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Will intensify the agitation after Lakhimpur: Farmers
SKM, which has been leading demonstrations against the three central farm laws for over a year, said farmers from various states would gather in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 12 to mourn the death of the four farmers and the journalist.
Farmer leaders on Saturday said they will intensify their stir against the three farm laws in the wake of violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district where eight people were killed, including four farmers and a journalist.
They demanded the immediate arrest of Ashish Mishra, the son of junior home minister Ajay Kumar Mishra, for his alleged involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
“We demand the dismissal of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra and immediate arrest of his son Ashish Mishra,” Yogendra Yadav, a leader of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a collective of farmer organisations, said at a media briefing in New Delhi on Saturday.
SKM, which has been leading demonstrations against the three central farm laws for over a year, said farmers from various states would gather in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 12 to mourn the death of the four farmers and the journalist.
SKM threatened to block train traffic on October 18, and hold a mahapanchayat (general gathering) on October 28 at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh’s capital, if their demands are not met.
Farm unions blame Ajay Kumar Mishra and his son Ashish, who has been booked under charges of murder among others, for the violent incident in which a convoy of vehicles belonging to the junior home minister ploughed through farmers returning from a protest last Sunday.
SKM’s announcement came on a day when Uttar Pradesh police interrogated the minister’s son, who was not arrested till the time of filing of this report. The minister and his son have denied any involvement.
“This incident has completely exposed the character of the Union government, the Uttar Pradesh government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power at both places,” Yadav said. “The BJP is not ready to take any step against its leaders and goons, even after there is clear evidence of such a big murder and involvement of BJP leaders in it. It is clear that the BJP has now turned to violence after losing ground in the face of this historic farm movement.”
Farmers have been agitating for over a year against the three new agriculture laws that seek to liberalise farm trade in the country.
One of the laws allows big businesses and supermarkets to buy produce from farmers outside the regulated, state-backed wholesale markets. The second law allows private traders to stockpile food, while the third law lays down a framework for contract farming.
The government says the changes were necessary to boost investment and raise farm incomes, but farm unions maintain that the new laws would leave them at the mercy of big corporations.
