What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
LAKHIMPUR KHERI: Nestled inside the winding bylanes of Nidhasan in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, press reporter Raman Kashyap’s home wears an eerie silence.
This even as a continuous stream of mourners visit his home where his family is in a state of utter shock.
Kashyap was one among the eight people who died during Sunday’s clashes between the farmers and BJP supporters.
The grieving family of reporter Raman Kashyap is yet to come to terms with the fact as to why he wasn’t administered medical aid first and was taken to the mortuary instead by the policemen.
Raman Kashyap’s family holds minister of state Ajay Mishra Teni’s men guilty of Raman’s death even as they believe that both factions were violent. They learnt about this only the next morning at 6 am, nearly 12 hours after the incident. TNI EXCLUSIVE: Ajay Mishra Rubbishes Charge On Son’s Presence In Lakhimpur Kheri Site, Says Sad Farmers Were Armed
Speaking exclusively to The New Indian, Kashyap’s mourning father Ram Dulare Kashyap said, “My son could have been saved if he was taken to a near by hospital instead of a mortuary. Neither he was taken to Tikunia or Nikasan.”
Raman Kashyap worked with the Madhya Pradesh-based Sadhana TV, had gone to earn his daily livelihood as a reporter.
My son left our home at 12 PM. There were two factions out there. One led by the farmers, other by the BJP supporters. The job of reporters, as we know, is to cover everything. My other son had gone to Nainital. It was my second son who informed me that there were clashes. He kept calling my reporter son on his mobile. His phone remained switched off. At around 6:30 PM, my son’s body was kept inside a hearse van and taken to mortuary in Lakhimpur. My son’s friend told me about this at 6 am in the morning
In fact, he had set out on this job barely five months ago. Before that he was teaching at a private school and also held tuition classes to support his livelihood.
His close friend Umesh Pandey held the same view, saying if Kashyap would have been provided medical aid first, he wouldn’t have lost his life.
“When we first spotted the body, it did not look as if there was any grievous injury that could have led to his death. If the first aid was made available to him at primary health centre in Tikonia, he could have been saved.”
In fact, Raman’s childhood friend Umesh Pandey insists that there weren’t any grievous injury marks on his body and that his life could have been saved if alert cops had swiftly rushed him to a neighbouring hospital in either Tikunia or Nidhasan.
Raman’s brother Pankaj spoke to The New Indian’s senior associate editor Pramod Singh at their residence about their humble background and the importance of Raman’s job as a diligent reporter.
Though the family owns 4-5 acres of agricultural land, but Raman was the only bread-winner of the household and through his job came the major source of income for the family.
Raman’s brother said he was living his dream but that could only last for mere 5 months.
A farming family like ours can only barely feed ourselves. He also wanted to tell the stories of hinterlands like all of you. He was happy with his social work during private school teaching but wanted to do more. I am not too sure how much he would earn. I recognised his work only through his bylines I saw on TV. Sadly, he could hardly live his dream for five months as a reporter
The 33-year-old reporter is survived by his wife, two kids including a two-year-old son Abhinav and 11-year-old daughter Vaishnavi.
Vaishnavi controls her tears but cant’ stop sharing her ambition to become a doctor, knowing it fully well that it was only medical aid that could have saved her father.
“I am in class six but I want to come a doctor when I grow up,” she quips, almost clearing the mist from the tears welled up inside her eyes.
