- Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Radhakrishna N S
By Nadeem Badshah
BORIS JOHNSON has been urged to raise the plight of Indian farmers who have been protesting against new laws introduced by Narendra Modi’s government, when the British prime minister visits New Delhi next month.
Thousands of agriculture workers from Punjab and several other states have held demonstrations since last month in a bid to scrap the legislation, blocking roads around the capital with tractors and machinery.
Dozens of MPs in the UK have pledged their support to farmers over laws that they say would end the Minimum Support Price (MSP) which they rely on when selling their food to the market.
Campaigners have also hit out at the move to remove a cap on storage amounts for buyers and allow private firms to purchase produce directly from farmers and bypass the government-run market system.
Johnson is under pressure to raise the issue during his trip to India in January.
Indian police have fired tear gas shells and using water cannons to handle the protesting farmers.
Last Thursday (17) India’s Supreme Court ruled the protest at the borders of Delhi could continue and urged the government to put the controversial laws on hold.
Preet Gill, Labour MP and shadow international development secretary, told Eastern Eye: “The use of water cannons and tear gas against peaceful protesters is unacceptable. Enabling individuals to publicly express their views through peaceful assembly is a fundamental human right.
“The UK must stand up for democratic freedoms and work with our partners to protect and champion them.”
Labour MPs Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Apsana Begum, Afzal Khan and Imran Hussain have also raised the plight of Indian farm workers in the UK.
Earlier this month, Dhesi raised the matter during Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons. He said, “Many constituents, especially those from Punjab and other parts of India, and I were horrified to see footage of water cannons, teargas and brute force being used against peacefully protesting farmers. However, it was heart-warming to see those very farmers feeding those forces who had been ordered to beat or suppress them. What indomitable spirit and it takes a special kind of people to do that.
“So, will the prime minister (Johnson) convey to the Indian prime minister (Narendra Modi) our heartfelt anxieties, our hopes for a speedy resolution to the current deadlock and does he agree everyone has a fundamental right to peaceful protest?”
However, Johnson, in his brief response, appeared to confuse two separate issues when he reiterated the UK government’s stance that any dispute between India and Pakistan was for the two countries to settle bilaterally.
“Our view is that, of course, we have serious concerns about what is happening between India and Pakistan, but these are pre-eminently matters for those two governments to settle and I know that he appreciates that point,” said Johnson.
His response sparked a viral reaction on social media.
The issue has also led to car rallies in London, Leicester, Birmingham and Northampton in recent weeks to support farmers, although some critics have claimed that separatists seeking a separate Sikh homeland have hijacked the (farmers’) issue to push their cause.
The UK charity War on Want organised a signed letter by trade unions to express backing for the Indian farmers and supporting their right to protest.
Its executive director, Asad Rehman, told Eastern Eye: “The UK government should exert pressure on the Indian authorities to protect the right for peaceful protest.
“This is happening in many other places. The response to the Covid pandemic and wider inequalities driving these protests.
“The UK government should not wait until January to raise this issue. The UN has raised it. It is up to the international community to defend the right to protest and reject the response of authoritarianism.
“The proposals would hand over the agricultural sector to big corporate interests. So many rely on agriculture in India.”
Harmander Singh is a spokesman for the Sikhs in England think-tank. He said every civilised country allows its citizens the right to peacefully protest.
“From what has been in the media, the farmers’ protests have been peaceful and they have even offered a cup of tea to the police officers,” he said.
“Farmers from other states who are not Sikh are joining them because of the laws.
“No civilised country should be able to stop a citizen from complaining. It affects every family who has farmers.
“The prime minister is going to India in January. What everybody is saying is we have issues with countries with (bad) human rights records, so should it not be raised as an issue when we are doing trade together?”
The Indian government has maintained that the new regulations will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
Anurag Thakur, the country’s union minister of state for finance and corporate affairs, posted a letter on Twitter last week on “how India’s farmers will benefit from the reforms, how incomes and agri innovation will accelerate”.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the matter of handling protests was an internal one.
A spokesperson said: “The police handling of protests is a matter for the government of India.”
During a recent visit to India, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “Peaceful protests is a longstanding liberty in the UK but there is never any excuse for those who incite violence or foment terrorism or any other harm, whether in the UK or India. We draw that line very clearly.”
