Lakhimpur Kheri Violence | Year On, Farmers Say Demands Still Unmet: What Now?

We take a look at the progress of the case, the unmet demands and what can be done to provide relief.

On 3 October 2021, four agitating farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri were crushed to death by a car in which a Union minister’s son was allegedly present.

In the chaos and protests that ensued after the incident, a journalist and three others were killed too.

The incident snowballed into a controversy, investigation was fast tracked and arrests were made.

Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra, was taken into custody after 11 hours of questioning on 9 October. He was accused of not having cooperated with the investigation and was later named an accused in the case.

Months later, the government made promises to agitating farmers’ unions, based on which they called off their nation-wide year-long long demonstrations against India’s contentious, now-repealed farm laws.