Charanjit Singh Channi meets Amit Shah in Delhi; farm laws, Lakhimpur Kheri on agenda

New Delhi: The meeting between Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is underway at the latter’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday. The Punjab Chief Minister reached the national capital in wake of the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri in which four people lost their lives including four farmers. “These three farm laws should be repealed at the earliest and incidents like this (Lakhimpur Kheri) need to be stopped. I will discuss this issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in today’s meeting,” Channi told media persons, before leaving for Delhi. As many as eight people died in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident on Sunday, said Uttar Pradesh police. Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of several farmer unions, had alleged four farmers lost their lives in the incident. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of several farmer unions, alleged that Ashish Mishra Teni, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni had arrived in a convoy on three vehicles around the time that farmers were dispersing from their protest at the helipad and mowed down farmers and towards the end also attacked SKM leader Tajinder Singh Virk directly, by trying to run a vehicle over him. Refuting SKM’s allegations, MoS Teni said that his son was not present at the spot, adding that some miscreants merged with protesting farmers and pelted the stones on the car which lead to the “unfortunate incident”. Farmers have been protesting at different sites since 26 November last year against the three enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Farmer leaders and the Centre have held several rounds of talks but the impasse remains.