British Parliament’s Petitions Committee is likely to consider a debate in the House of Commons on the subject of farmers protests and freedom of press in India after an online petition attracted over 1,00,000 signatures.
The list of signatories for the e-petition also reflects a signature of Boris Johnson, in his capacity as a west London Conservative Party MP. But Downing Street insists that the U.K. Prime Minister had not signed the petition. Other signatories of the petition include Labour MP for Slough Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill among others.
The petition titled, ‘Urge the Indian Government to ensure safety of protesters & press freedom’ calls on the British government to make a public statement on the “#kissanprotests & press freedoms”. All e-petitions on the Parliament website that cross the 10,000 signatures mark require the U.K. government to make an official statement and any petitions that cross 1,00,000 signatures must be considered for a debate. The House of Commons said the government’s response to the petition is expected later this month and the debate is under consideration.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi had earlier issued a statement stressing that the Indian Parliament had passed “reformist legislation” for the agricultural sector. It stressed that “a very small section of farmers” have some reservations about and therefore the laws have been kept on hold while talks are held.
The MEA noted, “Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible.”
Meanwhile, the Indian Journalists’ Association (IJA) in the UK expressed their concern over the arrest of journalists covering the farmers’ protests and urged the Indian government to ensure the safety of journalists in the country.
They noted, “The freedom of press is an important pillar of any democracy and authorities must ensure that journalists are able to do their jobs – reporting accurately and without bias – however challenging the circumstances.”
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points since November last year, demanding the government to repeal the three farm laws and legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.
