Farmers Hope To Get Justice: Tikait On Mishra

The Supreme Court’s decision to cancel the bail to Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case has given hope of justice to farmers, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Monday.

Tikait said the Uttar Pradesh government should now work to provide security, compensation and justice to the aggrieved farmers. “The cancellation of bail of minister’s son Ashish by the Supreme Court has given hope to the farmers for justice. UP government should work to provide security, compensation, justice to the aggrieved farmers. Get the innocent farmers out of jail. The struggle will continue till full justice is achieved,” the BKU national spokesperson tweeted in Hindi.

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court cancelled the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court to Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, in the case and asked him to surrender within a week.

The top court remanded the bail application for fresh adjudication on merits after taking note of relevant facts and the fact that the victims were not granted a complete opportunity of being heard.

On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area. Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV, in which Ashish Mishra was seated, according to the UP Police FIR.

Following the incident, the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence that triggered outrage among opposition parties and farmer groups agitating over the Centre’s now-repealed agricultural reform laws.