Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh
Angel is a year and two months old. She is going to grow up knowing little about her father except for what she sees in photographs or hears from her mother and grandparents. Her father, Shubham Mishra, is no more.
The 26-year-old was beaten mercilessly to death on October 3, at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh as clashes erupted between protesting farmers and supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading to the killing of eight people –– four farmers, two BJP members, their driver and journalist Raman Kashyap.
Shubham Mishra, a member of the BJP had gone to Tikunia village, along with another BJP party worker Sumit Jaiswal in a Mahindra Thar vehicle as part of a convoy to receive the deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Keshav Prasad Maurya who was coming there to attend a dangal (wrestling event) organised by the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra in memory of his father.
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While there have been varying reports of the actual sequence of events, Shubham Mishra’s family members claimed that one of the vehicles in the convoy was pelted with stones by the farmers who were protesting against the Union minister’s earlier inflammatory speech.
However, another viral video on social media shows a four-wheeler Thar mowing down farmers walking on the road. The FIR filed on October 4 mentions that the accused Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni’, was seated on left in his four wheeler Thar. “He was firing and mowed down the crowd,” reads the FIR, a copy of which is in possession of Gaon Connection.
Gaon Connection visited Shubham’s home today, on October 6, and met with his family.
According to what the family had heard, violence erupted as Shubham, Sumit Jaiswal and the driver Hariom Mishra were pulled out of the vehicle. Jaiswal managed to escape the area, but Shubham and Hariom were beaten mercilessly and they died, the family members narrated to Gaon Connection.
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A grieving family
Shubham’s home in Lakhimpur Kheri, about 15 kms from Tikunia where he was killed, wore a desolate look. Somewhere inside was Shubham’s 25-year-old wife Rekha Mishra and her infant daughter Angel.
Perhaps Shubham’s brother Shantanu Mishra, who is a student of law in Lucknow, and works part time at a private firm was grieving there too.
Gaon Connection met Vijay Kumar Mishra, Shubham’s father, who stood there, unable to speak. Neighbour and a close relative Pradeep Shukla, agreed to speak on behalf of the bereaved family.
“Shubham left a day before [October 2] to Tikunia to help organise the event. We last spoke to him at noon on October 3 and at that time there was no mention of any trouble brewing,” Shukla told Gaon Connection.
But news of the violence began trickling in at about 3 pm and the family was unable to get in touch with Shubham. “But he is a gentle soul, not given to arguments and fights and we thought he would be okay. We called several people but no one had seen him either,” Shukla continued.
Shubham had been actively involved in BJP’s party work in the Lakhimpur Kheri district. He was the booth adhyaksh (booth president) since 2017.
It was only at 8.30 pm on October 3, that the images of Shubham, who was dead by then, began surfacing on social media.
“We could not recognise him at first. His face was so completely disfigured,” Shukla said.
“Our heart goes out to the families of everyone who died there that day, irrespective of whether he was a farmer or a BJP party worker. We have left it to God to deliver justice. We know he will side with the virtuous and punish the guilty,” Shukla added.
But the image of a brutally assaulted Shubham continues to haunt the family. “Why was he beaten so mercilessly,” they asked.
Compensation
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to give Rs 45 lakh and a government job each to the families of every person who died in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on October 3.
“Govt will give Rs 45 lakhs and a govt job to the families of every person who died in Lakhimpur Kheri violence yesterday. The injured will be given Rs 10 lakh each,” stated the UP government. A judicial enquiry has also been set up by the state government.
Shubham’s family said they have yet to hear from the government about the compensation.
Meanwhile, after the cremation of Shubham on October 4, his father Vijay Mishra filed an application for an FIR at Thana Kotwali, Tikunia. In the FIR application, Vijay Mishra recounted the events as told to him by two eye-witnesses, Luvkush and Ashish Pandey from Banipur saw the lynching of Shubham and the driver Hariom.
According to the FIR application dated October 4, he was beaten with rods and swords. The eye witnesses identified the assailants as Amandeep Singh Sindhu, Mahendra Singh and Tejinder Singh Virk. The FIR application also mentioned that Shubham’s wallet, a mobile phone and a gold chain that he was wearing were stolen.
Rakesh Tikait’s press conference
Meanwhile, Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union, who has been negotiating with the state government to get the bereaved families the compensation held a press conference today at the gurudwara at Lakhimpur Kheri.
“Some of our demands have been met. Compensations have been agreed to, the offer of jobs has been assured, but there are still matters to be worked out,” the farmer leader told media persons.
“While the monetary relief has been sorted out, the administration is yet to take action on arresting the guilty. These people who have lost family members are poor. Any help will go a long way to support them,” Tikait said.
“But the deal we made included the demand to arrest the guilty people. It was not just about monetary compensation,” Tikait reiterated.
