Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, has denied being a part of the convoy that allegedly ran over farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri area on Sunday, sparking unrest that resulted in the deaths of eight people.
“The programme that was happening was an ancestral one. It has been going on for around 35 years… We have a tradition that when we have guests, we send two-three vehicles to receive them… the Mahindra Thar was my vehicle, one of our workers had a Toyota Fortuner and there was a smaller car,” he told NDTV in an interview.
“I wasn’t in the car at the time. A wrestling tournament was being organised at my paternal house in Banwirpur village. I was there from the morning till the end of the event,” he said.
“It’s not correct that the Fortuner mowed down farmers. The truth is that our worker went to receive the Honourable Deputy Chief Minister. The Thar SUV that was in the front was attacked with sticks and stones. The driver Hari Om was injured or may have died in that attack. The car lost its balance and overturned. That’s how these two people who are being called farmers must have been injured,” Mr Mishra added.
“Such individuals cannot be described as farmers. Farmers in India are not as callous and brutal as those in the United States. The persons in charge of the farmers’ organisation are to blame. This is a democracy everyone has the right to have their say and wave their flag but peacefully,” he said.
Farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, who had been protesting the violence from Ground Zero, decided to end their protest and cremate the dead after the government provided large compensations for the dead and injured on Monday.
A murder charge has been filed against Ashish Mishra, who the farmers claim was behind the wheel of one of the three vehicles that mowed down the demonstrators, sparking the mayhem. The demonstrators were attempting to prevent his father, Union Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, from visiting.
The Chenab Times News Desk