Farmers, workers to mark black day on Tuesday to seek Ajay Mishra Teni's dismissal over Lakhimpur Kheri killings

Farmers and workers will jointly observe black day on Tuesday demanding the prosecution of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni and his dismissal from the Narendra Modi government, accusing him of being the main conspirator behind the Lakhimpur Kheri killings of farmers.

Organised by Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Federations, the protest coincides with the second anniversary of the killings of four farmers allegedly by Teni's son who drove a vehicle into the protest by farmers on October 3, 2021.

As part of the black day protest, the farmers and workers will hold demonstrations and public meetings as well as burn effigies and public meetings at district and tehsil headquarters across the country. The call had been issued by the All-India Joint Convention of Farmers and Workers held on August 24 here.

The black day protest also symbolises a protest against all incidents of repression and attacks on the democratic movement of the toiling people and onslaughts on their rights with a determination to combat and resist such repressive designs, the organisers said.

The farmers and workers unions and organisations are demanding the dismissal and prosecution of Teni, who they accuse as the conspirator for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

"The Minister and his son Ashish Mishra Teni were the masterminds of the massacre and four farmers Nakshatra Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Lavpreet Singh and Daljeet Singh and one journalist Raman Kashyap were killed in this attack. It was part of the design by the BJP to suppress the united farmers' struggle against the three pro-corporate Farm Acts aimed at corporatisation of agriculture," a statement said.

It said the united farmers' struggle had succeeded to force the Prime Minister to tender an apology and repeal the three Farm Acts in the Parliament. It said 735 farmers died during this historic agitation.

"During the last two years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not ask Ajay Mishra Teni to resign or dismiss him from the cabinet. The Prime Minister is protecting the chief conspirator behind the murder of farmers though his name was registered in the FIR. Only after the Supreme Court intervened in the matter and directed to arrest the culprits, the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government arrested Ashish Mishra Teni and other accused. The innocent farmers have also been arrested and imprisoned by the state government," the statement said.

"The Modi government has been authoritarian in nature and brought the notorious Essential Defence Services Act criminalising the strikes not only by the defence sector but all related services and even those who support strike. BJP and the right-wing state governments are highly undemocratic, unleashing repression and terror and evoking draconian laws including UAPA against the workers, farmers and other sections of the people who are raising their voice for their rights and entitlements and against anti people policies," it added.