Several Indian celebrities, including cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and a host of Bollywood stars, have supported the government after pop superstar Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg made social media comments about the months-long farmer protests.
Rihanna, who has more than 100 million Twitter followers, wrote “why aren’t we talking about this?!”, with a link to a news story about an internet blackout at the protest camps where tens of thousands of farmers have been since November.
More than one million people retweeted, liked or commented on her tweet, which India’s foreign ministry called “sensationalist”.
Tendulkar, cricket’s highest-scoring international player, led the Twitter riposte by Indian celebrities.
“India’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants,” he posted, using the same hashtags – #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda that the governing party’s ministers had been using in their tweets.
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli while tweeting with the hashtag IndiaTogether, highlighted that farmers are an integral part of India. “Let us all stay united in this hour of disagreements. Farmers are an integral part of our country and I’m sure an amicable solution will be found between all parties to bring about peace and move forward together. #IndiaTogether,” he tweeted. (With inputs from Al Jazeera)
why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest https://t.co/obmIlXhK9S
— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 2, 2021
