JALANDHAR/BATHINDA: Punjabi diaspora held protests at several places in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Australia and New Zealand on Sunday in support of farmers’ agitation at the Delhi border. All protests were peaceful, barring the one in a Sydney suburb, where a small scuffle broke out when some persons started raising competitive slogans in front of Punjabi protesters in Quaker Hill. Video clips of the incident reveal a minor clash between the two groups before the protesters chased away the other side.
In the US, a protest was held outside the Indian consulate in San Francisco, California. A car rally started from Oakland, where Punjabis from different places had converged, to San Francisco, disrupting traffic on route as the caravan was a few kilometers long. Protests were also held in Marysville, Washington, in New York, in Indiana and in Dallas.
In Canada, protests were held in Abbotsford, Brampton, Regina Saskatchewan, Surrey, Mission BC, Montreal, Ottawa and in London city of Ontario. The protesters carried placards and raised slogans in support of the Indian farmers. They also carried pictures of some protesting farmers who were injured when the Haryana police used force to stop their march from Punjab to Delhi on November 25 and 26.
“A big car rally was organised at Brampton in support of the farmers’ peaceful agitation in India. The call was given jointly by organisations - Sarokaran de Awaz, Alliance of Progressive Canadians, Indo-Canadian Workers Association, North-American Tarksheel Society in Ontario, GTA West Club, Communist Party of Canada, and Desh Bhagat Sports Cultural Society, Brampton. More than 800 cars took part in the rally was held on the Bovaird Drive – a 7km stretch from Brampton Soccer Centre to car parking of the Indian Passport Office, Brampton. A large number of protesters stood by the road, holding placards in support of farmers’ agitation and calling for repeal of the three new agriculture laws. They also slammed the use of water cannons and lathis on farmers to suppress their peaceful demonstrations in Punjab and Haryana,” said Hardeep Singh and Harbans Singh of Sarokaran-de-Awaz.
The protest in Auckland, New Zealand, witnessed a turnout of a few thousand Punjabi men, women and even children. In almost all protests, slogans of ‘Kisan-Mazdoor’ unity were raised.
Protests outside India had started a few days back but these picked up pace over the weekend and also had more participants.
Meanwhile, a few Punjabi netizens from diaspora suggested that in the days to come, people could just stand by the traffic lights on transactions near their houses with placards in their hands so as not to disturb vehicular movement and yet show their support to the farmers issue to thousands of people in other countries.