Many Indian social media users have heaped praise on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as he didn't make a direct reference to the ongoing farmers' agitation in India, after being prodded by a Labour parliamentarian to comment on the demonstrations.
“… will the Prime Minister convey to the Indian Prime Minister our heartfelt anxieties, our hopes for a speedy resolution to the current deadlock and does he agree that everyone has a fundamental right to peaceful protest?” Johnson was asked by Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) with Sikh heritage, during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) session in the House of Commons.
Johnson, in response, stated that “we have serious concerns” about what is happening between Pakistan and India, referring to the decades-old conflict between the neighbours over Jammu and Kashmir.
“Of course, Mr Speaker and our views as the Honourable Gentleman knows very well, of course, we have serious concerns about what is happening between India and Pakistan but these are pre-eminently matters for those two governments to settle and I know that he appreciates that point”, stated the Conservative Party leader.
Even as Johnson was panned back home for “confusing” two different issues by members of the Labour Party, many social media users in India lauded the UK leader’s response.
The level incompetence shown here by PM @BorisJohnson is breathtaking. A question on farmer's rights and peaceful protest leaves the PM floundering. I mean what has Pakistan got to do with anything here? Well done @TanDhesi for raising. Look on your face at the end, priceless. pic.twitter.com/2FStaXJPnj
— Jas Athwal (@Jas_Athwal) December 9, 2020
Media reports in several international publications have picked up on Johnson’s apparent gaffe, with several commentators also lambasting the PM for his perceived lack of knowledge about the Indian protests.
On the other hand, Indian social media users have observed that Johnson “dodged” a question and avoided wading into the farmer protest issue.
Why are all politicians and leaders behaving as if the farmers protest is not taking place... Why dodge questions??@narendramodi @BorisJohnson #Farmers #FarmersPortests #India https://t.co/fLL00yVuak
— Srividya Karuturi (@SrividyaKarutu1) December 10, 2020
It’s not @BorisJohnson who is confused, it’s the Western media that remains either totally ignorant or vested in untruth for its own interests.
— Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) December 10, 2020
Khalistanis infiltrated into India’s farmers’ protests and Boris Johnson knows Khalistanis are Pakistani agents. He told the truth. https://t.co/dvVCzNsLzJ
Boris Johnson hit helicopter shot for Six on the Yorker bowled by K Sympathizer pic.twitter.com/XEOqDzu4kC
— Dhaval Patel (@dhaval241086) December 9, 2020
New Delhi has been highly critical of foreign leaders commenting on the ongoing farmer agitation, as it summoned Canada’s High Commissioner to India Nadir Patel last week to lodge an official protest against comments by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Canadian leader had stated during a video address to members of the Canadian Sikh community on 30 November that he was “concerned” about the agitation and stood by the “right to protest”.
Even after India raised formal objections, Trudeau refused to back down from his comment but added that he also welcomed the opening of dialogue between the Indian authorities and the farmers.
Indian Farmers Find Support in the UK
Even before the question on farmer protests made its way to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Labour MP Dhesi had been at the forefront of a campaign urging the UK government to take up the issue with its Indian counterparts.
“This is an issue of particular concern to Sikhs in the United Kingdom and those linked to Punjab, although it also heavily impacts on other Indian states”, Dhesi wrote in a letter to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on 3 December.
“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”, stated the letter, which was signed by 36 parliamentarians.
Thirty of the 36 MPs who backed the demands in the letter are from the Labour Party.
Earlier this week, a massive demonstration was also organised at the Indian High Commission in London to protest the new farm laws.
Indian authorities say that the protests have seen the participation of activists who have been demanding a separate Sikh homeland to be carved out from India, according to Asian News International (ANI) news agency.
Meanwhile, the protests against the two new farm-related laws, the Essential Commodities Act, 2020, and new electricity-related legislation entered the 15th day on Thursday. Four rounds of talks between the government and farmer leaders over the last two weeks have failed to yield a breakthrough, with the farmers saying that they would accept no less than a repeal of the new laws. The farmers have called for another nationwide strike to protest the laws on 14 December following the first national shutdown held on 8 December.
