On the night of Sunday, January 16, members of the Indian Diaspora came together to denounce draconian laws of the world’s so-called largest democracy.   

To mark the 93rd birth anniversary of the towering US civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr., they burnt copies of the contentious Indian laws, such as Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) right outside the Indian visa and passport office in Surrey. These laws give police and security forces sweeping powers to suppress any voice of dissent.  

Since King had advocated for defying unjust laws while fighting against racial segregation, Radical Desi, an online magazine that covers alternate politics, gave a call to the public to come and burn copies of the UAPA and AFSPA that are widely being used to silence political opponents and torment religious minorities under a right wing Hindu nationalist regime.  

The participants raised slogans against the Indian government and asked for the release of political prisoners and rolling back of the repressive acts.   

They also held out signs bearing the pictures of prominent scholars being incarcerated in the Indian jails.  

Those in attendance were Radical Desi director Gurpret Singh, a renowned Punjabi poet Amrit Diwana, and independent social justice activist Tejinder Sharma.