incident, no journalist was murdered in Uttar Pradesh, but in the dark country's capital Delhi, the police raided the houses of about two dozen journalists and arrested an editor. Of course, the jeep came - not the minister's, but the police's - but without hitting anyone, it made some people sit and took them away for questioning. After rigorous interrogation throughout the day, the journalists returned to their homes late in the evening.
On the other hand, the Kashyap family of Nighasan, Lakhimpur, 525 kilometers away from Delhi, is still waiting for their son Raman. He will never come again. What this family has gone through in the last two years can only be understood by meeting the family members who lost their two young sons within a span of two years.
burden of two dead bodies
It was 12 noon on October 3, 2021, when journalist Raman Kashyap's (then) eight-year-old daughter saw her father for the last time. Raman Kashyap, who works for Sadhna News Channel, had gone to Tikunia that day after getting the news of the arrival of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya, where the Thar jeep that crushed the farmers did not spare him too. Even today his family shudders remembering that day.
After the murder of the journalist, his younger brother Pawan Kashyap was seen fighting like a hero in the Tikunia incident. In a special conversation with Follow Up Stories, Pawan tells that elder brother Raman was very fast in studies. He also had special interest in social service. Along with working as a teacher in a private school, he was doing journalism for six months before his death.
Raising questions on the then policeman of Tikunia, Raman's father Ramdulare said, “The incident happened around 3 o'clock that day, but if Raman had got timely treatment, perhaps my son would have been alive today. The Kotwal declared him dead without any treatment and sent him to Lakhimpur at around seven in the evening.
He also questioned some people in the media as to how during that time an attempt was made to force them to say that Raman was beaten to death by the farmers. On this Pawan says, “When I reached the spot, I saw that there were marks of dragging on my brother's body.”
Pawan, who was recovering from the grief of the death of his elder brother Raman, got an even bigger shock when he got the news of his younger brother being diagnosed with blood cancer. He died in March 2023, only a month after the investigation. After the death of both the brothers one after the other, the middle son Pawan is today the only support of his father.
The triple responsibility of Raman's two children and his younger brother's one son rests on Pawan's shoulders. Amidst all this, Pawan Kashyap is not ready to accept defeat for the sake of justice for his brother. Their fight continues even today. Pawan has got a security guard.
Pawan, who has become a voice of resistance to the government to get justice for his brother, has been receiving full emotional support from the opposition political parties since the incident. Many big opposition leaders keep checking the well being of Raman's wife and Pawan on phone every month, which gives a lot of courage and inspiration to Pawan.
Many parties had also offered him to contest the elections, but Pawan Kashyap flatly refused. Pawan says, “My priority is to get justice for my brother, apart from this I also have to take care of my family. In such a situation, I have no thoughts of entering politics right now.”
sorrows of the second frost
There are some other victims of the Lakhimpur incident who have the same burden of family on their shoulders, but in the community from which they come, they do not even have the facility to appeal or shout for justice. Leave aside the opposition parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party itself has turned its back on the families of these workers.
Three more people were killed in the heinous incident of Lakhimpur Kheri – one was the driver of a Thar jeep and the other two were Bharatiya Janata Party workers. The angry farmers beat him to death.
The road in front of Agrasen Park, where farmers were crushed to death, vehicles were burnt here
One of the three BJP workers killed was Shyam Sundar Nishad, 30, resident of village Sahjana, Singhahi Kala, who was the divisional minister of BJP. Shyam Sundar was the eldest in the family. After the death of his father, the responsibility of two brothers and two sisters was his responsibility. Apart from this, Shyam Sundar also had a wife and two daughters (1 and 3 years). After the death of Shyam Sundar, his wife received the compensation of Rs 45 lakh from the state government and she went to her maternal home. Since then, both the brothers are working as laborers to meet the household expenses.
Shyam Sundar's mother always remembers her son. They are also sad that their daughters have reached marriageable age but they do not have enough money at home to think about getting married.
Shyam Sundar's younger brother Rajpal, 28, says, “The village head often inquires about their well-being, sometimes BJP leaders also come to give assurance, but just giving assurance will not get the sisters married!”
The other BJP worker killed was Shivam Mishra of Lakhimpur. He got married just a few days before his death. He was very active in politics as the booth president of BJP. The third death was of Thar jeep driver Hariom Mishra.
Have these three workers received any kind of help from MP Teni? Rajpal maintains silence on this question. The only relief these slain BJP workers have is that the police guard has been removed from their place.
Villagers of Shyam Sundar Nishad say that earlier policemen used to come to their house for security but for the last two-three months the policemen have stopped coming and going. On the contrary, the martyred farmers are still being continuously monitored.
Families of martyred farmers in fear
The houses of the four killed farmers have been under police guard for two consecutive years. When I wanted to take a picture of the policemen engaged in security at the house of martyr farmer Lovepreet located at Chaukhada Farm, they refused. He said, “Don’t post any pictures from here.” Perhaps they are aware of the danger.
The fear of Minister Teni is such that in the area no one opens their mouth against him. There are continuous reports of attacks and threats on many witnesses in the Tikunia case. Some people associated with the case say that people from Teni's side even enter the court with weapons. The situation of fear is that witness Dilbagh Singh has been attacked once. Apart from this, another witness of the incident, Sarvjit Singh, brother of Prabhujit Singh, has also been fatally attacked.
Tribute to martyrs in Gurudwara
Banveerpur Tiraha, the incident took place 100 meters away from here.
Satnam Singh, resident of Chaukhada Farm, Palia, remains silent after the departure of his son Lovepreet Singh. Neighbors say that the death of his only son took away his world from Satnam. After Lovepreet's death, the Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh governments gave a compensation of about Rs 1.5 crore to the family, but Lovepreet's sisters still say that "I do not want this money, just give me back my brother."
Seventeen-year-old Rajdeep had come to join the protest that day with his father Daljit Singh. Remembering that day, he shudders, “My father was crushed to death in front of my eyes and I could not do anything.”
Daljeet was from a very poor family. Apart from his wife Paramjeet Kaur, he has a son and a daughter in his family.
Nachhattar Singh of Lahabdi police station area of Dhaurahara was about 65 years old, but even at this age he had a lot of courage. He sacrificed his life to fight against injustice. He has two sons, one of whom is an SSB jawan.
Gurvinder Singh, resident of Matrauniya Nanpara, district Bahraich, was a servant in a Gurudwara. The aim of his life was to serve the people. On the call of the farmers, he had gone to participate in the farmers' protest like other people, but he too died after being hit by a car.
The Uttar Pradesh government had given compensation of Rs 45 lakh each to all the deceased and also promised government jobs. Till date no one has got a job.
Pawan, brother of martyred journalist Raman Kashyap, says that he had talked to the then Commissioner Roshan Jacob regarding the job. He reminded the Commissioner that Yogi ji had said that everyone will get a job. He says that later he turned back and said – Where are government jobs available these days?
accused on bail
There were a total of eight deaths in the Tikunia incident. Ashish Mishra, who emerged as the villain in this scandal, is the younger son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni. Ashish Mishra is also known as Monu in the area. There were about two hundred witnesses against him, out of which the statements of only four have been recorded in the court till date. Monu has been on bail since January. The court had punished him. There was a ban on him entering Uttar Pradesh or Delhi National Capital Region.
Just a week ago, the Supreme Court has given permission to Ashish Mishra to go to Delhi in connection with the treatment of his mother. Apart from Mishra, there are 13 more accused in this case, but the biggest demand from the very first day is for the dismissal of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni from the post.
Along with his father's business, Monu has also been active in politics. Especially when father Teni was made the BJP candidate from Nighasan Assembly seat in 2012, Ashish took charge of the entire election. Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ won this election. After this, his stature kept increasing within the Bharatiya Janata Party. Along with this, the son also started gaining recognition in the area.
Poster of Ashish Mishra 'Monu' put up on the road leading to village Banveerpur
After Teni became MP in 2014, Ashish's political ambitions also started increasing. Ashish started demanding ticket from Nighasan seat in the 2017 assembly elections. Banners and hoardings of Ashish started appearing everywhere in the area, although BJP refused to give the ticket. Still he remained active from social programs to social media.
On July 7, 2021, Ajay Mishra, who became MP from Lakhimpur Kheri again, got a place in the Union Cabinet and became the Minister of State for Home of the country. In such a situation, as a BJP candidate, Monu was sure to get a ticket from Nighasan seat in the 2022 assembly elections, but on October 3, 2021, his wishes of becoming an MLA were dashed as soon as he was accused of crushing farmers.
According to the local people, even though the Lakhimpur incident took place in the jeep of Union Minister Teni's son Monu, the root cause of it was the fire set by Teni himself.
two years ago
For the last several years, a riot was being organized on October 2 in Banveerpur, the native village of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni. This time instead of a riot, a workers' conference was organized there. Two years ago, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was to come there to participate in the same riot. That year, the Dangal program was scheduled for 3rd October instead of 2nd October due to some reasons.
Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Nighasan, says, “A week ago, Teni's speech in Sampoorna Nagar destroyed eight houses. “Neither did they talk about chasing away the farmers nor did the farmers gather to protest at the place where the farmers were crushed to death and then the mob’s retaliation took the lives of three more.”
A farmers seminar was organized on 25th September in Sampoornanagar. As soon as Teni reached the area, farmers showed him black flags near Gadniya intersection and Manghapur Gurudwara. Their posters and banners were also torn. While addressing this farmers seminar, Teni had given a speech threatening the farmers to reform.
He had said: “Correct yourself, otherwise come face to face, we will reform you, it will only take two minutes, I am not just a minister or an MP, I am not an MLA, who would know about me before becoming an MP-MLA that I am Remember, I don't run away from challenges and the day I accept the challenge, I will have to leave not only Palia but even Lakhimpur."
Rakesh tells that regarding this statement, thousands of farmers had gathered that day in the playground of Maharaja Agrasen School, where a helipad was made for the landing of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya. The aim of the farmers was to register their protest against Teni's statement before the Deputy Chief Minister.
The video of Teni's statement was viral on social media since September 25. Only after his statement, there was anger among the farmers about him, which was continuously increasing. Rakesh says that this statement of the minister became the root of the entire uproar.
Sardar Vichittar Singh and his family, who lived a few steps away from the incident site, were eyewitnesses to the accident.
Sardar Vichittar Singh's house is in front of the incident site. Recalling that day, he says, “Farmers were peacefully protesting against Teni's statement in Sampoornanagar when three vehicles passed in front of them and crushed the farmers. If Teni had not given such a statement, neither the demonstration would have taken place nor would so many people have lost their lives. What about the leaders, they give statements for the sake of their politics but sometimes the result is the story of destruction of many families in the form of riots or such incidents.”
A lot happened between that statement and October 3. The very next day of the statement, on 26 September, a case was registered against Amneet Singh and his two associates in Manghapur. The second case was registered in Gadaniya against fifty unknown people including Mahendra Singh. Amneet was accused of making a video of showing black flags. Farmers were also accused of not following the rules of Covid-19, which was very common during that period.
After the report was filed against the farmers, farmer organizations protested against the minister in Nighasan and alleged that it was under the pressure of the minister that the police raided their houses and misbehaved with the women. On the other hand, BJP workers surrounded the police station against the non-filing of cases against those who commented against the minister on social media.
By the time Gandhi Jayanti approached, tension was at its peak. The very next day, Teni's son's Thar jeep crushed five people and added fuel to the fire.
That is why the demand for Teni's resignation continues till today. Everyone in Lakhimpur knows that as long as Teni remains in power, justice will remain away from the people and his son will remain on bail because the people of Lakhimpur have witnessed Teni's influence in the Prabhat Gupta murder case two decades ago. There is a long history of discontent against Minister Teni. Even today everyone in the city secretly talks about the Prabhat Gupta murder case.
23 years of injustice
Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra is famous in the area as Teni Maharaj. Teni's influence is such that very few people in the area are able to muster the courage to speak against him. During discussions with people, the fact that he is a history-sheeter comes to light. Apart from this, stories of alleged smuggling from Nepal are also on people's lips, but no one tells all these things only on the condition of anonymity.
The above things are confirmed by this statement of the investigating officer RP Tiwari recorded in the case diary of the Prabhat Gupta murder case that took place in 2000, in which he has written, “Ajay Mishra alias Teni is the General Secretary of BJP and regional MLA and cooperative in Uttar Pradesh Government. Due to the terror and fear of Minister Shri Ram Kumar Verma being a special person and being powerful, no one in the area is daring to say the right and true thing. According to reliable sources, due to its proximity to Nepal region, it is also involved in smuggling activities due to which its economic condition is also very good.
In 2004, the Sessions Court had acquitted all the four accused including Teni in this murder case. Prabhat Gupta's family had challenged this in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. The matter has now reached the Supreme Court.
Teni with the Prime Minister: Despite the demand for resignation for two years, the government will not pay any heed to it.
Apart from this, many cases are registered against Ajay Mishra. A case of assault and rioting was registered against Ajay Mishra in 2005. After this, in 2007 also, another case of assault by entering the house was registered against him. Local journalists say that due to all these reasons, Teni Maharaj's influence increased in the entire area, as a result of which his stature in politics also increased rapidly.
Teni was made the candidate from Lakhimpur Kheri in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, but he finished fourth. In 2012, BJP made him contest elections from Nighasan assembly constituency in which he reached the assembly by winning from SP's RA Usmani by 22 thousand votes. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP again bet on him, this time he defeated BSP's Arvind Giri by 1 lakh 10 thousand votes.
Last year he went to Lakhimpur to inaugurate an oxygen plant. There a journalist had asked about the sections imposed against his son. Teni had told the journalist in a threatening manner, “Don't ask stupid questions, are you crazy?”
During this time, he scolded a journalist who was making a video with his camera and snatched his mobile phone. The video of Teni's action went viral. Similarly, the video of Teni's misbehavior with a BJP worker also went viral. It is no wonder that both the BJP workers killed in the Tikunia incident are silent on the name of Teni.
The son has got bail but now Teni's own troubles are increasing. After two decades of Prabhat Gupta murder case dragging in the courts, the plaintiff has approached the Supreme Court. Allahabad High Court had acquitted four accused including Teni last May. After this, Prabhat Gupta's brother filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Allahabad High Court.
At present, the Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on this matter for two weeks on 22nd of last month. Nevertheless, after being entangled in the courts for 23 years, the victim's family of this case definitely has some hope of justice.
In memory of the martyrs
Assembly elections were held only a few months after the Lakhimpur incident. BJP had won all the eight assembly seats of Lakhimpur. After all, what was the reason that despite the nationwide protests by farmer leaders and the heinous murder of MP-Puddha, BJP won all the seats?
Samajwadi Party leader Bhandari Yadav says on this question, “The question is not about victory in the elections, the question is about justice. BJP definitely won due to some equations, but its face was definitely exposed in the country and the world.
The place where the incident of five people being crushed by the minister's son's Thar jeep comes under Tikunia police station of Lakhimpur. The historical Gurudwara of Kaudiyala Ghat is situated four kilometers away from Tikunia. Tributes were paid to those killed in this Gurudwara last year. This year too, tribute has been paid to the martyrs.
Jitendra Singh, who participated in the Ardas held on Tuesday, says that the Gurudwara Committee gives equal respect to the four deceased farmers as well as journalist Raman Kashyap by giving them the status of martyr. On this occasion, the families of all the martyrs are called for prayers. This year also many leaders of United Kisan Morcha participated in Ardaas. A Kabaddi competition was also organized at the venue, in which six state level teams took part.
On the other hand, the United Kisan Morcha and the Federation of Labor Organizations had declared October 3 as Black Day. Teni's effigies were burnt at tehsils and district headquarters across the country on Tuesday and the demand for his resignation was reiterated.
Farmers of United Kisan Morcha burning the effigy of Teni in Amritsar on Tuesday.
The amount of anger among the farmers against the Teni father-son duo of Lakhimpur can be gauged only from the fact that on Tuesday, effigies of Teni, his son Monu and Prime Minister Modi were burnt at more than 1300 places in Punjab alone. Protests have taken place at about fifty places in Amritsar. BKU (Ugrahan) has carried out effigy burning programs in 1200 villages and demonstrations were organized in 37 tehsils and districts of Punjab.
Even though the terror of Teni continues in Lakhimpur, the protests against the Tikunia incident on October 3 at more than seven hundred places across the country including Punjab and Haryana show that this issue is not going to go away from people's minds so soon.
After the reopening of the Prabhat Gupta murder case file in the Supreme Court, it is very possible that BJP may consider changing its candidate from Lakhimpur Kheri in the Lok Sabha elections. In such a situation, the political path of Ajay Mishra Teni will become difficult. The uneasiness of Teni, who has been organizing workers' conferences instead of the traditional riots on Gandhi Jayanti for the last two years, can be gauged from this.
Pawan is currently handling the responsibility of Terai region of UP-Uttarakhand as the State
Secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait). Along with this, he is also running 'Shaheed Raman Kashyap Social Welfare Society' in the name of his brother, through which the responsibility of carrying forward his brother's social work also rests on his shoulders.