Over the past month, you've probably seen or heard of the mass solidarity protests Canada's Sikh community has been carrying out throughout the country in support of farmers in India protesting their government's agricultural laws. Toronto alone has been home to at least three of those mass protests.
But what you might have missed in the chants and large gatherings is this Brampton family that has made it their mission to hold demonstrations every day, outside India's consulate in Toronto, regardless of the weather or on who joins them or not.
"I belong to a farmer class back home [ India] and came to this country in 1983. There's a big struggle, farmers' survival struggle going on in India. The laws that they passed will help the corporate culture to take away the bread and butter of the 88% of the Indian population which totally depends on agriculture," Ram Paul Singh, a member of Ontario's Sikh Motorcycle Club and a former Indian based farmer, said.
To Singh, consistency is the key to getting Indian diplomats in Canada to listen to their demands to get the Indian government to scrap its three new agriculture laws, passed in September of this year, that farmers claim will hurt their industry but what government officials say will create more opportunities by shifting the sector to a free-market based model.
Singh, along with his son, brother, and nephews, every day take time out of their busy schedules for the last 15 days and hold daily protests outside the Indian consulate in Toronto, hoping to spark a conversation with one of the consulate members and pass on a signed petition by Ontario's Indian community demanding action by their representatives.
"The government is not behaving in a mature way. Since [ Prime Minister Narendra] Modi came to power, there's been too much dictatorial elements happening in India. There are not taking it seriously. They think this people will just prolong this and they'll go away by themselves. But it's not going to get finished."
The youngest of the demonstrators is Sighn's 10-year-old nephew who skipped class to join his father, Bhupinder Singh, who once also worked as a farmer in India, in demanding for change.
Everyone in this group skips out on something to be here every day. Some skip out on their minimum wage paying jobs--neglecting their personal financial needs for the justice of their family members back in India who are in the heart of the protests.
"There was some renovation I was doing, setting up a house I already took a contract with. I had to meet my deadline, but I took a day off. I requested it from the owner. I wanted to express my solidarity and do what I can to show support," Bhupinder Singh said.
So far consulate officials continue to walk past Singh’s family every day, never stopping to speak to them or even take a moment to glance at their signs, according to Singh.
In fact, the last time the consulate commented on the matter was on Dec.11, through a Facebook post indirectly telling protesters they had their facts wrong, siding with the government's claim of the new farm laws being a needed boost to India's agricultural sector.
By: Niza Nondo
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