‘Attempts on to turn Lakhimpur violence into Hindu vs Sikh battle’: Varun Gandhi

BJP leader Varun Gandhi last week shared a video of a convoy of vehicles that mowed down four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi on Sunday said that there is an attempt to turn the Lakhimpur Kheri violence into a “Hindu Sikh battle."

The violence broke out during the farmers’ protest in Lakhimpur Kheri district last Sunday.  (File photo)

“Not only is this an immoral and false narrative, it is dangerous to create these faultlines and reopen wounds that have taken a generation to heal. We must not put petty political gains above national unity,” Varun Gandhi said.

On Thursday, Varun Gandhi, the BJP MP from Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh said, "The video is crystal clear. Protestors can't be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for 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.”

At least eight people, including four farmers and a local journalist, died last Sunday during a violence that ensued at a rally of protesting farmers.

A 29-second video of Sunday’s violence surfaced in which an SUV could be seen ploughing through protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. The SUV reportedly belonged to the convoy of Ajay Kumar Mishra who was travelling to receive Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area.

However, hours after Varun Gandhi shared a video on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence demanding accountability, the parliamentarian and his mother Maneka Gandhi’s names were found missing from the party’s national executive committee list that was released by national president JP Nadda.

While four farmers died after the convoy allegedly mowed down protesters opposing the deputy chief minister’s visit, the other four people, reportedly BJP members, were allegedly thrashed to death. The farmer leaders claim that Ashish Mishra was in one of the cars which knocked down some protesters.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella of farmers' unions, alleged that one of the deceased farmers was shot dead by the minister’s son while the rest were allegedly run over by the vehicles of his convoy. The minister and his son, however, denied the claims even as an FIR has been registered against Ashish.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre for its “silence” over the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri. He also called for immediate removal of Union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra, whose son Ashish was allegedly in the SUV that mowed down the protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.