UK Labor politicians and others expressed shock at Boris Johnson’s mistake.
London:
The UK Foreign Office is closely monitoring protests by farmers in India, a government spokesman said today, clarifying that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had “clearly misheard” a question in Parliament when he responded with the stance. Britain on the India-Pakistan dispute.
The mistake occurred during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQ) session in the House of Commons on Wednesday, when Prime Minister Johnson reiterated that any dispute between India and Pakistan was for the two countries to be resolved bilaterally in response to a question from opposition Labor MP Tanmanjeet. Singh Dhesi on conveying the “anxieties” of British Sikhs about the ongoing protests against agricultural reforms in India.
A UK government spokesman said: “The prime minister clearly misheard the question in Parliament. The Foreign Office is closely following the issue of protests in India.”
Dhesi, who has been vocal about farmers’ protests against India’s agricultural reforms, had raised the issue of images of “water cannons, tear gas and brute force” being used against peaceful protesters.
“So will Prime Minister (Johnson) convey to Prime Minister of India (Narendra Modi) our heartfelt anxieties, our hopes for a speedy resolution to the current deadlock and agree that everyone has a fundamental right to peaceful protest? ” he had questioned Boris Johnson.
The British prime minister, in his short reply, appeared to be addressing the Kashmir dispute. “Our view is that, of course, we have serious concerns about what is happening between India and Pakistan, but these are preeminent issues for those two governments to resolve and I know he appreciates that point,” he had said.
After that, Dhesi, perplexed, took to social media and said that Prime Minister Johnson was “absolutely disoriented” and that many fellow Labor politicians and others joined in expressing their shock at the mistake.
Many were horrified to see the use of water cannons, tear gas and brute force against farmers peacefully protesting in India for # FarmersBill2020.
Everyone has a fundamental right to protest peacefully.
But it might help if our PM really knew what he was talking about! pic.twitter.com/EvqGHMhW0Y
– MP of Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (@TanDhesi) December 9, 2020
“The incompetence of this government continues. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has failed to brief the prime minister on one of the largest protests the world has seen,” said British Sikh Labor MP Preet Kaur Gill.
“It seems our prime minister (and former foreign secretary) doesn’t know the difference between Punjab and Kashmir. Why is that not surprising,” added Emily Thornberry, a shadow Labor MP and former foreign secretary.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has refused to participate in representations of British politicians seeking UK government intervention in the matter, stating that “the policing of the protests is a matter of the Government of India “.
Thousands of farmers are currently staying on Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in protest against the Agricultural Products Trade and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, the Farmers’ Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) on Price Guarantee and Agricultural Services, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
They have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them “at the mercy” of large corporations.
However, the government has argued that the new laws will provide farmers with better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
There have been multiple rounds of talks between representatives of the protesters and the government, but the traffic jam continues.
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