Indian farmers have the right to protest peacefully: UN

Tens of thousands of Indian farmers have camped for over a week on highways leading into New Delhi

UNITED NATIONS:

The United Nations (UN) on Friday said Indian farmers have the right to peaceful protests and authorities should allow them to demonstrate.

“People have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and authorities need to let them do so,” UN Secretary-General’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in response to a question about the demonstrations.

Farmers are protesting around New Delhi against new legislation sponsored by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The farmers say that the new legislation would curb their earnings and benefit big corporations.

After being refused permission to hold their protest in the heart of the capital, farmers have parked their tractors and trucks stacked with food rations, mattresses and blankets on heavily barricaded highways guarded by police. They are spending the cold winter nights inside their trucks or in the open – fully prepared for a prolonged standoff with the government.

In New York, hundreds of American-Sikhs staged a protest demonstration near the Indian consulate on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the general counsel of the US-based Sikhs for Justice (SfJ), Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, said in a statement that the New York rally was the start of a series of pro-farmer and pro-independence rallies outside Indian missions across North America and Europe.

The group has already announced $1 million in aid for Punjabi farmers who suffered injuries or damage to their vehicles in clashes with police as they marched towards New Delhi to protest against new farm laws.

SfJ said it would open 24-hour call centres in the United States, Canada, UK, France and Germany to take online applications from farmers of Punjab and Haryana to reimburse them for their losses and also to register voters for the “Khalistan Referendum” that the organisation plans to hold in August.