'We don't trust the prime minister's words on repealing the laws because he had promised us that he will implement the Swaminathan Commission report, but he never did.'
Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair was released from Tihar on Wednesday night, hours after being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in all FIRs lodged in Uttar Pradesh against him for alleged hate speech, prison officials said.
The bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said that it will have to take the consent of the judge concerned and will consider names of even former apex court and high court judges for monitoring the probe in the sensational case and pronounce the same on Wednesday.
The Sikhs, especially in Punjab, are already angry and frustrated, cautions Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP on Wednesday rejected as 'unfounded' the opposition's demand for the resignation of Union minister Ajay Mishra 'Teni' and all but ruled out a discussion on the Lakhimpur Kheri issue as the matter is sub-judice.
The Khalistan sympathiser, who is yet to be nabbed, escaped the police's net in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing his appearance.
The arrests were made after their names emerged during the interrogation of other accused in police custody.
There have been bandhs, rasta rokos, rail rokos demanding his resignation as a Union minister... his son Ashish Mishra has been arrested for alleged involvement in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, on October 3, 2021, in which several people were killed, but Ajay Kumar Mishra continues to be India's minister of state for home.
'The BJP will never act against the minister because it stands with criminals.'
Farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Tuesday offered 'antim ardas' -- the final prayers in the Sikh tradition -- for the protesters killed in the recent violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, with their leaders vowing to intensify the agitation against the Centre's new agri laws.
Ashish Mishra 'Monu', son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra 'Teni', was arrested on Saturday night after over 11 hours of questioning in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence which left eight people, including four farmers, dead.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections less than eight months away, the SP is experimenting with yet another template of combining a soft Hindutva tenor with its time-tested Muslim-Yadav combination to reclaim its lost political capital vis-a-vis the BJP.
He also told PTI that the protesters first pelted stones on the vehicles of BJP workers due to which his driver lost control of the vehicle leading to the accident.
Opposition parties on Monday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh for not allowing their leaders to visit Lakhimpur Kheri after eight people died in violence there during an anti farm law protest, alleging it was an attempt to cover up and demanding the sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra and the arrest of his son, who have been named in an FIR.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the farm laws, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday urged him not to share the stage with Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra during the directors general of police conference in Lucknow keeping in mind farmers' interest.
Aside from the 36 MPs, the meeting was also attended by BJP president J P Nadda and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, they said.
"They are attacking democracy. There is a non-stop attack on democracy and that is why we are fighting here," Gandhi said, accusing the government of not allowing debate on price rise, Lakhimpur Kheri and other issues.
"Those named in the FIR should go to jail. The government should take immediate action and the matter should be probed by a sitting judge of the high court. There are videos clips, statements of eyewitnesses, the statement (of minister) in which he is threatening. As he (accused Ashish Mishra) is the son of the MoS, action has note been taken yet," he said.
The Congress has alleged that she was arrested on Monday while she was on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sat on a hunger strike on Monday after being detained in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district while she was en route to Lakhimpur Kheri, her party said.
Police Lakhimpur Kheri on Tuesday arrested one more person in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and produced him in a court, which sent him to 14-day judicial custody.
The minister then visited the residence of Shah where he closeted for about half an hour.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday met families of four deceased farmers, who had allegedly faced shortage of fertilisers in Lalitpur, and charged that the fertiliser distribution system of Uttar Pradesh has failed due to collusion among black marketers, officials and leaders.
"The UP government has not yet given permission for Rahul Gandhi's visit to Lakhimpur and has asked him not to come," Lucknow Police Commissioner D K Thakur told PTI.
On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
Congress leader Manish Tewari demanded that the government should provide Rs 5 crore compensation to the families of the farmers who died during the farm laws agitation
Thirteen FIRs have also been registered in nine districts in this connection.
The Lakhimpur violence, in which the son of senior BJP leader and Union minister of state Ajay Mishra Teni are accused of trampling four protesting farmers to death, has opened another front for the CM to deal with, after the mysterious death of Akhara Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri last month and the death of a Kanpur-based trader in Gorakhpur recently.
The apex court has also sought details of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the judicial enquiry commission, reportedly set up by the state government.
Social activist Yogendra Yadav has resigned from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha coordination committee but said he will remain a 'soldier' of the farmers' collective.
Despite being the MP from Lakhimpur, Teni is not actively involved in campaigning for the assembly polls as according to party insiders, the BJP does not want to risk its chances by using him.
The charges against Ashish Mishra should be modified, cops investigating the case have written to a judge.
As many as 624 candidates are in the fray in this round of voting being held in Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Banda, and Fatehpur districts.
Tikait says PM Modi was supporter of MSP law when he was CM
'I was not there at the spot and I don't know who was driving the car.' 'It is a matter that needs to be investigated by the police and it is their job,' says the father of the journalist who was killed in Lakhimpur Kheri.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that decision to challenge the grant of bail by the Allahabad high court to Ashish Mishra is pending consideration before the relevant authorities.
Yadav and Singh alleged that BJP MP Mishra issued a 'brazen threat' against the protesting farmers only a few days ago.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a "transparent" and expeditious probe into cases lodged against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair in various districts of the state, a senior official said.
'When in both post-mortems, doctors say that he was not shot, we had not option left but to cremated him'
In a terse message to the ruling party, Priyanka in a Hindi tweet said, 'The goons of the BJP involved in 'cheerharan' of the democracy should hear that women will become pradhans, block pramukhs, MLAs, MPs and prime minister, and defeat the government, which gives patronage to those committing atrocities against women.'
