new delhi the indian government has slammed a debate held in the house of commons on press freedom and safety of farmer protesters in india saying it was onesided and packed with false assertionsthe high commission of india in london issued a statement immediately after the debate held in westminster hall at which 17 out of 18 british mps attacked indian governments handling of the issuesread alsouk mps blast indian government for failing to protect press freedomlondon the indian government came under fierce criticism in the house of commons on monday for allegedly violating the freedom of journalists to report on the farmer protests and the alleged use of brute force against protesters when british mps debated a petition on the topic which has garneredthe high commission of india has taken note of a distinctly onesided discussion among a group of hble uk parliamentarians in a westminster committee room in response to an epetition campaign high commission of india has been over a period of time taking care to inform all concerned about the issues raised in the petition we deeply regret that rather than a balanced debate false assertions without substantiation or facts were made casting aspersions on the largest functioning democracy in the world and its institutions the spokesman saidall issues raised are the remit of wellestablished independent democratic institutions in india for addressing the same it is also a matter of concern that once again comments were made to mislead the british indian community raising doubts about treatment of minorities in india alleged human rights violations in kashmir etc the spokesman saidduring the debate mps from both labour and the ruling conservatives condemned india for its treatment of farmer protesters and alleged crackdown on the press as well as internet shutdowns and arrest of activistsjeremy corbyn mp exleader of the labour party claimed that 250 million people were taking part in the strike which he described as the biggest ever industrial dispute in the history of this planetpokorigin labour mp tahir ali took the opportunity to launch a tirade against the bjp government saying i demand that the uk government condemn prime minister modi and the actions of his bjp government they continue to abuse the human and civil rights not only of farmers but of kashmiri peoplethey are cracking down on press freedom and political dissent censoring critics and blocking access to the internetboth modi and the bjp government are linked to the rise in violent religious persecution within india including attacks on muslims sikhs and christianslabour mp of pakistanorigin naz shah claimed because the protests have been dominated by sikh protesters from punjab the indian government have tried to silence their voices by marginalising the issue to one that affects a single community labour mp john mcdonnell said journalists are continuously being targeted by arrests and intimidation and falsely accused of criminal charges tragically the political leadership feels it can act with impunitythe high commission rejected all these claims saying foreign