New Delhi : National convenor of Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over illegal detention and arrests of opposition leaders who attempt to visit the victim families of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in Uttar Pradesh.
Kejriwal asked Modi why the Centre is saving the culprits of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident from the judicial proceedings and illegal arrest and detention is happening with the leaders who want to sympathise with the victim families in the hour of grief.
Kejriwal also took a jibe at ‘Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’ while drawing the contrast with the situation in Lakhimpur.
“At a time when the government is celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’, the leaders of opposition parties are put under arrest just because they want to convey their sympathy to the victims (of Lakhimpur Kheri incident).
“Our freedom fighters did not envisage this kind of freedom while sacrificing their lives,” he said.
The Modi government at the Centre and Yogi government in the UP are in the eye of the storm and being accused of shielding the perpetrators of the incident which took the lives of eight people including four farmers, three BJP workers and a journalist.
The farmers have alleged Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish ran over the protesters in the Tikonia area who were coming back after holding a demonstration against Centre’s three farm laws. The minister has denied these allegations and instead claimed that the protesters started pelting stones due to which the driver of the car lost balance and this incident happened.
While FIR has been lodged against Ashish Mishra and others but no arrests have been made so far.
Meanwhile, the state government is accused of placing opposition leaders under arrest while attempting to reach the victims’ families.
Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Deepender S Hooda are under police custody for nearly two days.
Many other leader leaders from both Congress and AAP have also been stopped and detained while their movement to Lakhimpur Kheri.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was not allowed to exit Lucknow Airport while convoy of AAP’s Raghav Chaddha has been stopped 15 kilometres away from the incident spot.
Meanwhile, a couple of videos have surfaced allegedly related to the incident which shows a Mahindra Thar running over a group of farmers from the back while they were walking. However, the authorities have not verified or linked the video to the incident so far.
Questioning the silence from PM Modi, the Delhi CM also discussed the viral video and said the car involved in the incident has not just mowed down the farmers but the spirit of India.
“PM Modi, the whole nation is watching how a car came and mowed down the farmers and you remained silent. The opposition is in jail and the perpetrators are roaming scot-free,” he added.
