Posters have been put up at various places along the route to the Lucknow airport ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled visit to Lakhimpur Kheri. In these posters, Rahul Gandhi and Congress have been targeted for using the Lakhimpur Kheri flare-up to gain political mileage.
Posters reportedly by Sikh Community “welcoming” Rahul “1984 Riots” Gandhi near Lucknow airport!! pic.twitter.com/wNX9IioRVA
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) October 6, 2021
One of the posters read, “Nahin chahiye farzi Sahanubhuti, khun see bhara hai daman tumhara, tum kya doge saath hamara, nahi chahiye saath tumhara” which roughly translates to “We don’t want your fake sympathies. Your hands are covered in blood, what support will you give us, we don’t want your support”.
Another poster made a reference to the 1984 Sikh genocide. Without referring to the Gandhis directly, the poster said those who are responsible for the 1984 pogrom should not rub salt on the wounds of Sikhs now.
Yet another poster slamming the Gandhis said Sikhs of Lakhimpur Kheri do not want sympathies from people who are responsible for the 1984 riots.
There were other posters too that directly referred to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as ‘murderers of Sikhs’ and asked them to go back.
Several poster banners of 1984 Sikh Riots across Uttar Pradesh & Lucknow to welcome Rahul Gandhi & Priyanka Gandhi pic.twitter.com/q6EUSf0alb
— Nandini Idnani🕉️🇮🇳 (@nandiniidnani69) October 6, 2021
Lakhimpur Kheri: UP’s ‘Mini Punjab’ where Khalistani terrorists flourished during Punjab insurgency
It is worth noting that Lakhimpur Kheri is a Sikh dominant region, also known as UP’s ‘Mini Punjab’. During the Khalistan insurgency, the Mini Punjab of Uttar Pradesh used to be a safe haven for Khalistani outfits. They flourished for decades in UP but went into hibernation following the crackdown in the 1990s. Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) was one of the most active outfits in the region during the insurgency.
Apart from Lakhimpur Kheri, the regions that were part of Mini Punjab were Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur of Uttar Pradesh and Uddham Singh Nagar district which is now a part of Uttarakhand.
During the 90s, agencies had arrested 12 individuals linked to BKI. They were lodged in Shahjahanpur district jail. After they were released, some of them stayed back while others shifted to Lakhimpur Kheri and Pilibhit. Some of them migrated to Punjab.
When the partition happened in 1947, several Sikh families who came from Pakistan were settled in Uttar Pradesh. The majority of these families got settled in Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Rampur, Sitapur and Bijnor districts. A couple of small villages comprised of Sikh families only. The land originally belonged to a local King, Raja Vikram Shah. When Sikhs came to UP after the partition, he gave up the land and donated it to the Sikhs.
Earlier today, Rahul Gandhi convened a press conference in which he said he is going to visit the Lakhimpur Kheri village, days after the violence erupted in the wake of an attack by ‘protesting’ farmers against BJP workers led to the death of 8 people.
Violence in Lakhimpur Kheri
On October 3, eight people died after BJP workers were attacked by protesting ‘farmers’ at Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. As per reports, a large group of alleged farmers had gathered in Lakhimpur Kheri to mark their protest against the three Agriculture laws enacted in September last year. Deputy CM was scheduled to visit Lakhimpur Kheri. The protesters went violent and pelted stones at BJP’s convey. One of the cars in the convoy lost balance and ran over the protesters allegedly killing two persons. After this, the farmers attacked the convoy, torching vehicles and killing people.
Several opposition leaders, in an attempt to exploit the situation, hightailed it to the village, to revive their political fortunes ahead of the UP assembly polls. Priyanka Gandhi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC leaders and many others proceeded to the village to politicise the incident and mount an attack against the Yogi Adityanath government.
