At the time of the incident, there was a section of the media, which portrayed the incident in a totally different manner and tried to show, in a way, that it was just an accident which happened. They, however, out rightly rejected the allegations that it was deliberate. When the incident happened, the farmer’s protest against the farm bills was on, and on the same day, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya visited the area. The angry farmers took out a protest, which was their right, but something else was going on in the mind of the accused Amit Mishra. An SUV came in fast, in which he was seated, and mowed down several people killing four farmers.
While there was ample video evidence of Amit Mishra being seated in the car and that it was intentional, the same was downplayed in response to the frustration that the farmer’s protest had already resulted in. Even the police, soon after the incident, were not able to get hold of the accused and the man in question succeeded in disappearing. It was the Supreme Court that mounted pressure on the Uttar Pradesh Government while directing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to speed up the trial. The general view of the public was reinforced by the investigation of the SIT which stated that the killing of farmers was the result of a “planned conspiracy” with the aim to kill rather than an accident.
The investigation of SIT left some people red-faced who were trying hard to brush the incident off, but kudos to the Indian Judiciary which ensured that the culprits are put behind bars and the trial on the charges which have been framed is started. The families of poor farmers who lost their lives had nowhere to go while they also were not in a state where they could have fought, but again, the justice delivery system has come to their rescue. The justice delivery system of this country has made it a point that no one is above the law and that accountability has to be there. The same has to prevail despite the failed and successful attempts made to undermine the authority of the judiciary and influence its functioning. Those who do not have access to the power corridors must get justice; the poor farmers who were killed must get justice.
