On Tuesday Rihanna had shocked Indians by tweeting about the ongoing months-long farmer protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agricultural reforms. For more than two months, thousands of farmers have blocked all the roads leading into New Delhi.
Last week, the farmers held a tractor rally that turned violent in New Delhi. In response, police have shut down the internet, dug ditches, put driving nails into roads, and topping barricades with razor wire to stop farmers from entering the capital city.
Taking to Twitter, Bad Girl RiRi raised the issue by sharing an article on the farmer’s protest. She wrote,
“Why aren’t we talking about this?!”
Climate activist Greta Thunberg, who also expressed solidarity with the farmers and shared the same article on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Moreover, US Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris also showed her support to the protest, writing
“We ALL should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters.”
Similarly, Mia Khalifa also talked about the farmers’ protest and wrote,
“Paid actors,” huh? Quite the casting director, I hope they’re not overlooked during awards season. I stand with the farmers”
The Indian foreign ministry said in an official statement that the celebrities needed “a proper understanding of the issues”.
“The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible,” read the statement, with the hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.
“We would like to emphasize that these protests must be seen in the context of India’s democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the Government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse,” it added.
Meanwhile, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, who is a Modi supporter, backfire at Rihana and called the protesting farmers “terrorists” and the singer a “fool”. She also called Greta a “dumb and spoilt brat.”
It should be noted that in India, the government of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had introduced agrarian reforms against which thousands of farmers had started marching towards the capital of New Delhi.
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