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

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




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    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.



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    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.