UK Parliament to debate on India's farmers' protest after petition crosses 100k signatures

As the farmers continue to protest against the Centre's 3 contentious farm laws, the British Parliament's Petitions Committee on March 8 at around 4:30 pm (UK time) will consider a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons complex on the issue of farmers' protest and press freedom in India after an online petition attracted over 106,000 signatures. 

UK Parliament to debate on ongoing farmers stir

Despite the fact that the list of signatories for the e-petition also reflects a signature of Boris Johnson, West London Conservative Party member of Parliament Downing Street on Wednesday categorically denied that the UK Prime Minister had signed the petition.

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Speaking about Press freedom, a UK government spokesperson said that media freedom is vital for the protection of human rights and journalists all around the world must be free to do their job and hold authorities to account without fear of arrest or violence. Stating that a free press plays a crucial role in our democracies, the spokesperson said that the government is putting their full weight behind this including through membership of the Media Freedom Coalition. 

All of this comes after the petition entitled "Urge the Indian Government to ensure the safety of protestors and press freedom" on the official UK Parliament petition websites crossed the 100,000 signature mark required by the UK government to make an official statement. Any petition that crosses 100,000 signatures must be considered for a debate. Later, the House of Commons said the government's response to the petition is expected later this month and the debate is under consideration.

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A House of Commons spokesperson said, "Petitions that receive 100,000 signatures will be considered for a debate in Parliament. Debates in Westminster Hall where petitions debates take place are currently suspended, but Committee will make an announcement on scheduling this debate as soon as possible."

Some of the signatories of the petition reflect names of cross-party parliamentarians including Indian-origin Opposition Labour Party MPs Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill, who have been particularly vocal over the issue on social media and most recently raised concerns over the blockage of "water, electricity and internet" to protesting crowds.

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Meanwhile, the Indian Journalists' Association (IJA) in the UK joined other international media organisations to express concern over the arrest of journalists covering the farmers' protests and urged the Indian government to ensure the safety of journalists in the country. "The freedom of the press is an important pillar of any democracy and authorities must ensure that journalists are able to do their jobs reporting accurately and without bias however challenging the circumstances, it said in a statement.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points since November last year, demanding the government to repeal the three farm laws and legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

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(With PTI inputs)