Photo Source: Screenshot from Parliament debate
UK Parliament holds debate on farmers’ protest, raises question of human rights
New Delhi, March 9, 2021: Amid the ongoing deadlock between the central government and farmers over farms, the ongoing farmers protest was debated in the House of Commons on Monday.
During the debate, UK MP from Slough Tanmanjeet Dhesi asserted that human rights are Universal and that concerns everyone not just a country.
“Some supporters of governing party in India said that this is an internal matter. Foreigners keep your nose out of it. Well I can tell them why everyone is so concerned is because human rights are universal and the world in which they are held is in all our interests. Hundreds of farmers have died already, because of the freezing cold and because of ill health while protesting. For those of us whose parents and grandparents have been tilling the land of the Punjab, have a strong connection with the land and whose family and friends are involved in the protests. Imagine, our collective pain when we see scenes of tear gas, water cannon and brute force used against them. When we see them herded in the protest sites like animals, with metal barricades, barbed wires and deadly steel spikes installed in the road as if it was some sort of international border and not the outskirts of national capital,” said Tanmanjeet Dhesi in the Parliament.
Human rights, press and academic freedoms have been hard won.
They’re universal and must be cherished.
Request from an oversubscribed UK Parliament #FarmersProtest debate to Indian Government is the essential need to respect human rights, ensuring peace and justice for farmers. pic.twitter.com/EU9NfZcR30
— Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP (@TanDhesi) March 8, 2021
Similarly, Preet Kaur Gill, MP from Birmingham Edgbaston took to Twitter to share about the debate.
“Today, in the House of Commons, there is debate on farmers protest. Over hundred and thousands of people have signed the petition. I have written to Dominic Raab and the Prime Minister urging them to make their concerns known to the Indian government on the right to peacefully protest. I will be listening to minister’s response very carefully this evening. This debate also takes place on International Women’s Day and today women are at the forefront of farmers’ protest marching across the streets of Delhi. I stand in solidarity with all those women who are a part of the largest protest in history and one the biggest social movement we have seen,” said Preet Kaur Gill.
More than 100,000 people signed the petition on the right of #IndianFarmers to peacefully protest. We will soon hear the debate in the @HouseofCommons. After writing to Government on behalf of my constituents about this, I will be listening carefully to the Ministers response. pic.twitter.com/WeAoUXEeyF
— Preet Kaur Gill MP (@PreetKGillMP) March 8, 2021
It is to be mentioned that in January this year, around 100 UK MPs has also sent a letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson raising concern over the ongoing farmer agitation and asked him to take up the matter with Indian government.
Also Read: India calls UK lawmakers' debate on press freedom, farmers' stir 'one-sided, false'