Farmers Movement Archive

Rail roko: Farmers stage protest on rail tracks in western Uttar Pradesh

Farmers squatted on rail tracks and staged sit-ins on platforms at several places in western Uttar Pradesh on Monday as part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s rail roko protest over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people, including four farmers, died on October 3. During the rail roko agitation, the protesters demanded the removal of Union minister of state for home Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni’, whose son has been arrested in the Lakhimpur Kheri case. Groups of farmers staged sit-ins at railways stations and tracks in Meerut, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Hapur and Bijnor districts of western Uttar Pradesh, affecting the plying of over a dozen trains in the region. Braving heavy rain, farmers blocked the movement of trains on the Lucknow-Bijnor-Najibabad route at the Maujpur junction near Najibabad, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) youth wing’s former state president Digamber Singh said. “It affected the plying of the Chandigarh Express and other trains,” he said, adding that the six-hour blockade continued till 4pm. Singh also said the farmers’ dharna (sit-in) on railway tracks and platforms in Hapur, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur disrupted the movement of trains on the Delhi-Saharanpur and Dehradun routes. Farmers also protested at Khatauli and Mansoorpur stations in Muzaffarnagar district, demanding the removal of the minister for a fair investigation. In Meerut, the protesting farmers changed their strategy and squatted on tracks at Kankerlhera, Sakauti and Partapur, instead of the city and cantonment railway stations. Former BKU district president Manoj Tyagi claimed that protest affected the plying of trains on the Delhi-Punjab route. Heavy force, including Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel, were deployed at railways stations and tracks to ensure that protest remained peaceful. Additional director general of police (Meerut zone) Rajeev Sabbharwal said force was deployed at different locations. “No confrontation occurred anywhere and the protest remained peaceful,” he said. The rail roko agitation caused inconvenience to some passengers who faced a delay in reaching their destinations. Four of the eight people who died in the violence on October 3 were farmers, allegedly knocked down by a vehicle carrying BJP workers. Angry farmers then allegedly lynched some people in the vehicles. The other dead included two BJP workers and their driver, besides a journalist. Farmers have claimed that the minister’s son Ashish Mishra was in one of the vehicles, an allegation denied by him and Ajay Mishra who say they can produce evidence to prove he was at an event at that time. Ashish Mishra was arrested in the case on October 9.

Hindustan Times

18-10-2021

Lucknow