BJP worker Shyam Sunder Nishad was one of the eight people who were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on October 3. Since the violent crash, Nishad’s video has gone viral on all platforms. It is so shocking and heartbreaking that no one is able to forget it. His face was covered in blood and one could see the fear of impending death in his eyes. He was stunned and under the immense pressure of the furious crowd. The situation was evident in the video.
Nishad was seen begging for his life in the video. However, the barbaric mob was hell-bent, forcing him to say that he was sent by BJP leader Teni to crush the farmers. It was clear that the mob was forcing him to speak against the political party, but Nishad refused to budge in.
आप क्रोनोलॉजी समझिये … !!! pic.twitter.com/Md8eKBoUZc
— Avinash Srivastava 🇮🇳 (@go4avinash) October 3, 2021
Shyam did say that Teni sent him, but as soon as he denied the allegations that Teni asked him to crush the protesters, the mob started to charge at him. He joined his hands and urged them to leave him while saying ‘Dada Dada chhod do‘ (please leave me). After that, his dead body was found. One can only imagine his condition while he was being lynched. How frightened he would have been when the mob was beating him to death. Some reports suggest that he was hit on his throat and face in such a way that he died on the spot. His dead body was later thrown in the field. The police recovered the body in the evening and sent it for post mortem.
There are two stories ruling the media at the moment. On one side of the story, the mob of protesters is being held responsible for the violence, while on the other side of the story, BJP leader’s vehicle became the reason for the violence. The public is trying to judge the situation based on selective videos. Amidst all the speculations, judgements, politics and propaganda, OpIndia reached out to Sanjay Nishad, brother of the slain BJP worker to bring out his side of story.
Sanjay refuses to believe that the people who were forcing his brother to say something against BJP were farmers. He called them executioners. He said if those were farmers, they would not have done such horrendous acts.
Sanjay Nishad, brother of deceased BJP leader Shyam Sundar Nishad speaks to OpIndia
Sanjay Nishad is the brother of the late Shyam Sundar Nishad. He lives in Singha Kala Village that falls under the Singhahi Police Station area. He said, “My brother was a BJP Mandal minister. Wrestling matches have been happening at the village of Minister of Home Affairs (State) for a long time. This year, the matches were scheduled for October 2 and October 3. Keshav Prasad Maurya was scheduled to come for the matches. My brother was sent to receive him. The mob was gathered there. They killed him. Everyone was trying to force him to say that Teni had sent him to cause the accident. My brother told them that Teni did send him but not to kill anyone. He was sent to receive Maurya.”
Sanjay further added that the same people were the first to create nuisance and pelted stones on the glass of the car. It caused an imbalance leading to the accident. According to him, he got the information of his brother’s death via message. At that time, he was in Uttarakhand and could not attend his brother’s funeral. He said, “My family members came to know about the incident via video that they received on WhatsApp. There was a hue and cry that their son was killed. I somehow got the news at around 5:30 PM. The person said that my brother had been killed. I did not believe him. But when I saw the video, I was convinced that it really happened.”
Sanjay wanted to come for his brother’s funeral, but the bus from Uttarakhand got cancelled. He said, “I have seen my brother’s last video. I have also seen the video in which everyone was saying, ‘turn the vehicle, turn the vehicle’. After that, my brother died. But he never lied that Teni sent him to kill anyone. He told them the truth that he was there to receive Keshav Prasad Maurya.”
While Sanjay was speaking to OpIndia, the government officials paid him a visit to offer condolences and speak about the compensation. He said, “I had to disconnect the call during the conversation. The village head, Lekhpal and Patwari, had come along with the police. I got the compensation of Rs 45 lakh. They also promised a government job.”
Sanjay further said that Shyam used to fulfil all the financial needs of the family. He got his sisters married and later himself got married too. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, who are now all alone. Sanjay added that his brother had been going for the wrestling matches since over 15-20 years. He got a small post at first but later got promoted and became General Secretary, Mandal Minister.
When asked about the violent protests by the alleged farmers, Sanjay said that there were many people. They had blocked the roads. Sanjay also informed us that Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to visit his house as he was visiting Lakhimpur. However, it is not yet clear whether Rahul Gandhi indeed visited the slain BJP worker.
Recalling the face of his deceased brother, Sanjay said, “The government cannot bring my brother back. He begged for his life with folded hands, but he was not spared. They were not farmers. They were executioners. We got the compensation, but I will tell the media again and again that they were executioners. If they were farmers, why did they kill my brother? I am a farmer too….”
The article was originally published on OpIndia Hindi. You can read it here.
