WEB DESK
The farmers’ protest in India has earned support from lawmakers in Canada and the United Kingdom. In the UK, a group of 36 MPs from across parties have come out in support of the agitating Indian farmers.
The group has written to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and asked him to make representations to his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, regarding the impact on British Punjabis affected by the demonstrations by farmers against new agricultural reforms in India.
These reactions came even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his support for the protesting farmers despite India’s strong reaction to his earlier remarks that Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protests.
Responding to a question on the farmers’ protest in India, Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said people have a right to demonstrate peacefully and the administrations should allow them to do so.
“As to the question of India, what I would say to you is what I’ve said to others when raising these issues is that people have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and authorities need to let them do so,” Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN Secretary General, said.
Meanwhile Opposition parties in several states also staged protests to express solidarity with the protesting farmers. In Tamil Nadu, DMK chief MK Stalin led protests against the farm laws, while in Bihar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took part at a protest at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has also announced to stage protests against the central government and express solidarity with the farmers.
Support for the protesting farmers continues to grow from people from different walks of life. On Saturday, several former sportspersons from Punjab including Padma Shri and Arjuna awardees left for Delhi to return their awards in support of the farmers’ protest. They are scheduled to return their awards to President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday.
“We have left for Delhi today and will join the farmers’ protest,” former wrestler Kartar Singh, who is a Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee, told PTI. “If we are not allotted a time to meet the President, we will place our awards outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday,” said former hockey player Rajbir Kaur.