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Image Credit - Global News[/caption]On Thursday afternoon, dozens of people were seen gathering in downtown Halifax to protest India’s new agriculture laws in solidarity with the country’s farmers.
The protestors were spotted down South Park Street, Spring Garden Road, and University Avenue as they were holding signs to raise awareness of what’s going on.
According to the latest reports, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has passed new legislation earlier this year stating that the farmers say could cause the government to stop buying grain at the guaranteed prices, and would thereby result in their exploitation by the corporations.
Manvander Kaur Dhillon, the Maritime Sikh Society treasurer said at the rally that these bills are not in favor of the farmers, especially the small farmers and the marginalized farmers.
These bills are actually in favor of the big corporations and the big businesses, so ultimately these bills would take away small farming.
On the other hand, the Indian government has insisted that the laws are a part of the much-needed reform in the agricultural sector and shall let the farmers market their products and shall also increase the production through private investments.
Moreover, Dhillon has said that society opposes the new bills and wants the government to take them back immediately.
Such protests in support of India’s farmers have been quite prevalent across North America in recent days.
This movement was reportedly sparked by reports of violence that were used against the protestors in India.
Mankaran Singh, a protestor in Halifax has stated that the farmers in Punjab have been protesting for the last two months but that wasn’t getting the required attention of the national media. It was then that they went to New Delhi, the country’s capital.
Singh said that it was a peaceful protest but the government played cheat tactics. As seen in recent days, they used water cannons, tear gas, and have also put up barricades.
The protestors have said that they want to let the farmers in India know that they have support from around the world.
The people who were at the rally said, that those people who were passing by, have been supportive of the demonstration and wanted to know more about the matter.
Arshan, who was an attendee, said that they were supporting them by going on Twitter and were also supporting them with the hashtag #FarmerProtest.
Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also took to his Twitter handle to show his support towards the Indian farmers protesting, during the virtual Gurupurab 2020 celebration.
Trudeau said in a video that the situation is quite concerning and that they all are quite worried about the family and friends of those farmers, as it’s the reality for many of them.
He also said that Canada shall always be there to defend the right to peaceful protest and that’s why they have reached out through multiple means directly to the Indian authorities to highlight their concerns.
The Halifax rally has reportedly grown to over fifty people by the late afternoon and those who attended said that their calls for change shall definitely reach the government.
