As India’s Farmer Protest continued on Tuesday in India against the new agricultural laws passed by the Modi government internet was taken by a storm as international support started pouring in. While most famous names in media and other fields in India have stayed Mute or have shown less to no concern for the farmers who have been living on the road for weeks which includes several national and regional farm unions, comprising many leaders, joining hands under the umbrella banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha. Some voices have come up in the support of the #farmersProtest in India . From academicians, independent journalists to some prominent left leaders.
On Tuesday the micro-blogging site twitter went abuzz when International Music star Rihanna mentioned India’s Farmer crisis and brought the attention of the international netizens to it. Rihanna who has 101 million followers on Twitter shared a CNN article regarding the crisis and wrote “ why aren’t we talking about this?!” also adding the hashtag #FarmersProtest to her comment.
why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest https://t.co/obmIlXhK9S
— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 2, 2021
This sent the social media site on a frenzy . With People appreciating the star for raising concern over this incident. While most of the buzz around the support was positive ,it drew a flak from the Pro Government sections of the social media. Famous for her pro Government stance and absurd statements Kangana Ranaut responded to Rihanna’s tweet by calling Rihanna a fool. Terming the farmers as terrorists
Following Rihanna another voice that came up in the support of the Farmers on the same day was Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. She extended her support to the farmers protesting on the borders of New Delhi against the three farm laws saying that she stands in solidarity with the farmers.
“We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India,” Thunberg wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.
https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021
Apart from these two some more prominent world names voiced their support for the Farmers India.
UK MP Claudia Webbe expressed solidarity with the Indian farmers.
“Solidarity to the Indian Farmers. Thank you Rihanna. In an era where political leadership is lacking we are grateful for others stepping forward,” she wrote along with sharing a screenshot of Rihanna’s tweet.
Meena Harris, author and niece of Kamala Harris the Vice President of the United States showed her support towards the agitating farmers as well. She wrote
“It’s no coincidence that the world’s oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault. This is related. We ALL should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters,”
Comedian Lilly Singh thanked Rihanna for speaking up about what she called a “humanity issue”, and affirmed that she stood in solidarity with the farmers.
American climate activist Jamie Margolin, too, said she stood with the farmers of India, and urged her followers to support their protest.
Elizabeth Wathuti, Kenyan environment and climate activist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative “The big picture here is that India must begin to value the lives and well-being of its own citizens over the potential economic gains for its nation.”
Global watchdog Human Rights Watch sharing Rihanna’s tweet on the farmer protests, wrote “The Government of India’s Prime Minister Modi is presiding over a dangerous regression in free speech rights in pursuit of its Hindu nationalist agenda”.
Indian Government was also criticized by many for detaining and manhandling journalists. FIRs have been lodged against many journalists for their coverage of the events on 26th January related to the Farmers March.
In response to this massive support The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement warning against the “temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments” about the government’s new agricultural laws. The ministry said that the comments were “neither accurate nor responsible”, adding that the protests were by “a very small section of farmers” in parts of India.