Protesting Indian farmers won global attention on Wednesday with prominent Western activists joining pop superstar Rihanna. They supported their campaign against agriculture reforms but India said the intervention was irresponsible.
Tens of thousands of farmers have been camped out on the outskirts of New Delhi since late last year. They are braving the winter to oppose new laws that they say will benefit big business at their expense.
The government says the reforms will help farmers and make their sector more efficient.
Indian farmers VS Modi govt
The campaign turned violent last week when protesters drove a procession of tractors into the heart of the capital. Some farmers confronted police, who responded with tear gas and batons.
Police have since heavily barricaded three main protest sites with concertina wire fences and obstructions on roads. They have shut off the internet in some areas.
“We ALL should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters,” US activist Meena Harris, the niece of Vice-President Kamala Harris, said on Twitter.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg also posted a message on Twitter. She shared a news report about the internet shutdowns.
Hours earlier, singer Rihanna created a flutter in India. She posted an article on the demonstrations to her 101 million Twitter followers, also using the #FarmersProtest tag.
Other world celebs also criticized India, Modi governemnt and Bollywood actors and actresses for not speaking the truth.
‘Go to Pakistan’ Trolls to Rihanna. LOL!
India said the foreigners’ comments were “neither accurate nor responsible”. Some supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government also hit back at the foreign comment.
Actress Kangana Ranaut described the protesting farmers as “terrorists who are trying to divide India” and called Rihanna a ‘fool’.
The angry woman of the Indian cinema also attacked Greta and called her a spoilt brat. She also slammed Mia Khalifa. Winks!
“No fancy activists will talk about genuine environmentalist our own grandma … but they will definitely promote dumb and a spoilt brat @GretaThunberg who is being used by [the] entire left lobby and in return she gets to skip her education and school,” said Ranaut.
And, came the trolls who linked Pakistan and ISI with Rihanna’s tweets. Some of them even asked the US singer to move to Pakistan. Well, she is anytime welcome here. But dear Indian trolls, do you have even some brans?
Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has appreciated Rihanna’s gesture of support for the farmers.
Indian farmers, infuriated by the laws that help large, private buyers at the expense of producers, have been camping outside New Delhi for more than two months.
Last week, hundreds of police guarded the historic Red Fort in the heart of the Indian capital following violent clashes between farmers and authorities in which one person was killed and at least 80 injured. However, coward Indian Policemen failed to stop the farmers and ran away to save their lives!
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