The ongoing farmers' protest began in September 2020 due to the fury and resentment against the three central farm legislation passed by the government. On 26th January, thousands of protestors stormed the Red Fort which resulted in violent clashes between the police and the farmers. Several on both sides were injured and a farmer died due to a tractor being overturned, although his family believes he was shot.
After the bedlam that arose on Republic Day with the tractor rally, the government resorted to serious measures and cut electricity, water, and internet in several districts of Haryana, along with heavy barricades and barbed wires.
Despite the news being all over social media, there was not any international buzz until Rihanna’s now-infamous 6-word tweet. Rihanna frequently uses her platform to bring attention to various national and international issues around the world, such as the BLM, and Myanmar coup amongst many others. The reaction to her tweet was mixed with many thanking her for bringing it to international light while the rest concluded that this matter was not her business. The string of indecorous tweets was led by Kangana Ranaut who called her a ‘fool’ and a ‘porn singer’ and claimed that she was trying to divide the nation.
There were allegations that the Canada-based organization, Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF) paid Rihanna $2.5 million for the tweet. The PJF is also speculated to be responsible for the toolkit that was tweeted by Thunberg and later deleted. But the PJF denied these allegations and stated that they ‘generally encourage the entire world to share this issue’.
Coming back to Rihanna’s tweet that garnered thousands of likes and replies; her tweet led to international notice with many world-famous celebrities adding on. Greta Thunberg, Meena Harris, Mia Khalifa, Amanda Cerny, and Susan Sarandon were amongst some that brought the farmers' protest to their followers notice. These tweets too were faced with massive backlash with many mocking climate change activist Thunberg for supporting farmers, who they claimed were adding onto the issue of climate change. The United Hindu Front took this activism offline and into the streets where they burnt effigies of Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, and Mia Khalifa.
Following tweets by international figures, in an unusual move, the Ministry of External Affairs released a statement, criticizing celebrities for their apparent ‘neither accurate nor responsible’ tweets. Various celebrities such as Akshay Kumar, Saina Nehwal, Sachin Tendulkar, and many others also joined the ‘India Together’ drive for unity against foreign propaganda after Rihanna’s post. Maharastra has ordered a probe into these tweets stating that the celebrities had coordinated the move as the tweets were similar and timed. Moreover, there is speculation that these tweets were due to governmental pressure.
Regardless of the nation being on two sides over Rihanna’s tweet, what is unacceptable was how the narrative turned into attacking these women over their sexuality and personal choices. Rihanna was called a ‘porn singer’ and was attacked for showing skin with some even bringing up her past domestic abuse horrors. Mia Khalifa, in spite of vehemently bringing various issues to attention, was boiled down to nothing and her words claimed worthless solely due to her once being a porn star.
Adding on, Irfan Pathan posted a cryptic tweet where he highlighted that Indians did raise their voice when George Floyd was brutally killed by the police in the USA. In light of the claim by many that the farmers' protest is a national matter and does not require international interference, isn’t it hypocritical for the same to voice their opinion on matters outside of our nation? This war between the two sides is still active on social media, but the real issue at hand is the farmers' protest and hoping to set a seal on a fair agreement between the government and the farmers sooner rather than later.
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