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Lakhimpur Kheri incident: Akhilesh Yadav says farmers, law being crushed
Summons to accused only in name, it was as if bouquet was being given, says Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav
Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday attacked the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and said that farmers and the law were being crushed.
The way police served summons (on Union minister of state Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra), it was like giving samman (bestowing respect) or offering a bouquet instead of bringing them (the accused) to book, Akhilesh Yadav said at a press conference at the SP state headquarters in Lucknow.
“You have seen how a vehicle ran over farmers who were fighting for their rights... It is as if instead of giving summons, a bouquet was being given. The summons is only in name, and (in reality) samman (honour) is given.”
His remarks came barely a few hours before Ashish Mishra was arrested in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
Ashish Mishra was asked to appear before the police on Friday, but he did not do so.
The Uttar Pradesh Police then issued a fresh notice asking him to appear before it by 11am on Saturday and he finally did so.
Accusing the UP government of shielding the guilty, the SP chief again demanded the resignation of Ajay Mishra Teni from the Union Council of Ministers.
“The MoS had said that he has been an MP, MLA, but he has also been something else and was threatening the farmers,” he alleged.
He also said the BJP’s “dumdaar (powerful)” stance is only for “protecting the powerful”.
The reference was to the BJP government’s hoarding in Lucknow using the tagline “Dumdaar”.
“The government claims that it is a dumdaar sarkaar. Is the government only for the powerful and not for the farmers? In the coming time, the BJP will be wiped out,” he warned.
The family members of the aggrieved persons wanted justice and punishment for the guilty, he said.
“The law of the country is being pulverised under the tyres of a jeep,” he said.
He said though there was evidence and the Supreme Court had rapped the government, this government was in slumber over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and tried to save the accused.
Reacting to Akhilesh Yadav’s statement that the BJP government was crushing the law and other allegations, UP cabinet minister and government spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh told a TV news agency: “A fair investigation under a retired high court judge is on; some of the accused have been arrested, others are begin interrogated...And during Akhilesh ji’s tenure as the chief minister, more than 200 riots happened and a journalist in Shahjahanpur was burnt alive after he said something against his government.”
(With agencies)
