Indian Government Strikes Back After Rihanna Tweets About Farmer Protests

The retort from Government in response to Rihanna’s tweet: Get the updates

Friday, 5th February 2021

Mere hours after a single tweet by singer and actor Rihanna on the cause of the protesting farmers in India, there was a vehement counterblast from a very rattled central government

After CNN’s report came out on internet cuts in several parts of the Indian capital on Tuesday, February 2, Rihanna posed a question on social media to her millions of followers, “Why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest”.

Soon afterwards the Ministry of External Affairs released a statement in condemnation of “celebrities and others” or their “neither accurate nor responsible” comments.  

Several top ministers and celebrities also tweeted in retaliation to “propaganda” that endangered the unity of the country. Various pro-government supporters trolled the superstar and even said she was doing so for money.

On the other hand, several Indians expressed their gratitude to the singer for getting global attention to this issue. There was also a track released in Punjabi in dedication to Rihanna, by a Bollywood actor and singer who called her “a pretty girl from Barbados.”

It has been months now that hundreds of thousands of farmers have been protesting three contentious farm laws, sitting in the biting cold along the borders of Delhi.

On Republic Day, the agitation took a violent turn when farmers taking part in a supposedly peaceful tractor rally, clashed with the police, sending the city in disarray.

Several areas of the city where demonstrations took place had their internets turned off, many roads were fortified, farmers were stalled from crossing the borders by laying down ditches and concertina wires. The crackdown was seen by many as gearing up for a warlike situation.

Criminal charges were also filed against several who took part in the demonstrations for violence. This included farmer union leaders, protesters and activists.

Other international figures also came back after Rihanna’s tweet with their posts. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg said she stands in “solidarity” with them and Vice President Harris's niece, Meena Harris, said “democracy was under assault” in India.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source:

NDTV