'Rights To Peaceful Assembly And Expression Should Be Protected Both Offline And Online' Tweets UN Human Rights Office

UN Human Rights office tweets and calls for a peaceful protest and maximum restraint from both the sides.

New Delhi: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in a tweet urged Farmers and authorities to "exercise maximum restraint"and emphasized that it is crucial to find "equitable solutions" with due respect to human rights for all. 

 

#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all.

— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 5, 2021

Since November 2020, thousands of farmers have gathered at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders in Delhi from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to pretest agaisnt the three farm laws that was introduced by the central government. The farms demand that that three farms be repealed. 

Today, the protesting farmer will block roads and highways from 12pm to 3pm to mark their protest against internet bans near demonstration sites and the harassment they face by the authorities. Due to the violence which broke out during the tractor rally on January 26th 2021, heavy security has been deployed into the national capital. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that no roads will be blocked in Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. He, however, added that farmers in these states have been kept on standby and will be called to the national capital for protests.

Though multiple talks have happened between the farmers and the government, they all remain in a deadlock as the farmers remain admant with their demands, so a stay of 18 months has been ordered over the laws. But the farmers feel that it is not enough as they want it to be repealed completely. 

After American pop star tweeted about the farm laws, international attention drew into the situation. On Wenesday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava tweeted on behalf of the government, a statement, in which it said "The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming." In a strong response to the remarks made by foreign individuals and entities, the MEA on Wednesday said the "temptation" of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments is "neither accurate nor responsible".