Gangster-turned-radical Lakha Sidhana on Thursday advised agitating farmers to smear Colgate on their faces to reduce the effects of tear gas shells fired at them by the police.
In the 23-second video posted on X, Sidhana can be heard saying, "This is Colgate. I appeal to all the farmers to apply white Colgate to reduce the effects of tear gas on your face. It will help to reduce the itching and heat from your face.” The video, doing rounds on social media, is said to be from Khanuri border in Haryana's Jind.
Watch the video here:
Authorities on alert after Sidhana's video goes viral
Meanwhile, reports suggest that the presence of Sidhana among protesting farmers has put authorities (especially Delhi police) on alert as they have received intelligence that he has been allegedly inciting farmers to break the barricades and march ahead. Police personnel have been quoted saying that they have received a video going viral on Facebook featuring Sidhana trying to mobilise farmers and instigating them to use means of violence to break through the barriers.
In the video posted on Facebook, Sidhana said that the fight is not just about and limited to farmers’ demands, it is about the very existence of farmers. In the video, he said, “In a manner in which new laws are implemented in the country, it seems that the Centre wants to snatch farmers’s lands, water and everything that belongs to them.”
“Your history will be destroyed. So, now it is a question of our existence,” Sidhana added further. In the same video, Sidhana asked his supporters to provide JCB and other heavy-duty machines to protesting farmers to make them tackle the police. “We have to break the barricades and reach Delhi. It is the question of our dignity and existence. It is the question of our future generations,” said Sidhana.
Who is Lakha Sidhana?
Sidhana, during the farmers’ portest in 2020-21 was accused of mixing anti-social elements with protestors which had then led to violence. Authorities believe that this time, Sidhana has come back to take the place of the deceased Deep Sidhu.
One of the accused in the 26th January violence in Delhi, Sidhana is currently out on bail. He has earlier contested the Punjab Assembly Elections 2022 but lost to Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana. As per an affidavit filed by Sidhana during the Assembly polls, there were 14 pending cases against him, and in two cases, he was convicted.
