“What do we do (what could we do)?” Gurvinder Singh’s father says that after performing the last rites of the 18-year-old boy, the second post-mortem concluded that he had died after coming under the wheels of a car, which was among the protesting farmers. had fallen. Lakhimpur Kheri. “We have to make peace with what the doctors have said, because we are not doctors. But goli to lagi thi (he was definitely shot),” says Sukhwinder Singh.
The 48-year-old, who owns about 4 bighas of agricultural land in Bahraich’s Moharaniya Navipur village, says: “We saw the body and it was clear that he had suffered a gunshot wound. He had an exit wound on the back of his head and an entrance wound on the right side of his forehead. But the second postmortem report also said that he did not suffer gunshot injuries, and the death was accidental. How can we believe that when all the eyewitnesses are saying that they were shot by someone named Monu (Ashish, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra)? Not one, but all.”
While the families of three other protesting farmers killed in the incident, which included a car owned by the central MoS, performed the last rites, Gurvinder’s family demanded a second autopsy. A team of four senior doctors who came from Lucknow to Bahraich also said that they did not receive any bullet injury, Gurvinder’s body was handed over to the family at 6 am and his last rites were performed at 9 am on Wednesday.
Sukhwinder says that the post-mortem report was given to him only after the cremation was over.
Gurvinder, the youngest of his three children, was along with others from the area for a protest in Tikunia on Sunday against the visit of UP deputy chief Keshav Prasad Maurya. “There are many villages here where our people (Sikhs) are. Everyone was leaving, so my son said he would go. He was a farmer’s son, so he had to leave.”
Guru Sevak, 20-year-old Gurwinder’s brother, says: “He had bruises all over his body. There was no part where there was no blood. He died the most brutal death.”
Seeking justice, Guru Sevak says, “Gurwinder was very religious. He wanted to become a monk, and was busy in reading (reading religious scriptures).
Gurvinder’s last rites were performed near the family farm, about 300 meters away from the house. At 1.45 pm on Wednesday, the embers still dying, their maternal uncle Jaimal Singh (75) along with their maternal grandfather Shirinder sat silently watching.
Shirinder, 70, says Gurvinder was “killed for no reason”. “Showing black flags has been a form of peaceful protest since pre-Independence days. The minister and his son conspired to kill him.”
A senior police officer posted in the village, who claimed to be unaware of the postmortem, said the situation was peaceful. There is heavy deployment at the entrance of the village to ensure law and order.
Diljit Singh, one of the three other deceased farmers, lived in Banjaran Tada, about 12 km from Gurwinder’s village, which also falls in Bahraich. On Wednesday, the 35-year-old’s family was at Tikunia, the site of an important gurudwara, for the immersion of their ashes.
Diljit is survived by his 32-year-old wife Paramjit Kaur, a 16-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son. The son went with Diljit in protest. His cousin Sher Singh says that Diljit’s son is also hurt but he is better.
Sher Singh says that he is worried about who will support Diljit’s family. “He has none… He was the only earning member.”
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