By Mayank Bhardwaj and Manoj Kumar
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Thousands of Indian farmers protesting against deregulation of agricultural markets are drawing strength from Sikhs around the world calling on foreign governments to mediate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Farmers, mostly from the Sikh-dominated state of Punjab, were encamped on the borders of New Delhi last month, asking Modi to cancel reforms aimed at bringing investment to the old farm sector, but which farmers say they will spare. large corporations.
Sikhs living abroad, most of whom have farm-related families at home, have taken to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, demonstrating outside Indian embassies to attract attention.
On Thursday, between 250 and 300 Sikhs and other overseas Indians attended a rally in a Melbourne district to express support for Indian farmers, said Rajbir Singh, who runs a small transport business in Melbourne. .
On Saturday, people of Indian descent plan to hold similar protests near Melbourne’s Victoria State Parliament, said Siftnoor Singh, a data researcher.
“The new laws will bring economic devastation to our homeland and we simply cannot close our eyes and pretend that everything is fine at home,” he told Reuters by telephone.
Farmers fear that by allowing companies such as Walmart and Indian company Reliance Industries Ltd to buy directly from farmers, the government intends to weaken traditional markets where their rice and wheat are guaranteed a minimum price.
Sikhs and other Punjabi Indians abroad are estimated at 12 million. They form a close-knit group and are vocal in expressing the concerns of the home community.
Since the farmers’ protest began more than two weeks ago in India, members of the diaspora have taken part in protest marches – mostly between 400 and 600 people – in nearly 50 different cities in the United States, United Kingdom , Canada and Australia, said the protesters and their families.
The government declined to comment on protests abroad. But stressing India’s sensitivity to what it sees as foreign interference in its internal affairs, New Delhi convened the Canadian ambassador this month to convey its displeasure after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said farmers had the right to protest.
“THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU”
“I have been approached by many concerned people of Indian descent, based in Victoria, to talk about this issue,” Samantha Ratnam, the parliamentary leader of the Victorian Greens in Australia, recently told State Legislative Council.
Farmers’ relatives and supporters gathered this month in the small town of Canton, Michigan, in the United States, carrying placards that read “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” and “Stay with the farmers.” Other protesters staged a demonstration in front of the Indian embassy in Washington.
In Canada, which is home to a politically influential Sikh community, people of Indian descent have vowed to step up their support for Protestant farmers in India.
“We are participating in regular protests to raise awareness of local authorities who can help us raise our voices,” said Amanpreet Singh Grewal, a resident of Brampton, Ontario, Canada. “We are committed to supporting Indian farmers.”
Many non-resident Indians (NRIs) own agricultural land in Punjab and fear the drastic changes that government plans will affect economically.
“Punjabi NRIs are concerned that if these laws are implemented and lead to lower crop purchase prices, it will lead to a substantial decrease in the value of agricultural land and annual income from land contracts,” he said. Avtar Singh Gill, 64, who is now settled in Punjab after four decades in the UK.
Mewa Singh, head of the NRI council in Ropar district of Punjab, said organizations like his representing overseas Indians help farmers mobilize people in villages, arrange transport for them and collect milk and rations to supply protesters sleeping in outdoors near Delhi.
Singh said his son, the manager of a basketball team in Houston, Texas, is leading protests there.
“We cannot allow Prime Minister Modi to take what we have earned over the years through hard work and political struggle,” Mewa Singh said.
In Britain, Sikh groups are influencing and have led British leaders to raise the issue with their Indian counterparts, even though the Modi government is throwing such involvement.
Jas Singh, an adviser to the Sikh Foundation, said the community had written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Labor leader Keir Starmer to lobby for their case.
“Concerned about the use of disproportionate force against many elderly protesters, I also contacted the United Nations to urge India to protect farmers’ right to peaceful protest,” said Jas Singh.
(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj and Manoj Kumar; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Raju Gopalakrishnan)