UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations stands for the right of people to “speak their mind and opine freely”, UN Secretary-General’s Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday, while replying to a question on the tough measures taken by Indian authorities against prominent personalities over their observations about the ongoing Indian farmers’ protest.
“I’m not particularly familiar with that,” he told his regular noon briefing in response to a question about the cases of sedition filed against Shashi Tharoor, a member of Indian parliament and a former senior UN official, as well as against a group of top journalists over their allegedly “misleading” tweets on the violence and death of a protester during the farmers’ tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day.
“What I can tell you is that the freedom of expression is a fundamental universal freedom and people should be able to speak their minds and opinion freely,” the spokesman added.
Mostly Sikhs from the states of Punjab and Haryana, the farmers have been protesting against a set of farm laws enforced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that they say would deprive them of their livelihood. No progress has been made in the lingering government-farmers negotiations as the crisis continues.
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