No hope for justice in Lakhimpur case till Ajay Mishra is a minister, says AAP MP Sanjay Singh

New Delhi: Justice is not possible in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case so long as the father of accused Ashish continues to remain a Union minister, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said Sunday, demanding the sacking of Ajay Kumar Mishra as a minister of state for home affairs. He alleged the BJP and the Yogi Adityanath government “tried their best to save” Mishra’s son Ashish but he had to be arrested as no other option was left before the Uttar Pradesh government after the Supreme Court intervened in the matter. “As long as Ajay Mishra continues to remain a minister of state for home affairs, justice cannot be done in this case,” Singh, who has been camping in Uttar Pradesh, said in a video message. Late on Saturday night, Ashish was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police after around 12 hours of questioning, and produced before a local court that sent him to 14-day judicial custody in connection with the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur during a farmers’ protest. Eight persons, which included four farmers and a journalist, were killed in the incident of violence. Ashish was named an accused in an FIR following allegations that he was in one of the vehicles that mowed down the four farmers protesting over Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area. “The BJP and Adityanath Ji’s government tried their best to save Ajay Mishra’s son. However, following the Supreme Court’s reprimand, he was interrogated and arrested as no other option was left,” the Aam Aadmi Party leader said. Targeting the Union government, Singh also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the Lakhimpur violence and asked why Ajay Kumar Mishra has not yet been dismissed as minister of state for home affairs yet. “After the independence of India, this incident of crushing the farmers like insects reminds us of the rule of General Dyer…. Didn’t he (prime minister) see those pictures? Didn’t he see that heart-wrenching incident?” Singh asked The AAP leader claimed that family members of the farmers and the journalist who were killed in the incident are also not “hopeful” of getting justice in the case until Ajay Kumar Mishra is removed from his ministerial post. “The son (Ashish Mishra) has been arrested. The entire country is now asking the government when the minister will be dismissed from his post,” he said.