Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should be commended for acting with alacrity to bring the volatile situation in Lakhimpur Kheri under control, after nine people died there on Sunday night in violence that broke out during a farmers’ protest. The government has announced a judicial inquiry into the incident and compensations for the victims’ families and appears to have brought the situation under control in spite of leaders from different parties trying to make political capital out of it. The situation should not be allowed to fester as it may have serious consequences. The investigation should focus om establishing whether the vehicle that fell on the farmers, killing them, was driven into them with the intention of causing bodily harm, or if it was a case of accident where the vehicle overturned on the protesting farmers. If a Union minister’s son was involved in the incident, his role in it should be investigated. Also, several videos have surfaced on social media showing some hooligans from among the farmers bludgeoning BJP workers to death. These are gruesome videos and should be checked for their authenticity as that will go a long way to catch the culprits, who must be given severe punishment.
Sadly, as was evident on 26 January, the Lakhimpur Kheri incident once again made it obvious that unruly elements, in fact murderous hoodlums have infiltrated the farmers’ ranks. The visuals of these so-called farmers running amok in the heart of the national capital and then desecrating a national monument by hoisting a religious flag there are still fresh in the country’s memory. Images of sword-wielding men attacking policemen and women carrying fragile batons will not be forgotten easily. It was a case of the law enforcers’ generosity being misused by hoodlums who were masquerading as farmers. Even otherwise, the residents of Delhi-NCR are being inconvenienced for almost a year now because of several farmer groups blocking main thoroughfares in the region. The Supreme Court too is displeased at the way common citizens are being harassed. And then incidents such as Lakhimpur Kheri take place, adding to the bad name the farmers’ protests are getting. It’s looking as if farmer leaders are losing control of the agitation to infiltrators whose sole aim is to create law and order situations, where the authorities use force, leading to bloodshed. The fallout will be international opprobrium for India, which is what these elements and their backers want.
Over the last one year it has become clear that the fundamental premise of the protests that have their epicentre in Punjab is political. Both UP and Punjab are going to the elections early next year and so-called farmer leaders are trying to influence the poll results through these protests, apart from serving their own political interests in the process. It is because of their maximalist position that the farm laws must be repealed that a dead end has been reached. The government was ready to make several concessions, including putting the laws on hold for 18 months. It was ready to discuss the laws clause by clause, but the “farmer” leaders were adamant, with the idea being to show the Central government as a lame duck and to ensure that certain political and business interests are protected. In the process they misled farmers into believing that the government was after their lives and livelihoods. They need to accept the fact that they represent a minuscule part of India’s farmers and others involved in agriculture, and do not have the right to arm-twist the vast majority of farmers in the country who are willing to give the laws a chance.
Mention also must be made about the way the government has been very cautious about handling the protests, which is understandable. But by allowing the roads around the national capital to be blocked for a year the government has allowed the narrative to be hijacked. A soft state is not a weak state—this message has failed to percolate to the ground. Sadly, right now the government is appearing very weak.
As for the opposition parties, it is but natural that all political parties will be inclined towards politicising incidents such as Lakhimpur Kheri, especially ahead of the crucial UP Assembly elections. But tempers are running high in that part of UP. Undesirable elements are trying to give a communal colour to the violence. For once politics should take a back seat. The need of the hour is peace and the administration should be given the space to achieve that goal.