Authorities must allow people to exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully, said the spokesman for the UN secretary general, António Guterres, regarding the protest by farmers in India.
The comments came shortly after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government had relayed its concerns about the farmers’ protest to India, and Indian-born British MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi sent a letter on behalf of a group. from legislators to the Secretary of Foreign Relations. Dominic Raab on the subject.
India dismissed Trudeau’s comments as interference in the country’s internal affairs and summoned the Canadian envoy on Friday and told him that the comments have the potential to damage bilateral relations. There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the UN spokesperson’s comments or to the British MP’s letter.
When Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, was asked about the farmers’ protest at a daily press conference on Friday, he replied: Said for others, by raising these issues, people have the right to demonstrate peacefully and the authorities must allow them to do so. “
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The journalist who asked the question also maintained that the farmers involved in the protest were being greeted with “repressive measures” and this was related to democracy in India. Dujarric responded by saying, “We want people to have a voice in their lives.”
Thousands of farmers have been protesting for more than a week on the borders of Delhi against a set of laws to liberalize agricultural trade and open agricultural markets. The government is trying to end the protest through talks with peasant leaders.
Trudeau was the first world leader to comment on the farmers’ protest and said in a Facebook video interaction on Tuesday that the situation in India was “worrying.” He added: “Let me remind you that Canada will always be there to defend the right to peaceful protest. We believe in the importance of dialogue and that is why we have communicated through multiple means directly with the Indian authorities to highlight our concerns ”.
On Friday, the Foreign Ministry summoned Canada’s envoy, Nadir Patel, and told him that the statements by Trudeau and Canadian lawmakers had the potential to “seriously” damage bilateral relations. The ministry also said that comments by Trudeau, some cabinet ministers and parliamentarians amounted to “unacceptable interference in our internal affairs.”
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In another development, British MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi sent a letter on behalf of 35 MPs to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, requesting “an urgent meeting … to discuss the deterioration of the situation in Punjab and his relationship with the Center. “. Dhesi also asked Raab to make a representation to his Indian counterpart on “the impact on British Sikhs and Punjabis with longstanding ties to land and agriculture in India.”
Dhesi wrote in the letter that several British MPs had written to both Raab and the Indian high commission in London about “the impact of three new Indian laws on the exploitation of farmers and those dependent on agriculture in India.”
“This is an issue of particular concern to Sikhs in the UK and those linked to Punjab, although it strongly affects other Indian states,” Dhesi said.
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