DOHL drums and bagpipes sounded in Scotland’s capital earlier today as hundreds of people joined an international show of support for India’s farmers.
Musicians played as crowds braved the December rain to stand outside the Indian consulate in Edinburgh’s Rutland Square. A convoy of vehicles had left Glasgow earlier in the day as Scots joined protests against new laws set to reduce the earnings of Indian producers.
Anger there has left roads around capital New Delhi closed in recent weeks as thousand of farmers take direct action at a bid to overturn the change. A nationwide strike took place last week and barricades were set up to stop farmers entering the city.
GLASGOW - EDINBURGH KISAAN RALLY AT INDIAN HIGH COMMISSION.#KisaanMajdoorEktaZindabad#Kisaan#IStandWithFarmers#ScottishSikhs@SikhPA @RanveerSP @sikhsinscotland @KesriLeharScot @PamanSingh @GSJohal85 @ScottishSikh @BBCScotlandNews @kapaterson @GurdwaraCentral pic.twitter.com/m0ZqS6nOrE
— #FreeJaggiNow (@FreeJaggiNow) December 13, 2020
The Indian government says the legal changes will allow farmers to sell goods to a wider market and improve their earnings, but opponents say it will do the opposite, unpicking a system that guarantees their income and making them vulnerable to big business.
In Scotland, large numbers of the Sikh community turned out for a rally in support of the farmers, heading along the M8 motorway to Edinburgh where masked demonstrators marched to the Indian consulate.
The vehicles massed at the Guru Granth Sahib Gurdwara in the south side of the city before heading along the M8 motorway. Demonstrators then donned face masks with their orange scarves to march to the Indian government offices.
Participants carried signs declaring “farmer lives matter” and “no farmers, no food”. All were asked to comply with coronavirus regulations such as social distancing.
Similar protests have been held across the world, including Canada and the Netherlands. Every Indian opposition party has backed the farmers and around 30 farmers’ unions oppose the changes, made by the government of Narendra Modi, whose trade minister Piyush Goyal has claimed the protests have been “infiltrated by leftists and Maoists”.
The Scottish action, which drew a police presence, followed similar action in Birmingham and London, where nine people were arrested for breaching coronavirus rules, with four attendees issued with fines.
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