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Opinion: With Farmers’ Death In Lakhimpur, Democracy And Justice Rammed To Death

By Chaitanya Gambhir in News, Politics, Society
6th October, 2021

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On October-3, 2021, at around 4 pm, a convoy of three vehicles, including one driven by the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra Teni, rammed into a crowd of farmers who were protesting in the area killing four farmers and one journalist, and injuring several others.

The word allegedly has not been forgotten to be included. I, as the author of the post, claim full responsibility for deliberately not mentioning it for reasons stated below.

KOLKATA, INDIA – OCTOBER 4: AIKSCC supporters protest against the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri of Uttar Pradesh, at Moulali crossing on October 4, 2021 in Kolkata, India. The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday suspended internet services and barred politicians from entering Tikonia in Lakhimpur Kheri where eight people were killed in a deadly escalation of a year-long demonstration against contentious agriculture laws. The protesters have claimed that a car from the convoy of the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni ran over the protesters. The four BJP workers were beaten up by the protesters, according to the police. (Photo by Samir Jana/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

I do not wish to narrate the incident as the same has been reported by several credible media houses such as the NDTV, the Newslaundry, The Wire and many others.

The 29-second video clip which surfaced around evening time on October-4, 2021, showcases an SUV Mahindra Thar belonging to the Tenis. I urge you to watch it once before going on ahead, but a trigger warning in case you cannot see violence.

An Indian citizen in 2021 has become the mute mule who carries the daily burden of getting up, having some tea, going to work, coming back to a family of sorts. Then, consume deeply disturbing and intoxicating content of false nationalism, propaganda and hatred both religious-based and self pitied, and sleep through the god-awful night pretending that whatever happens around, they do not, should not and perhaps will not be bothered.

And it has really worked for them, I think. They remember that they never had to go fight for freedom, and yet they enjoy all the liberties and more.

They remember very well that since India is such a large country, their bit starts and concludes with their ‘vote selfie’ that they post every time around election time. They remember how their beloved Supreme Leader gives big, and almost the same, rhetorical speeches. They remember that their only concern should be the B. Tech College they would ask their children to prepare for or the NEET examination that their children must clear.

In the very guise of hoping for a good future for their kids, the sycophancy in the middle-class citizens craves the taste and flavours of financial success and excesses through their own children.

If the same hadn’t been true, wouldn’t they feel responsible for what kind of future or, for that matter, what kind of present awaits their kids in reality? They all want to move from one society to another society which is more alluring with its lavish kitty parties and club memberships.

Four Farmers were mowed down by the son of an incumbent minister, but most of the population took the plea of ignorance citing:

A. We’re not Farmers.

B. We’re not equipped to process and further do anything which can bring any change, despite the knowledge that the society has been degrading.

C. Where’s the opposition?

D. These things keep happening, the farmers must be at some kind of a fault.

One word they seem to miss out very frequently while giving the “We’re not Farmers” plea is ‘now’. They seem to forget that India up until now has been dominated by people engaged in the Agricultural and Farm Sector. Have we become a society that looks down on farmers? Are we too ‘evolved’ and ‘integrated with smarter and knowledgeable’ people to care?

I think they seem to deliberately miss out that at the very core of their being, their soul does not care about anything that doesn’t directly concern them. The same group which is ready to fight for Rs. 10 to heaven and hell with a cab driver does not have a spine to utter a word against the wrongs and of the society that is being propagated by their beloved Supreme Leader.

Family members mourn the farmers killed in Sunday’s violence at UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri. Photo: @Kisanektamorcha/PTI

What happened on October 3 wasn’t something new or unique. It was very much in line with what has been happening in India: people without privilege being rammed and crushed by those drunk on power given by the same spineless people.

To say the very least, a purported video has been doing rounds where Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni has been openly and assertively threatening a section of the society in very real and not so subtle terms.

But this inflammatory statement hasn’t evoked a bit of outrage. It has been so deeply thrust within the core of a normal Indian citizen that goons like these must be feared and not questioned. This undeterred trust placed in both the policing system and the judiciary is worrisome. Indians should give both the police department and the judiciary loud rounds of applause for their professional ineptitude.

The Supreme Court of India and the other High Courts try to be assertive and portray their image as progressive and dynamic organs of democracy; however, it is the single biggest lie in the history of independent India.

It’s been over 60 hours and neither Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni nor Ashish Mishra Teni has been arrested.  The BJP government led by beloved ‘sage’ Adityanath and the Supreme Leader PM Narendra Modi have not taken action against Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni. In my opinion, it is quite expected and understandable as the Tenis have only done what the BJP has been trying and wanting to do for very long.

It is not shocking that the BJP will go to such extreme lengths. The National Socialist Party under Herr Hitler went to all sorts of extreme lengths i.e. even till the Gas Chambers for the Jews. This thing should and must not surprise us, as wherever and whenever autocracies come to power, they do anything and everything to stay in power.

India under BJP and PM Narendra Modi is an Elected Autocracy. These are not my words but the words of a Swedish Based Research Institute.

A screengrab.

Nothing Is Shocking In India Anymore

When the Pulwama terror attack took place in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shooting for an episode of “Man v/s Wild with Bear Grylls” in the forests of Jim Corbett.

Few men were able to breach the limits and raise a flag on the Red Fort while Republic Day celebrations were ongoing on January-26, 2021 despite the presence of military and police personnel in and around the heavily fortified and most sensitive area.

One of the biggest causes behind the second wave of COVID, in my opinion, was the greed for winning the West Bengal Elections.

A 2o-day outreach was planned to celebrate PM Modi’s Birthday was celebrated for 21 days in the same year when millions died due to a pandemic in India because of the failure of the incumbent government.

Political leaders like Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra and other leaders were detained and arrested without proper orders in Uttar Pradesh while the accused minister and his son are allowed to roam free.

What do these facts point at?

Many innocent people like Siddique Kappan and others have been in jail for years under UAPA because their conscience couldn’t bear what BJP, under PM Modi’s leadership, has undertaken to do.

I refuse to remain silent and carry the burden of injustice any longer. If any action is to be taken against me for standing up for the truth, so be it.

To others who are turning a blind eye towards this topic, I urge you to look within- what would you have felt if your own family members were rammed and killed like those farmers?

Allegedly, two BJP workers were also killed along with a driver in the crash. I feel compelled to sympathize with the loss of their families but do not feel obliged to feel saddened at their demise after what they did to the farmers and the journalist.

Rab Rakha.

Featured image credit: Samir Jana/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
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An ambassador and trained facilitator under Eco Femme (a social enterprise working towards menstrual health in south India), Sanjina is also an active member of the MHM Collective- India and Menstrual Health Alliance- India. She has conducted Menstrual Health sessions in multiple government schools adopted by Rotary District 3240 as part of their WinS project in rural Bengal. She has also delivered training of trainers on SRHR, gender, sexuality and Menstruation for Tomorrow’s Foundation, Vikramshila Education Resource Society, Nirdhan trust and Micro Finance, Tollygunj Women In Need, Paint It Red in Kolkata.

Now as an MH Fellow with YKA, she’s expanding her impressive scope of work further by launching a campaign to facilitate the process of ensuring better menstrual health and SRH services for women residing in correctional homes in West Bengal. The campaign will entail an independent study to take stalk of the present conditions of MHM in correctional homes across the state and use its findings to build public support and political will to take the necessary action.

Saurabh has been associated with YKA as a user and has consistently been writing on the issue MHM and its intersectionality with other issues in the society. Now as an MHM Fellow with YKA, he’s launched the Right to Period campaign, which aims to ensure proper execution of MHM guidelines in Delhi’s schools.

The long-term aim of the campaign is to develop an open culture where menstruation is not treated as a taboo. The campaign also seeks to hold the schools accountable for their responsibilities as an important component in the implementation of MHM policies by making adequate sanitation infrastructure and knowledge of MHM available in school premises.

Read more about his campaign.

Harshita is a psychologist and works to support people with mental health issues, particularly adolescents who are survivors of violence. Associated with the Azadi Foundation in UP, Harshita became an MHM Fellow with YKA, with the aim of promoting better menstrual health.

Her campaign #MeriMarzi aims to promote menstrual health and wellness, hygiene and facilities for female sex workers in UP. She says, “Knowledge about natural body processes is a very basic human right. And for individuals whose occupation is providing sexual services, it becomes even more important.”

Meri Marzi aims to ensure sensitised, non-discriminatory health workers for the needs of female sex workers in the Suraksha Clinics under the UPSACS (Uttar Pradesh State AIDS Control Society) program by creating more dialogues and garnering public support for the cause of sex workers’ menstrual rights. The campaign will also ensure interventions with sex workers to clear misconceptions around overall hygiene management to ensure that results flow both ways.

Read more about her campaign.

MH Fellow Sabna comes with significant experience working with a range of development issues. A co-founder of Project Sakhi Saheli, which aims to combat period poverty and break menstrual taboos, Sabna has, in the past, worked on the issue of menstruation in urban slums of Delhi with women and adolescent girls. She and her team also released MenstraBook, with menstrastories and organised Menstra Tlk in the Delhi School of Social Work to create more conversations on menstruation.

With YKA MHM Fellow Vineet, Sabna launched Menstratalk, a campaign that aims to put an end to period poverty and smash menstrual taboos in society. As a start, the campaign aims to begin conversations on menstrual health with five hundred adolescents and youth in Delhi through offline platforms, and through this community mobilise support to create Period Friendly Institutions out of educational institutes in the city.

Read more about her campaign. 

A student from Delhi School of Social work, Vineet is a part of Project Sakhi Saheli, an initiative by the students of Delhi school of Social Work to create awareness on Menstrual Health and combat Period Poverty. Along with MHM Action Fellow Sabna, Vineet launched Menstratalk, a campaign that aims to put an end to period poverty and smash menstrual taboos in society.

As a start, the campaign aims to begin conversations on menstrual health with five hundred adolescents and youth in Delhi through offline platforms, and through this community mobilise support to create Period Friendly Institutions out of educational institutes in the city.

Find out more about the campaign here.

A native of Bhagalpur district – Bihar, Shalini Jha believes in equal rights for all genders and wants to work for a gender-equal and just society. In the past she’s had a year-long association as a community leader with Haiyya: Organise for Action’s Health Over Stigma campaign. She’s pursuing a Master’s in Literature with Ambedkar University, Delhi and as an MHM Fellow with YKA, recently launched ‘Project अल्हड़ (Alharh)’.

She says, “Bihar is ranked the lowest in India’s SDG Index 2019 for India. Hygienic and comfortable menstruation is a basic human right and sustainable development cannot be ensured if menstruators are deprived of their basic rights.” Project अल्हड़ (Alharh) aims to create a robust sensitised community in Bhagalpur to collectively spread awareness, break the taboo, debunk myths and initiate fearless conversations around menstruation. The campaign aims to reach at least 6000 adolescent girls from government and private schools in Baghalpur district in 2020.

Read more about the campaign here.

A psychologist and co-founder of a mental health NGO called Customize Cognition, Ritika forayed into the space of menstrual health and hygiene, sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights and gender equality as an MHM Fellow with YKA. She says, “The experience of working on MHM/SRHR and gender equality has been an enriching and eye-opening experience. I have learned what’s beneath the surface of the issue, be it awareness, lack of resources or disregard for trans men, who also menstruate.”

The Transmen-ses campaign aims to tackle the issue of silence and disregard for trans men’s menstruation needs, by mobilising gender sensitive health professionals and gender neutral restrooms in Lucknow.

Read more about the campaign here.

A Computer Science engineer by education, Nitisha started her career in the corporate sector, before realising she wanted to work in the development and social justice space. Since then, she has worked with Teach For India and Care India and is from the founding batch of Indian School of Development Management (ISDM), a one of its kind organisation creating leaders for the development sector through its experiential learning post graduate program.

As a Youth Ki Awaaz Menstrual Health Fellow, Nitisha has started Let’s Talk Period, a campaign to mobilise young people to switch to sustainable period products. She says, “80 lakh women in Delhi use non-biodegradable sanitary products, generate 3000 tonnes of menstrual waste, that takes 500-800 years to decompose; which in turn contributes to the health issues of all menstruators, increased burden of waste management on the city and harmful living environment for all citizens.

Let’s Talk Period aims to change this by

Find out more about her campaign here.

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A former Assistant Secretary with the Ministry of Women and Child Development in West Bengal for three months, Lakshmi Bhavya has been championing the cause of menstrual hygiene in her district. By associating herself with the Lalana Campaign, a holistic menstrual hygiene awareness campaign which is conducted by the Anahat NGO, Lakshmi has been slowly breaking taboos when it comes to periods and menstrual hygiene.

A Gender Rights Activist working with the tribal and marginalized communities in india, Srilekha is a PhD scholar working on understanding body and sexuality among tribal girls, to fill the gaps in research around indigenous women and their stories. Srilekha has worked extensively at the grassroots level with community based organisations, through several advocacy initiatives around Gender, Mental Health, Menstrual Hygiene and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) for the indigenous in Jharkhand, over the last 6 years.

Srilekha has also contributed to sustainable livelihood projects and legal aid programs for survivors of sex trafficking. She has been conducting research based programs on maternal health, mental health, gender based violence, sex and sexuality. Her interest lies in conducting workshops for young people on life skills, feminism, gender and sexuality, trauma, resilience and interpersonal relationships.

A Guwahati-based college student pursuing her Masters in Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bidisha started the #BleedwithDignity campaign on the technology platform Change.org, demanding that the Government of Assam install
biodegradable sanitary pad vending machines in all government schools across the state. Her petition on Change.org has already gathered support from over 90000 people and continues to grow.

Bidisha was selected in Change.org’s flagship program ‘She Creates Change’ having run successful online advocacy
campaigns, which were widely recognised. Through the #BleedwithDignity campaign; she organised and celebrated World Menstrual Hygiene Day, 2019 in Guwahati, Assam by hosting a wall mural by collaborating with local organisations. The initiative was widely covered by national and local media, and the mural was later inaugurated by the event’s chief guest Commissioner of Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) Debeswar Malakar, IAS.

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