On Monday, an alliance of Farmers group asked the president to petition Ram Nath Kovind for a court-supervised investigation into the violence

On Monday, farmers in India vowed to intensify their month-long protests against agricultural liberalization laws after clashes between farmers and supporters of the ruling party a day after the deaths of eight people

The backstory

Four of the eight got killed when a car associated with a senior ruling party official crashed into protesters in Uttar Pradesh state, protest leaders said.  

 Police said they were investigating the accident and had registered a case against 13 people, including the son of a Minister of State in the Interior Ministry, Ajay Kumar Mishra, 

 On Monday, an alliance of protest groups asked the president to petition Ram Nath Kovind for a court-supervised investigation into the violence.

Farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, who protested yesterday’s violence, decided to cancel the Ground Zero protest and incinerate the dead after the government announced high compensation for the dead and injured.

Further proceedings

The government has agreed to pay 45 lakhs in compensation to the families of the deceased. The injured receive compensation of ₹ 10 lakh. A retired judge will investigate the matter, the government said. 

 A murder case got registered against the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, Ashish Mishra, who the farmers claimed, drove one of the three vehicles that ran over the protesters, sparking the violence.

The protesters tried to prevent the visit of Union Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. 

 After meeting the police this morning, farmers agreed to incinerate the bodies of the four people who got allegedly hit by the car.

Several others were injured, and four journalists and three BJP employees got killed in the violence.

Four thousand four hundred forty-four opposition leaders who supported the peasants were unable to visit the area.

The state government has asked the Lucknow Airport Authority not to allow the arrival of Chhattisgarh Prime Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Senior Deputy Minister Sukhjinder S Randhawa. 

Others involved

Several other leaders, including the head of the Punjab Congress, Navjot Singh Sidhu, were also prevented from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri. 

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress, who got arrested on the way to Lakhimpur Kheri, said the police mistreated her. 

She wonders why she got arrested when the minister’s son, accused of running over protesting peasants, is free of her. 

Ajay Mishra, the junior Home Secretary, has denied that his son was there. “There were villains who attacked the workers with sticks and swords,” he said, claiming that the farmers got killed when the car rolled over. 

The Lakhimpur Kheri incident affected the Supreme Court, where farmers asked for permission to hold protests in the heart of Delhi. 

On behalf of the government, Attorney General KK Veugopal said: “There should be no more protests to avoid unfortunate incidents like yesterday in Lakhimpur Kheri.”

The court asked why farmers are continuing their protest, given that farm laws are already frozen.