Chandigarh/Lakhimpur Kheri, October 9:
Punjab PWD and Administrative Reforms Minister Mr. Vijay Inder Singla was in UP to visit the families of the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri tragedy. Mr. Singla reached Lakhimpur Kheri in the morning with PPCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu and several colleagues of his cabinet and met with families of the deceased to share their grief.
Vijay Inder Singla also met with the family of Raman Kashyap, a journalist who was mowed down in the barbaric and senseless act on farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri. It was at the residence of Raman Kashyap that Singla also sat on a hunger strike along with Sidhu who was even taking a vow of silence till the demands of the family; a full and fair investigation with Ashish Mishra to join, were met.
As Navjot Singh Sidhu took a vow of silence, Vijay Inder Singla held the fort as he led deliberations with the Police and Administration which were trying to dislodge the dharna. Singla addressed the media throughout the night and made it clear that they would continue sitting on hunger strike till Ashish Mishra joined the Police investigation. The Police and Administration tried to deter Singla from sitting on hunger strike but he stood steadfast and staunchly in support of the farmers and refused to budge till the demands of Kashyap’s family were met.
It was at 11 am in the morning after a full day of hunger strike that Singla and Sidhu broke their hunger strike alongside with the family members of the deceased after Ashish Mishra had joined the Police investigation. Kashyap’s family expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the duo for fighting it out with administration by not caving in and by constantly putting pressure on the Govt which ultimately caused Mishra to appear before the police and join the investigation. Vijay Inder Singla remarked that it was disgraceful that the BJP government had continued to shield its own minister and he hoped that the law would finally take its course and take justice to its logical conclusion with the harshest possible punishment for Ashish Mishra.
