It’s like a parasite that gnaws at his soul every waking moment. And when he is asleep, it’s a recurring nightmare—blood-curdling memories of a few chaotic moments that turned the world upside down for Rajdeep Singh, just 15 years of age. On that October morning, Rajdeep saw his father Daljeet Singh, 35, run over by an SUV in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh during a protest march against three central farm laws. In chilling details, Rajdeep recalls his failed attempts to pull his father out of the way of the vehicle, and two more after that. The farmer died in his son’s arms, one of eight people killed that day, October 3, 2021. Four of them were run over by a convoy of three SUVs; one of them was allegedly driven by Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra, who has since been arrested.
Lakhimpur Kheri Violence: Grief Turning To Anger As Families Of The Dead Seek Justice
Demand for a ‘fair probe’ in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence intensifies in farming community as people seek closure.
Like Rajdeep, the bloody events of that day—four others, including a journalist, were allegedly killed in retaliation by protesting farmers—had left many others numb with shock and pain. Nearly a month since the incident, grief has turned to anger as families who lost loved members seek justice for the dead and punishment to the guilty. Some are questioning the fairness of the police probe, which had even come under the scanner of the Supreme Court. Ashish Mishra denies any role in the deaths, and claims he was somewhere else when the incident took place.
In hushed conversations across courtyards and sitting rooms of families of the dead, the name, Ashish Mishra, crops up frequently, as does the names of the vehicles in the convoy—Thar and Scorpio. Mobile video clips, some of them too painful to watch, play on loop as the families try to understand the sequence of events. Most people are aghast at the fact that there was no apparent provocation—a group of protesters were walking through a street peacefully when the vehicles rammed into them from behind. Then all hell broke loose.
The anger runs across the divide—among families of the dead farmers as well as four others, including two BJP workers who were allegedly lynched by protesters. And the scars that remain on the bruised hearts refuse to heal.
“Rajdeep regrets being so helpless that he couldn’t save his father. It is disturbing for a young boy to lose his father in such a tragic manner. It is a lifelong psychological scar,” says Jagjeet, the youngster’s uncle. The traumatised youngster has not been able to eat of sleep properly, haunted by memories of that fateful day.
For the family of Lovepreet Singh, 19, the youngest victim, the anger is directed at Ashish Mishra and the state government. “When we drive a vehicle, we stop it even when a stray animal comes in the way. But these high and mighty think we are worse than stray animals,” says Satnam Singh, Lovepreet’s father. Lovepreet had joined the protests in solidarity with the farmers, who have been in the long-drawn agitation against the three farm laws. Lakhimpur Kheri district has a sizeable Sikh population and has become the ground zero of the peasant protests in Uttar Pradesh.
The father’s anger manifests at the very mention of the government compensation of Rs 45 lakh each to the families of the dead. “He was my only son. I can arrange to pay double the amount that the government has paid as compensation to each family, provided it can bring back my 19-year-son,” says the 60-year-old farmer. He terms the whole incident a “cold-blooded mass murder” and questions the logic of awarding compensation to pacify the agitated families. “Whose money are you paying us? Tax-payers’ money. First, you kill our children and then you pay our own money to us as compensation. What kind of justice is this?” he asks.
Lovepreet’s mother is in “deep shock” after the incident, forcing the family to seek medical help for her. The doctor says she is in “unbearable mental pain”.
Weeks have passed since the incident and the only things that remain at the site of the incident are a couple of overturned and burnt vehicles lying by the roadside—a mass of twisted metal that remains a metaphor for the nature of the incident which left the country shocked. But Tikonia remains the quintessential Indian countryside—paddy fields stretching out to the horizon, traders hawking knick-knacks from hand-pulled carts, roosters scratching the ground for earthworms. People go about their daily business. Life goes on.
But not for Jagdeep Singh. Ever since the incident, he has been watching clips of an SUV hitting his father Nachhatar Singh, standing out in the crowd in his red turban. Singh senior died on the spot. “Everyone knows that it was Ashish Mishra. Even the police officers saw everything, but did nothing to arrest him (immediately). It is quite obvious that the police and state are hand in glove with Mishra in the crime,” Jagdeep alleges.
For the family, Nachhatar Singh’s fond wish of finding a groom for his youngest daughter Amandeep is a painful reminder of the fickle nature of life. “Now she has turned 21 and I am looking for a suitable match for her,” were his last words to his family before he set out from his village Namdar Purva to the protest site at Tikonia village, 70 km away.
Slain journalist Raman Kashyap’s son in front of his photo
In contrast, families of the two BJP workers killed in the incident are dismayed by what they say is a section of the media’s “one-sided” reportage, turning the deaths into “pre-planned murders” and “retaliation”. The party too has taken umbrage at what it saw as “less sympathy” for the two BJP workers, Shubham Mishra and Shyam Sunder Nishad, and a driver of one of the vehicles who were allegedly lynched by farmers.
Immediate family members of the two BJP workers have not been speaking to the media, but Abhishek Awasthi, a relative of Subham Mishra, informed that “his parents, wife, and brothers and sisters are in a state of shock”. Awasthi admits that Subham—survived by his wife and a toddler-daughter—and Shyam Sunder Nishad were in the vehicles in the convoy, but insists that whatever happened was an accident. “The SIT is investigating the matter and I don’t want to talk much about it. But Shubham comes from a humble family and his family members are in a state of shock,” Awasthi adds.
The family of Hari Om Mishra—the driver killed in at Lakhimpur Kheri—also denies allegations that he was driving one of the vehicles that ploughed into the farmers. A close family member, requesting anonymity, says much of Hari Om’s life in the recent past was taken up by his efforts to provide medical aid to his bed-ridden father. “A major chunk of his salary went into his father’s treatment. And he was the sole earning member in the family. His father still doesn’t know that he is no more. His mother, wife and kids are still grieving him,” the relative said. A video which had gone viral after the incident shows a man lying on the ground being assaulted by unidentified people. Family members quote eyewitnesses as claiming that the man seen in the video was Hari Om Mishra. However, police are yet to confirm it.
Claims and counter-claims over the incident still cloud the sequence of events. And doubts still linger. Like in the case of Gurvinder Singh, around 20 years of age, who was among those allegedly killed by the SUVs running over the farmers. Two separate post-mortem reports also attribute his death to injuries suffered due to vehicles running over him.
However, his family claims that he died of bullets allegedly fired by Ashish Mishra. “His head had entry and exit wounds of a bullet. When he fell to the ground after being shot, one of the three vehicles crushed him under its wheels,” says Gursewak, Gurvinder’s brother. Gurvinder’s family had demanded a second post-mortem after they were dissatisfied with the first. The second report by AIIMS too did not mention bullet injury as a cause of his death. After initially refusing to cremate his body and keeping it outside the house in the open, the family eventually agreed to the cremation.
As the weeks go by and the media spotlight on the incident and the families starts to dim, all that is left in Lakhimpur Kheri are many crushed hearts. And memories of eight people caught in a maelstrom that hit the nondescript village. And at least one man who claims to have seen it all.
“I, like many other farmers who were on the spot, am an eyewitness to the whole incident. I was on the stage making various announcements to the farmers. Then I saw three vehicles coming from one side of the road in the direction in which farmers were walking,” says Paramjeet Singh Pummy, a farmer leader in Lakhimpur Kheri. Suddenly, one of the cars “turned towards the footpath and ran over the farmers. It went out of control...I did not notice whether he (Ashish Mishra) was driving or not, but I did see him emerging from of the car and firing bullets in the air,” Pummy adds. He claims that local police provided Mishra with cover and helped him flee the spot.
For the family members of the eight people killed in Lakhimpur Kheri, the allegations and counter-allegations are no consolation for the void in their lives. Someone’s father, somebody else’s brother, the husband of a young woman, son of a bed-ridden father. For, only those who have lost loved ones know the pain of separation. And the memories that will forever haunt the lives of the living.
—Edited by Anupam Bordoloi