To commemorate the UN Human Rights Day, on Thursday 10th December British Sikhs demonstrated their support for Indian farmers at a mass protest outside the Indian consulate in Birmingham. Over 100 cars were stationed in solidarity with the Indian farmers as they “protested” against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Agricultural Reforms Bill.
The protest was organised by ‘Sikhs For Justice’ (SFJ) and led by “Khalistani” and “anti-India” forces including Paramjeet Singh Pamma.
Dupinderjit Singh, UK Coordinator for Sikhs for Justice, in a statement said, “The farmers of Punjab have the democratic right to peacefully protest against the Indian Government’s damaging Agricultural Bills. On UN Human Rights Day, we stand together in solidarity with all Sikhs.”
In the meantime, it is understood that the UK Foreign Office is closely following the protests by farmers in India. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has maintained that the police handling of protests in India are a matter for the government of India. The government has also issued a clarification stating that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had clearly misheard Slough MP Tan Dhesi’s question in Parliament when he responded with Britain's stance on the India-Pakistan dispute instead.
Earlier at the Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) session in the House of Commons, Johnson responded to Dhesi’s concerns over farmers protesting in India by stating that “any dispute between India and Pakistan was for the two countries to settle bilaterally”.
The Opposition Sikh Labour MP had raised the issue of the footage of water cannons, teargas and brute force being used against the peaceful protesters.
He had asked Boris Johnson, “So, will the Prime Minister (Johnson) convey to the Indian Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) our heartfelt anxieties, our hopes for a speedy resolution to the current deadlock and does he agree that everyone has a fundamental right to peaceful protest.”
Johnson however, appeared to be addressing the Kashmir dispute instead, as he said, “Our view is that of course we have serious concerns about what is happening between India and Pakistan but these are pre-eminently matters for those two governments to settle and I know that he appreciates that point.”
Dhesi soon took to social media stating that Johnson was clueless as other Labour politicians joined the bandwagon.
“The incompetence from this government continues. The foreign secretary Dominic Raab has failed to brief the PM on one of the largest protests the world has seen,” said fellow British Sikh Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill.
Meanwhile, Emily Thornberry, Labour MP and former shadow foreign secretary, questioned “It would seem our Prime Minister (and former Foreign Secretary) doesn't know the difference between Punjab and Kashmir. Why are we not surprised?”
