One year of Lakhimpur Kheri violence: farmers block rail tracks in Punjab, six trains are canceled, and three are short-circuited.

 Digital Desk: Members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) blocked rail traffic for three hours on Monday, the first anniversary of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, demanding the resignation of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra. From 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., the farmers laid siege to various routes, including the Amritsar-Delhi railway tracks, stranding thousands of passengers in trains and at various railway stations across the state.

On Monday, the first anniversary of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) blocked rail traffic for three hours, demanding the resignation of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra. Farmers laid siege to various routes, including the Amritsar-Delhi railway tracks, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., stranding thousands of passengers in trains and at various railway stations across the state.

As various farm unions continued to protest on railway tracks, six trains were canceled: Beas-Tarantaran, Tarantaran-Beas, Ferozepur Cantt-Ludhiana, Bhagtanwala-Khemkaran, Lohian Khas-Phillaur, and Phillaur-Lohian Khas, while Ludhiana-Amritsar, Nangal Dam-Amritsar, and Ludhiana-Feroze

On October 3, last year, farmers were protesting against a visit by then-deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Tikunia village when four of them were crushed under the wheels of a convoy of cars. Four others were killed in the ensuing violence, including two BJP workers and a journalist.

Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), demanded that farmers arrested following the incident be released immediately and that the Union minister be imprisoned after being removed from the cabinet.

He also stated that the Centre should revoke the notification issued for changing the rules governing the distribution of electricity licenses. He claimed that the government would now distribute electricity to private businesses. "The right to distribute electricity belongs to state governments, but by issuing this notification, the central government seizes it and gives it to private houses," he claimed. He also demanded $7,000 per acre in compensation for managing paddy stubble.