Lakhimpur Kheri case: Farmer body shocked as Ashish Mishra gets bail

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) expressed great shock at the Allahabad High Court judgement on Thursday granting bail to Ashish Mishra who was the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

New Delhi: The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) expressed great shock at the Allahabad High Court judgement on Thursday granting bail to Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Eight people were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident which took place on October 3, 2021, during a farmers' protest against the now-repealed three controversial farm laws. Among the dead were four farmers, a journalist, two BJP workers and a driver.

A total of 13 persons are accused in the case, including Ashish and former Union Minister Akhilesh Das's nephew Ankit Das. Ashish's cavalcade mowed down four farmers and the journalist. He and some other BJP part workers had been charged under Section 302 (murder), Section 307 (attempt to murder) and some other serious sections of the IPC.

"This extremely unfortunate High Court judgement is not only a gross miscarriage of justice, but goes against every recognised norm of justice," the AIKS said in a statement. "The Supreme Court-appointed SIT that investigated this heinous crime drew the conclusion that this incident cannot be described as an accident, but a clear conspiracy. The Allahabad High Court judgement coming in spite of this SIT conclusion has created deep revulsion among the people," the farmers union said.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and AIKS had called for the instant dismissal of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni from the Cabinet and arrest of Ashish Mishra Teni, under the charges of murder and conspiracy, and the immediate arrest of all other accused in this case.

"Although over four months have passed after this horrific massacre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have thrown all political morality to the winds, and have shamelessly retained a murderer-cum-conspirator Ajay Mishra Teni as Union Minister," the statement added. The Allahabad High Court judgement granting bail to Ashish Mishra Teni has added to the shock, it said.

The AIKS has called upon the farmers and the people of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur to "redouble their determination and vastly increase their efforts to resoundingly defeat the anti-people, pro-corporate, communal, authoritarian and immoral BJP in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections."