Opposition leaders barred from town in India

Opposition leaders continue to be barred from visiting the northern Indian town where eight people, including four farmers, died on Sunday.

Violence broke out in Lakhimpur Kheri when farmers tried to protest in front of the motorcade of a federal minister.

Farmers say Ashish Mishra – the son of India’s junior home minister Ajay Mishra – ran his car over protesters. The Mishras deny the charge.

Police started an investigation against them after protests from farm unions.

Local media have been running a video that allegedly shows a car running over farmers in the district in Uttar Pradesh state. Farm unions say Ashish Mishra was in the car and he ordered his driver to plough the vehicle into the group of protesting farmers.

But Mr Mishra says he wasn’t at the spot when the incident happened. Two workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the driver were subsequently beaten to death by a mob of protesters. Reports say a fourth person, a journalist, also died in the violence.

Police agreed to investigate the minister and his son only after farmer groups refused to cremate their dead. A large number of security personnel have been deployed as an uneasy calm prevails in the area.

Opposition leaders are still not allowed to visit the district. Akhilesh Yadav, former state chief minister said that the government’s decision to detain him at his home in Lucknow, the state’s capital, was against democratic norms.

“This is nothing but an attempt to stop the opposition from supporting the farmers who are fighting a legitimate battle. They are worried that private players will enter the agriculture sector and hurt their income. They should not be killed for protesting,” he said.

Senior Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi was also detained on Monday while she was trying to enter Lakhimpur. She has described her detention as “illegal”.

Violence in Lakhimpur Kheri marks a dramatic escalation in a 10-month-old protest against agriculture reforms that farmers say will benefit private players at their expense.

Tens of thousands of them have been sitting on the outskirts of Delhi since November, demanding that the laws must be repealed.

It is one of the longest farmers-led protests India has ever seen, pitting the community against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) government.

Agencies