Farmers Movement Archive

Singhu border episode: Bhim Army chief meets Tarn Taran man’s family, seeks CBI probe into lynching

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Monday visited the family of Lakhbir Singh, who was brutally hacked to death at the Singhu border protest site in Delhi, at Tarn Taran district’s Cheema Kalan village and demanded an impartial probe by the CBI into the lynching episode. The chief of the Bhim Army, a scheduled caste (SC) rights organisation, who gave ₹5,000 in cash to Lakhbir’s sister Raj Kaur and assured her more financial aid, said the victim could not have desecrated the Guru Granth Sahib.Speaking to mediapersons, Azad sought a compensation of ₹1 crore to the victim’s dependents from the government. “We are with the family which has nowhere to go. The Punjab chief minister should provide government job to a member of the family,” he said. When contacted, Raj Kaur said, “I am upset and don’t want to speak on the matter right now.” Also, Lakhbir’s 37-year-old wife Jaspreet Kaur, who along with her three daughters has been living at her parental home in Amritsar district, refused to talk over phone. Jaspreet’s brother Sukhchain Singh, a carpenter, said, “My sister has three daughters but no income source. They struggle to make both ends meet. She has to do labour work in the farms.”“With the death of my brother-in-law, my sister has lost her only hope for the future. In such a situation, the government should award her compensation so that the family faces lesser hardships. We are not raising the demand for compensation fearing reprisal,” he added.The family, which belongs to the Majhabi Sikh community, has also won the support of other SC organisations and BJP leaders who say the victims’ dependants should be compensated.Sukhchain said, “Many persons have approached and contacted us assuring all kind of help. Yesterday, members of two organisations—one of the SC community and the other a Sikh outfit — visited us and saying they would surely help my sister.”On Monday, senior BJP leader and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chairman Vijay Sampla wrote a letter to acting Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, requesting him that the bhog of Lakhbir be performed as per the Sikh rehat maryada (code of conduct). It has not been proved yet that the victim committed sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, he added.

Hindustan Times

20-10-2021

Chandigarh