36 cross-party parliamentarians are coming forward to support Indian farmers by tweeting. Plus, they have also addressed to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urging him to make representations with his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, regarding the impression on British Punjabis who are getting affected by the sit-ins by farmers against new agricultural reformations in India.
Foreign leaders and politicians called India s "ill-informed" and "unwarranted" on protests by farmers as the concern pertained to the domestic affairs of a democratic nation.
On Friday, the letter has been issued and drafted by British Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and approved by other Indian-origin MPs including Labour's Virendra Sharma, Seema Malhotra, and Valerie Vaz as well as former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the board has not received the letter as yet. As the spokesperson of FCDO said "The police handling of protests is a matter for the government of India,"
The letter from the parliamentarians is to urge the minister to fix up an immediate meeting with them to consider the "deteriorating situation in Punjab" and seeks an update on any communication the FCDO has had with the Indian government on the issue.
In the letter, it is written - "This is a joint letter calling for representation to be made by yourself to your Indian counterpart about the impact on British Sikhs and Punjabis, with longstanding links to land and farming in India."
Plus, "This is an issue of particular concern to Sikhs in the UK and those linked to Punjab, although it also heavily impacts on other Indian states. Many British Sikhs and Punjabis have taken this matter up with their MPs, as they are directly affected with family members and ancestral land in Punjab."
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Tuesday, reacted to their comments and said, "We have seen some ill-informed comments relating to farmers in India. Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country."
In a brief message, the ministry continued that "it is also best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes."
The latest invasion by British MPs follows Dhesi and other politicians taking to social media to express support for the farmers.
Lord Nicholas True, the UK Cabinet Office minister, responding in the House, denied writing a "broad denunciation" of any nation, replying, "Our values are democratic; they are very widely shared and practiced across the world. We wish to sustain that."
36 British MPs Seek Intervention In India's Farmers' Protest
