Indian government slams Rihanna, Greta Thunberg for supporting farmers’ protest
Tens of thousands of India’s farmers who have been protesting in the chilling cold for more than two months began to garner international support after US pop superstar Rihanna extending support to protesting farmers.
The tractor rally by farmers last week in New Delhi turned violent. Police responded by shutting down the internet, digging ditches, driving nails into roads and topping barricades with razor wire to prevent farmers from entering the capital city.
“Why aren’t we talking about this?!” Rihanna said in a Twitter post, sharing an article on the demonstrations with her 101 million followers on the platform, using the hashtag #FarmersProtest.
After Rihanna’s tweet went viral, climate change activist Greta Thunberg and US lawyer and activist Meena Harris, the niece of Vice-President Kamala Harris, youtuber Lily Singh, Lebanese-American model Mia Khalifa, and global lawmakers also showed support for the Sikh farmers in India who have been on a months-long campaign against reforms.
US House Representative Jim Costa also called the ongoing protest “troubling”.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg also posted a message of support on Twitter. “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India,” Thunberg wrote.
“We All should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters,” US lawyer and activist Meena Harris, the niece of Vice-President Kamala Harris, said on Twitter.
India slams the global outrage
Indian government slammed international celebrities for making comments in support of protesting farmers as inaccurate and irresponsible.
In a sharply worded statement, the Indian foreign ministry said “The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible.”
