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After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a public statement in support of India’s peasant movement, a heated debate has erupted in India about whether he has done the right thing. BBC News.
Many Indians, like the “liberal” Trudeau, welcome the measure; Similarly, a large portion of netizens advise him again to “stay away from the internal affairs of India.”
Many believe that since most of the restless peasants in India are Sikhs in Punjab, Trudeau made the statement for purely political reasons to win the support of Sikhs of Canadian descent.
The point, however, is that there is no question that the Indians are now virtually divided over Trudeau’s remarks.
Earlier Monday, while participating in a Facebook discussion on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, the Prime Minister of Canada commented that the situation was becoming “worrying” due to the ongoing peasant movement in India.
He also said that Canada will always support any peaceful protest anywhere in the world. Sikh members of Trudeau’s cabinet and other Sikh leaders of the Liberal Party were also present at the talks.
Within hours of the comments surfaced, India’s Foreign Ministry issued a counter-statement condemning the move, saying it was “completely undesirable” to sniff out the internal affairs of a democratic country.
Anurag Srivastava, a spokesman for the Indian Foreign Ministry, protested Justin Trudeau’s comments, saying that “the Canadian leadership should refrain from making such comments unknowingly.”
But many Indians began posting on social media in support of Trudeau’s comments.
Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer and activist on the country’s Supreme Court, wrote in a tweet: “I am very happy that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has opened his mouth in favor of farmers’ rights in India All world leaders must uphold democratic rights in all countries.
Prashant Bhushan also made it clear that he does not consider this issue to be an internal Indian matter.
I am glad that Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau has spoken out for the right to protest in a democracy and for the rights of our farmers. It is important for all world leaders to defend the democratic rights of people in all nations. Those who say this is an internal matter have been wrong
– Prashant Bhushan (@ pbhushan1) December 1, 2020
Some wrote that if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could go to the United States and campaign for President Trump, what did the Prime Minister of Canada do wrong by supporting Indian farmers?
Comedian Kunal Kamra tweeted: “Now, this time in Canada, the show ‘Howdy Modi’ has been canceled.”
Popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathi writes: “If France or Israel can support those countries in ‘internal affairs’ or if India can support the Baloch’s demand for independence, what is Trudeau’s fault here?
Many also recalled that India has repeatedly spoken out in the past on allegations of persecuting minorities in Pakistan or Bangladesh.
But almost all of India’s political parties, whether in power or opposition, view Justin Trudeau’s comments as “undesirable interference.”
Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said: “The way Justin Trudeau wants to use the internal affairs of India as food for his own politics is unacceptable.”
Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadda wrote in a tweet: “India has the power to solve its own problems. It is not necessary for the elected leaders of other countries to comment on these.
Ram Madhav, a senior leader of the ruling BJP, lashed out at the Canadian prime minister and asked, “Does Justin Trudeau have the authority to speak for himself for India?”
Canada has repeatedly questioned India’s agricultural policies at the WTO and was among the ‘most vocal challengers’ for India to exceed its rice subsidy in 2018-19.
My report @ThePrintIndia https://t.co/UoEJ4Qs5zh
– Nayanima Basu (@NayanimaBasu) December 1, 2020
Although there is widespread consensus among the main political parties on this issue, the fact that a large number of Indians support Trudeau has surprised well-known journalist and television presenter Bir Sangvi in Delhi.
“Justin Trudeau’s comments may not be more important than Justin Bieber’s comments,” Bir Sangvi wrote in her own column. But the way many Indians are reacting to Trudeau’s words is what worries me.
While many are now open to the peasant movement in India, many are reminded that Canada has repeatedly spoken out against agricultural subsidies in India in the past.
“Canada is one of the biggest countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) against India’s agricultural subsidies,” Nayanima Basu, diplomatic correspondent for The Print, told the BBC.
As much as India has the right to subsidize rice, India has subsidized its farmers much more under the guise of a minimum support price, a complaint that Canada filed against India in the WTO a couple of years ago.
However, the main demand of movement farmers in India at the moment is to maintain the ‘support floor price’ with subsidies for agricultural products.
Source: BBC Bangla
SA / JIM
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