An alliance of various diaspora organisations has demanded the repeal of the three agricultural laws that have caused unrest in the country's farming community, even as the Delhi Police filed a case against the creators of a 'toolkit' shared on social media that gave tips on organising protests globally.
Global Indian Progressive Alliance, which represents a group of diaspora organisations from across the world, demanded that the Indian government recognise the right to peaceful protest, and acknowledge the peaceful protests outside Delhi for the last 60 plus days and of prior farmer protests across the country.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has filed an FIR in connection with a 'toolkit' containing information on how to back the farmers protests, not against teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg as had been widely reported.
Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner of Police (CP), Delhi Police, today evening said, "We haven't named anybody in the FIR, it's only against the creators of toolkit which is a matter of investigation & Delhi Police will be investigating that case."
The controversial document was tweeted out by, among others, Thunberg. She deleted that tweet and later reposted an updated version of the toolkit. Soon after the FIR was filed, Thunberg also took to Twitter to write that she would still support the farmers’ “peaceful protest” regardless of hate and threats.
The FIR has been registered under IPC Section 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy).
India has called the remarks by foreign leaders and organisations on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted", asserting that the matter pertains to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
"India and the US are both vibrant democracies with shared values," Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava in the MEA's virtual media briefing stated. "Internet access was suspended to prevent further violence."
International attention on the farmers’ protest in India has been growing over the past two days following a tweet by pop singer Rihanna and the reactions it triggered from other celebrities, including Indian-origin comedians Hasan Minhaj and Lilly Singh as well as US Vice-President Kamala Harris' niece Meena Harris.
While observing that there needs to be a resolution to the farmer crisis in India through dialogue, the United States welcomed India’s efforts towards agricultural reforms.
A US State Department spokesperson today said, “We recognise that peaceful protests are a hallmark of any thriving democracy, and note that the Indian Supreme Court has stated the same. We encourage that any differences between the parties be resolved through dialogue.”
