Agricultural reform India’s domestic issue: UK

London: Amid the farmers protest against the Central government’s three new farm laws, the British government has asserted that the agricultural reform is a domestic policy issue for India but the United Kingdom will keep a close eye on the agitation.

“We will continue to champion human rights globally, and having the chairmanship of the UN Security Council this month is a part of that,” Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, informed the British Parliament.

According to IANS, Rees-Mogg made the remarks in response to Punjab-origin British Labour Party MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, who on Thursday was pushing for a debate in Parliament on the safety of the farmer protesters and on press freedom in India.

During the Business Questions, Dhesi asked, “Currently, the largest protest on the planet, the peaceful farmers’ protest in India has been ongoing for months now. Given our serious anxieties, more than 100 honourable Members signed a letter to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention. Well over 1,00,000 constituents, incredibly, from every single one of the 650 UK constituencies, have signed an online petition, including more than 3,000 from my Slough constituency.”Given those facts, and given the arrest of journalists, peaceful protesters and human rights activists such as Nodeep Kaur, who, it is alleged, has been tortured and endured sexual assault while in police custody, will the Leader of the House please facilitate a debate on this important matter at the earliest opportunity, just as we debated a petition in this Chamber last week?”