Tanmanjit Singh Dhesi, a labour party MP in the British House of Commons has been tweeting and making strong statements about the farmers protests in and out of Parliament. Dhesi, who is of Indian origin, represents Slough, just outside London and the most diverse constituencies in all of UK. People of South Asian origin are among the largest minorities in Slough.

Dhesi’s statements have an angered the Indian government and this week’s debate in the British parliament on the protests and human rights in India, prompted the Indian Foreign Secretry to summon the British High Commissioner in Delhi to advise MPs not to speak about the internal matters of another country. In 2019, Indian Civil Aviation and Housing minister Hardeep Puri had said he wouldn’t have met Dhesi in India if he had known about the MP’s views on Kashmir. “I have been trolled and there are many fake profiles of me too”, he says.

In an interview to The Wire, Dhesi said “human rights are a universal issue” and the British Parliament had held debates on abuses in other countries. He says he has always spoken on such issues “and I have to also to represent the concerns of my constituents”.

Dhesi says it pains him and other Sikhs in the UK that when they hold Langars they are good and when they raise their voice they become Khalistanis