News Analysis India

Tag: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

  • BJP leader JJ Singh criticises Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann over meeting with ‘pro-separatist’ UK MP

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: BJP leader and former Army chief JJ Singh on Sunday lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over his meeting with UK MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and said the AAP should clarify if it endorses the “pro-separatist and anti-India” views of the British lawmaker.

    Dhesi, a Labour Party MP, met Mann along with AAP Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha last week and reportedly raised several issues, including blacklisting of several Sikhs. “It is very unfortunate that AAP government in Punjab…is going the extra mile to welcome Labour Party MP Dhesi whose views are pro-separatist and anti-India. AAP owes an clarification to the country whether it supports his views on Kashmir and other matters which are against our country,” Singh said.

    The BJP leader further said Mann should disclose what transpired in the meeting with Dhesi and what commitments the AAP government in Punjab has given to him. Dhesi had criticised the Indian government’s revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

  • Farm law stir: British MP raises concern over NIA notices to farmers

    By IANS
    CHANDIGARH: British Labour Party MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has raised the issue of National Investigation Agency (NIA) sending notices to a number of people who are associated with the farmers’ stir in New Delhi.

    Asking a question to the Foreign Minister in the Parliament, Dhesi said more than 100 members of the House of Commons have already signed and sent a cross-party letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson about “our anxieties for the peacefully protesting farmers in India and we await eagerly his response”.

    “It is extremely concerning to hear alarming reports of harassment and intimidation by the authorities there who have started issuing notices to peaceful protesters union leaders and human rights activists,” said Dhesi on Tuesday.

    In reply to Dhesi’s question, Secretary of State for Foreign, Dominic Raab, informed that he understood MP’s concern and had discussed the farmers’ issue with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar when he visited India in December last year.

    Raab added “This is a government-led major reform reducing subsidies as a part of liberalisation process but he makes some important points about freedom of protest and the sensitivity.”

    Earlier, Dhesi sent a letter, signed by over 100 MPs and Lords, to the Prime Minister on the ongoing farmers’ protests, asking him to raise this matter with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they next liaise.

    The letter seeks to ensure that the UK Prime Minister reaffirms the importance of the right to peaceful protest internationally, has a full understanding of this important issue and asks him to raise this matter with the Indian Prime Minister, following the cancellation of their meeting in India, planned later this month.