Indian farmers protesting against the three controversial farm laws will hold a countrywide protest on Tuesday to reiterate their demand for the removal of federal minister Ajay Kumar Mishra, whose son is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed.
The call for the protest was made by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a farmer unions' collective leading the stir over the farm laws since November 2020 at Delhi's borders, the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), which is part of the movement, said.
"Demonstrations would be held at administrative headquarters in every district of the country. A memorandum will be submitted to the government with a demand that the Federal Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra be removed from his post”, BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik told the press.
"The pan-India protest will be supported by all farmer groups associated with the movement against the contentious farm laws. Through the memorandum, we will also appeal once again that these laws be rolled back", Malik added.
He also said local issues faced by farmers at regional levels and district levels will also be highlighted during the nationwide protest.
The SKM had organised a "rail roko" ("stop the trains") agitation on 18 October to press the Narendra Modi government to remove federal Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra over his son's alleged involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri District violence in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
On 3 October, a convoy of three vehicles drove through a crowd of protesting farmers in the village of Tikonia in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh.
After four farmers were run over by the convoy, four others, including the minister's driver, two Bharatiya Janata Party workers, and a journalist, were beaten to death in the subsequent violence.
The federal minister's son, Ashish Mishra, who is accused of killing the farmers by hitting them in an SUV, has already been arrested.