Chandigarh: A group of 36 cross-party Parliamentarians have written to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and asked him to make representations to his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, regarding the impact on British Punjabis affected by the demonstrations by farmers against new agricultural legislation in India.
“This is a joint letter calling for representation to be made by yourself to your Indian counterpart about the impact on British Sikhs and Punjabis, with longstanding links to land and farming in India,” the MPs stated.
The letter, issued on Friday, has been drafted by British Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and signed by other MPs, including Labour’s Virendra Sharma, Seema Malhotra and Valerie Vaz as well as former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
It urges the minister to set up an urgent meeting with them to discuss the “deteriorating situation in the Punjab” and seeks an update on any communication the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has had with the Indian government on the issue.
The FCDO said the department has not received the letter as yet. “The police handling of protests are a matter for the government of India,” an FCDO spokesperson said.
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