Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum’s motion asking council to “stand in solidarity” with farmers in India, who have been protesting against what they say are repressive laws brought in by the Indian government, was passed without debate on Monday.
On April 6, McCallum issued a press release noting that “many residents of Surrey have family and friends in India who have been adversely impacted by the farming bill passed in their ancestral land.
“The changes affecting the farmers in India threaten their livelihood and their protests have been met with a heavy hand by the Government of India,” McCallum stated. “With April being Sikh Heritage Month in BC and also marking Vaisakhi, one of the most important celebrations in the Sikh faith, it is timely and fitting that city Council supports this important issue that affects so many of Surrey’s Indian community. I ask all of council to join me in this motion and show that Surrey stands in solidarity with the farmers in India.”
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For many months now Surrey residents of Indian descent have been staging street-corner protests and car rallies in Surrey and elsewhere in the Lower Mainland in support of farmers on the subcontinent.
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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