Lakhimpur violence: Outraged, farmers lay siege to DC offices in Punjab

Tribune reporters

Chandigarh, October 4

On the call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) and other unions, farmers in large numbers protested outside the offices of deputy commissioners and submitted memoranda to the President, demanding action against the culprits of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Two-minute silence was also oberserved at almost all protest sites to mourn the farmers killed in Lakhimpur Kheri. Union leaders urged farmers to maintain peace at all costs and continue to fight for their rights and against the laws.

BJP’s narang, chugh face protesters’ ire

• BKU (Rajewal) activists on Monday laid siege to the residence of BJP MLA Arun Narang in Abohar. BKU leaders said Narang should quit the BJP, otherwise he wouldn't be allowed to move out
• In Amritsar, activists of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee staged a protest outside the residence of BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh and burnt an effigy of the central government

In Bathinda, a memorandum was handed over to the President through the DC, demanding removal of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra Teni and a case against him for inciting violence and the arrest of son and his gangster accomplices under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, besides removal of the Yogi Adityanath government in UP and Manohar Lal Khattar as CM in Haryana.

Can’t scare us with such tactics

The BJP-led governments want to scare us, but such tactics will only make us firm in our resolve. We will not end our protest until the farm laws are repealed. —Gobinder Singh, BKU (Ugrahan) Sangrur president

Addressing protesters, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) district president Shingara Singh Mann said the attack exposed the deep conspiracy of the UP Government and the Centre against farmers. Statements made by Mishra and Khattar asking BJP workers to violently attack farmers were a sign of the BJP’s frustration. The saffron party hadn’t succeeded in its ploy to end the agitation, he ended.

In Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib, protesters gheraoed the office of district magistrates and blocked roads. Hundreds of farmers belonging to various unions assembled outside the DC offices and raised slogans against the Yogi government and Centre.

Demanding registration of a murder case and immediate arrest and resignation of the Union Minister, they said the BJP-led governments were behaving like dictators. They declared till the laws are not repealed their agitation will continue. Meanwhile, Congress workers in Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib burnt the effigies of PM Narendra Modi, CM Yogi Adityanath and the Kheri MP. The District Bar Association, Fatehgarh Sahib, suspended the work in solidarity with farmers.

In Sangrur, farmers blocked both gates of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and raised slogans against the central government. They warned government authorities of serious consequences if no action was taken against the culprits. A similar protest was held in Muktsar.

— With inputs from Bathinda, Patiala, Sangrur & Muktsar

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