BritishLabour Party MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has raised the issue of NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA) sending notices to a number of people who areassociated with the farmers' stir in New Delhi.
Askinga question to the Foreign Minister in the Parliament, Dhesi said more than 100members of the House of Commons have already signed and sent a cross-partyletter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson about "our anxieties for thepeacefully protesting farmers in India and we await eagerly his response".
"Itis extremely concerning to hear alarming reports of harassment and intimidationby the authorities there who have started issuing notices to peacefulprotesters union leaders and human rights activists," said Dhesi onTuesday.
Inreply to Dhesi's question, Secretary of State for Foreign, Dominic Raab,informed that he understood MP's concern and had discussed the farmers' issuewith Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar when he visited India inDecember last year.
Raabadded "This is a government-led major reform reducing subsidies as a partof liberalisation process but he makes some important points about freedom ofprotest and the sensitivity."
Earlier,Dhesi sent a letter, signed by over 100 MPs and Lords, to the Prime Minister onthe ongoing farmers' protests, asking him to raise this matter with his Indiancounterpart Narendra Modi when they next liaise.
Theletter seeks to ensure that the UK Prime Minister reaffirms the importance ofthe right to peaceful protest internationally, has a full understanding of thisimportant issue and asks him to raise this matter with the Indian PrimeMinister, following the cancellation of their meeting in India, planned laterthis month.