People have a right to protest peacefully: UN spokesperson

Authorities should allow people to exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully, UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ spokesperson has said regarding the farmers’ protest in India.

When Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, was asked about the farmers’ protest at a daily news briefing on Friday, he replied: “As to the question of India, what I would say to you is what I’ve said to others when raising these issues is that people have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and authorities need to let them do so.”

The reporter who asked the question also contended the farmers involved in the protest were being met with “repressive measures” and this had a bearing on India’s democracy. Dujarric responded by saying: “We want to see people have a voice in their lives.”

Trudeau was the first world leader to comment on the farmers’ protest, telling a Facebook video interaction on Tuesday that the situation in India was “concerning”. On Friday, the external affairs ministry summoned Canada’s envoy Nadir Patel and told him the remarks by Trudeau and Canadian lawmakers had the potential to “seriously” damage bilateral ties