Harbir Virk

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Implementing drastic policy changes without regard for democratic process is, however, the new norm in Mr. Modi's government.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

The Indian government suspended internet access for millions of people, and it has cut off electricity and bathroom access for protest camps.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

This government Of India has already shown a willingness to unilaterally enact sweeping policy changes that expose its most vulnerable people to potential disaster.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Human rights are universal ... The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental human right.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

The Indian government forced through a series of laws that could enrich a few corporations while impoverishing millions.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

The Dehli police beat protesters while they slept on the streets, and right-wing nationalists have used violence to disrupt farmers protest sites.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

The farmers protest has struck a chord in the UK, as well as the US and Canada, all of which are home to substantial Indian communities.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

This farmers protest is about human rights violations as well.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

The BJP's increasingly authoritarian bent is blatantly on display in how it has reacted to the largely peaceful farmer protests.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

In India... Cash bribes to voters are also widely thought to influence the voting choices of the poorest and most vulnerable voters.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Three-quarters of rural Indian women work in agriculture, a sector that has been left behind in the three-decade boom ushered in by the country’s economic liberalization.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Supporting the farmers protests from abroad are able to speak out without fear of direct punishment. But there is still opposition.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

The farmers protest began when the Indian government passed three laws in September 2020 which, broadly, opened up the agricultural market to privatization.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Journalists like Mandeep Punia are being picked up and detained by Dehli police.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Even Twitter has bowed to indian government pressure by suspending the accounts of journalists, protesters, sympathizers and opposition politicians; while some of these accounts were later restored.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

India's farmers have been camped outside Delhi for most of winter, and many have died in the extreme conditions.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Whatever your opinion on India's farm laws, you can have a healthy discussion. But then when a government of a democratic country takes steps that are unjust, it doesn't go well.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Farmer suicide, already a problem in India, has continued throughout the protest.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

One of the Anti Agri laws prevents India's farmers from being able to take companies to court if they violate contracts to buy farmers' products in any way.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers

[Harbir Virk @HarbirVirk2]

Tens of thousands of Indian farmers have been protesting in and around the capital, New Delhi, over new rules and regulations that they say could impoverish them.
#ModiChokingFarmersVoice
Salute to the farmers