Modi government acknowledges protests by farmers part of democratic process

With the agitation against the new farm laws continuing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government finally acknowledged in outreach to foreign audiences that the protest by the farmers is a “part of a democratic process”.

After ‘Khalistani” flags were spotted during the rally held in London on Sunday to support the protesting farmers camping on Delhi’s borders with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, the High Commission of India (HCI) in the United Kingdom’s capital alleged that the separatist forces are trying to take advantage of the agitation.

But a statement issued by the spokesperson of the High Commission also acknowledged that the “protest by the farmers” against the new agricultural laws is “a part of a democratic process” and a “work in progress” in the “functioning democracy” of India.

The HCI London also stated that its outreach to the organisations of the farmers to address concerns over the measures introduced to bring in reforms in the agricultural sector as part of the “democratic decision-making process” and “exemplifies the spirit of responsive government”.

A large number of protesters – mostly British Sikhs – from across the UK assembled on the road in front of the HCI at Aldwych in central London on Sunday, expressing solidarity with the protesting farmers in India.

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The rally was held, despite an appeal from the Metropolitan Police of London to avoid such gathering in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and to use other means to express solidarity with the protesters in India. The police arrested 13 people from the scene of protest for violation of the restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The activists of the pro-Khalistani Sikhs for Justice and Federation of Sikh Organizations, UK, were spotted among the protesters. Some of them were also seen waving flags of the organizations that support the secession of Khalistan from India.

A spokesperson of the High Commission said that it had soon become clear that the “gathering” had been led by “separatists”, who had sought to take advantage of the agitation by the farmers to continue the campaign against India.

Vishesh Negi, Minister (Political, Press and Information) at the HCI in London, said in a statement that the Government of India was in talks with the protesters and the dialogue was “still ongoing”. “Needless to say, it is an internal issue of India”, he said.

The High Commission had also “comprehensively briefed” the relevant interlocutors in the UK Government and Parliament on the “fundamental features of the path-breaking farming sector reform” initiated by the Government of India.

Thirty-six members of parliament of the UK recently wrote to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and asked him to take up with the Modi Government the issue of protest by the farmers in India. Some of them took to Twitter to criticize police action on the agitating farmers.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and three Sikh ministers of his cabinet also expressed concerns over the protest by the protesting farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana.