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

• Image Credit: Internet

• Oct 3, 2022 | Sourav Boruah

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold"> 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.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#424242"> 

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#424242">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.

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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#424242">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

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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#424242">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.

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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.