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Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Farmers block trains in Punjab, Haryana

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana squatted on rail tracks on Monday morning as part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) six-hour ‘rail roko’ protest demanding the dismissal and arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

The six-hour ‘rail roko’ protest affected 130 locations in the Northern Railway zone and hindered the running of 50 trains, said its chief public relation officer (CPRO). In the North Western Railway (NWR), rail traffic was affected in some sections in Rajasthan and Haryana with two trains cancelled, 13 partially cancelled, and one diverted due to the protest.

Members of various farmers organizations black railway tracks during a protest against the central government, in Patiala on October18, 2021.

Farmers have claimed that Ashish Mishra was in one of the vehicles at the time of violence, an allegation denied by him and Ajay Mishra who say they can produce evidence to prove he was at an event at that time. Ashish Mishra was arrested in the case on October 9.

Protests were held at many places, including Punjab’s Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Moga, Patiala and Ferozepur and Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri, Sonipat, Kurukshetra, Jind, Karnal and Hisar.

Protesting farmers, including women, raised slogans against the BJP-led government and demanded the arrest of Ajay Mishra. Security was deployed at railway stations in the wake of the ‘rail roko’ protest.

Farmers sat on rail tracks in several sections, including the Ferozepur-Fazilka section in Ferozepur city and the Ferozepur-Ludhiana section at Ajitwal in Moga, officials said.

In a statement, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions spearheading the agitation against the Centre’s three agri laws, had said “protests will be intensified until justice is secured” in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested one more of the key witnesses/accused, a BJP worker who had escaped from Ashish Mishra’s jeep moments after it mowed down farmers.