Watch: Ahead of UK Parliament debate, Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn expresses 'full solidarity' with Indian farmers

Watch: Ahead of UK Parliament debate, Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn expresses 'full solidarity' with Indian farmers

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Saturday, March 06, 2021, 11:22 AM IST
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Jeremy Corbyn | File Photo

Former Labour party chief in the UK, Jeremy Corbyn, on Friday extended full solidarity with farmers' protest in India, asserting that they are on the right side of history.

"We must stand in full solidarity with the farmers' protests and strikes in India. They are on the right side of history," he said in a tweet with a video where he spoke about the protest.

Watch the video here:

The message by Corbyn came as the British Parliament is set to debate the safety of protesters along with other issues related to the protest next week.

Corbyn also mentioned a letter earlier written by his party's MP, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the ofarmers' protests in India, asking him to raise this matter with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. The letter was signed by over 100 MPs and Lords.

The letter, sent to Johnson in January, sought to ensure that the UK Prime Minister reaffirms the importance of the right to peaceful protest internationally, has a full understanding of this important issue and asks him to raise this matter with the Indian Prime Minister. The letter was written ahead of Johnson's planned visit to India on Republic Day, a tour he cancelled due to rising COVID-19 cases in his home country.

British lawmakers will debate the issue of press freedom and safety of protesters in India next Monday in response to an e-petition, which had crossed the 1,00,000-signature threshold required for such a debate, the House of Commons Petitions Committee had confirmed earlier this week.

The Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday Indian missions in the UK have made available facts about the three farm laws to the government, legislators and civil society of that country.

Asked about the development at an online briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "All our missions abroad work to provide right information on the happenings in India to the respective governments and people of that country."

"In this context, our High Commission in London and our Consulates in Birmingham and Edinburgh, they have made available the facts about the three farm laws to the UK government, UK's MPs and civil society."

Besides that, information is also being provided about the government's efforts to resolve this issue through a dialogue with farmer unions, he said.

Earlier in the day, British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, when asked about the debate set to take place on Monday, said what happens in India has ripples in the United Kingdom and gets debated as there is a large Indian diaspora.

He, however, asserted that the farmers' protest was India's "internal issue" and it was for it to resolve.

Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

The government has denied allegations that it was trying to put an end to the MSP and the mandi system. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured farmers that the MSP would continue.

(With PTI inputs)

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