The Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on February 5, took to Twitter while addressing the ongoing farmers’ protests in India’s national capital city and stated that the rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be preserved both offline and online.
The OHCHR on advocating non-violence and peace has requested ‘maximum restraint’ from both the protesting farmers and the government so that no loss of life takes place. The tweet stated – “#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.”
#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
International support for the farmers’ protest has been growing consistently in the past few weeks as several international figures like Pop Singer Rihanna, Climate Activist Greta Thunberg, lawyer Meena Harris and many more have tweeted/spoken in favor of the agitation.
Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry, said that efforts were being made by the Central Government to resolve the issue and reach an agreement which will in the end benefit farmers.
Quite on the defensive side though, the MEA struck down on the remarks made by foreign figures and stated that the “temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments is neither accurate nor responsible”, in an effort to counter the heavy backlash it has been receiving from both within and outside the country.
