Updates: Kisaan protests
Earlier this year the Indian state implemented three new farming bills which were ratified in September. Ever since these bills were motioned, farmers across India have been protesting against them. No farmer representative groups were consulted regarding the creation of the bills and near all of India’s farmers feel they will lead to further corporate exploitation. After the Indian government dismissed appeals by farmers’ representative groups for the bills to be revoked, a protest march to Delhi was begun in late November.
Currently there is a stand-off as millions of farmers, farm labourers and their families occupy Delhi, stating they will not leave until the government revokes the bills.
Read below for the latest on this situation.
Internet being disrupted to censor info from protests
Indian government authorities have been accused of using internet reception jammers at protest sites such as the Singhu border into Delhi. This is believed to have been done to disrupt the ability of information to be spread directly from farmers on the frontline of the protests, as well as journalists such as Sandeep Singh (see tweet below).
Authorities in India have the right to block internet but this must follow a process which involves the disclosure of this action, as per the Internet Freedom Foundation of India.
Latest talks result in another standoff
The latest talks between farmer group representatives and Indian government officials took place on 5 December, resulting in little movement between the two groups’ positions.
A Sikh PA source has revealed at one point farmers stood with their fingers to their lips, indicating they had nothing more to say to the state, as their demand to have the farming bills revoked was already made.
However, rumours are circulating from government leaks that preparations are being made for one of the bills (Farmers’s Produce Trade and Commerce Ordinance) to be revoked, whilst amendments will be made to the other two.
Sikh diaspora hold rallies across the globe in support of farmers
Over the last week, Sikh community led rallies saw thousands take to the streets in London (UK), California (USA), Toronto (Canada), Sydney (Australia), Berlin (Germany) and beyond to show solidarity with the protesters in India.
Out of all the rallies, the London (UK) one arguably saw the most controversy, as police officers became aggressive in their policing of the event, prompting hundreds of complaints made online and within Sikh spaces. A video of a police officer turning around to punch one protester as he arrested another has gone viral and is expected to prompt a London Metropolitan Police statement on the incident, with various Sikh orgs filing complaints about the incident.
Biased media coverage issue prompts Sikh community reaction
As protesters in India have made it clear most of the mainstream media there is misrepresenting their position, concerns about coverage (or the lack of it) have also arisen in the West.
Canada’s World Sikh Organization has directly called for the community to complain en masse about biased unfair coverage from Canada’s national state media outlet CBC. This comes at the same time as India’s Editor’s Guild wrote an open letter condemning press coverage in the country about the protests. Read more on that here.
Meanwhile, many in the UK are wondering why national media are overlooking the historic and groundbreaking mass mobilisation of an estimated 10,000+ Sikhs from Yorkshire to Southampton into Central London, in a move which effectively shutdown the capital. Although Sikh PA can confirm there were short segments (under one minute) of news coverage on BBC London News TV, BBC London Radio, BBC Kent and BBC Derby, whilst longer talks on the issue were held by Sunny and Shay (radio London) and the BBC Asian Network, the lack of coverage is still “baffling” according to Sikh PA Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh.
“The protests right now in India may be the largest ever in recorded history. Estimates say 12 million protesters are in-and-around Delhi, whilst hundreds of millions of more farmers are protesting across the country.
“On top of this, the Sikh diaspora has led rallies in many of the world’s major cities on this issue. The type of protest we saw on Sunday – a car rally descending on the capital from Yorkshire to Southampton – is unprecedented.
“Yet, this has not made it into a single newspaper in print this Monday, nor is it on Sky or ITV news in any format, or even on the BBC website at all? This is baffling and warrants further investigation. Sikh PA has been regularly providing all these outlets and more with info on the protests. We will be requesting further clarification on the ignoring of this historic movement. Thankfully, the Sikh community is utilising social media well to spread information on this issue, although even there we face censorship”.
Hear more on this issue via Sikh educator Amandeep Singh here- https://www.instagram.com/p/CIf-qyzDkxF/.
Celebrities stopped from addressing protest crowds in Delhi
Celebrities including Punjabi megastar Gurdass Mann have been refused stage time and heckled by protesters since turning up to the protest sites.
This reaction stems from a long time indifference displayed by Mann and others to Punjab’s issues, as well as displaying support for notorious genocidal Indian state figures such as KPS Gill.
For more detailed and ongoing updates, we encourage following:
- Sandeep Singh, journalist and on-the-ground reporter at the protests
- Jagjit Singh, UK Sikh community figure liaising with protesters and Sikh activists working on the issue around the world
- Social Media Punjab social and political commentary informational and analytical page Saving Punjab
- KisaanEkta.co, a Sikh community independent media outlet focusing on the protests
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