Source (DT) 07December : People have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and authorities need to let them do so, said Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for UN Secretary-General.
protesting farmers in India, spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said people have a right to demonstrate peacefully and authorities should let them do so.
The UN official was responding to a question on the ongoing farmers’ protest in India, PTI reported.
This comes at a time when India has called the remarks by foreign leaders on protests by farmers as “ill-informed” and “unwarranted”, saying the matter pertains to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
“As to the question of India, what I would say to you is what I have said to others when raising these issues is that people have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and authorities need to let them do so,” Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said on Friday.
Earlier in the week, reacting to the comments made by the Canadian prime minister and other foreign leaders, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “We have seen some ill-informed commentsrelating to farmers in India. Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country.”
The MEA added that “it is best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes”.
This comment of Tuesday was followed on Friday by India summoning the Canadian High Commissioner.
As per PTI, the government told him that the comments made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others in his Cabinet on the farmers’ protest constituted an “unacceptable interference” in the country’s internal affairs and these actions, if continued, will have a “seriously damaging” impact on the bilateral ties.
