To urge  the Leicester City/Leicestershire County Council to debate and pass resolution in the full Council against the violation of human rights while peacefully protesting Indian farmers against three anti-farmer laws in India!
 
In India, Millions of farmers from all over India are peacefully protesting to overturn the three anti-farmer laws passed by the central government of India.

On January 26th,  the situation became incredibly violent. Video footage  demonstrates that police and violent mobs are assaulting the peaceful protestors, destroying their living areas and treating these peaceful protestors with violence, injustice, and a complete lack of respect for basic human rights. The police beat protesters while they slept on the streets, and right-wing nationalists have used violence by using water cannons, tear gas and brute force on the farmers. The government suspended internet access for millions of people, and it has cut off electricity and bathroom access for protest camps. Journalists like Mandeep Punia are being picked up and detained. Protestors are fabricated in the false cases and hundreds are put in prison. In the last 5 months, over two hundred protesters have lost their lives.

Even Twitter has bowed to government pressure by suspending the accounts of journalists, protesters, sympathizers and opposition politicians; while some of these accounts were later restored, Twitter permanently suspended 500 accounts just last week after facing threats from the Modi government. The violent and sexualized threats against Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and Meena Harris for their online statements of support for the farmers reflect a pattern that emerges any time Modi's government is challenged.
 
In fact, this cause is now supported by trade unions across the globe including UK public, as over 100 MP’S and Lords signed the cross-party letter to the prime minister, given our serious concerns for the peaceful India. Over more than 100,000 have signed the petition to urge the Indian Government to ensure safety of protestors and press freedom.

The three laws passed by the state are openly anti-farmer and are in the service of the biggest of capitalist monopolies, both Indian and foreign. These laws will totally ruin the lives of farmers, who are already struggling to make both ends meet and many have committed suicides.
 
The withdraw of minimum support price (MSP) for the agricultural produce will force the farmers to sell to the private corporates at very low prices, wo will then store the produce for some time and then sell at exorbitant prices.
 
The contract farming will also be the corporate contractor, who can always refuse to buy the produce if the market price is lower than contracted price. The farmers cannot afford to take the big contractors to court.
 
Abolishing or diluting the APMC’s (agricultural produce market committees) will benefit the private buyers, who will not have to pay any taxes in their private markets.
 
The government is spreading lies that these laws will benefit the farmers and that they are being misled by the opposition parties. That is direct insult to their intelligence. It is a tantamount to saying that the peasants do not know what is good and what is bad for them. It is also trying to sow divisions amongst the peasant organisations by insisting on constituting a five-member committee to resolve the issues regarding these laws.
 
Refusal to withdraw these laws by the centre government shows that like all previous governments it is running the country in the interests of big capitalists. They should bring about change so that the interest of wide population is looked after, this system must be replaced with rules of workers and peasant so that they are the decision makers.
 
We request all the Councillors  to debate and pass resolution to write to the Prime Minister of UK urging him to raise this concern on behalf  of the UK public to the Indian Government  about farmers bills and reconsider approach. The farmers in India should be supported to grow organically and their democratic right for peaceful protests should be upheld.