Farmer's Protest Tweet Battle

Fifty characters. That's all it took international pop sensation Rihanna to break trends on Twitter. Her tweet was a simple question asking people why aren't they talking about the ongoing farmer's protest in India. This was enough for Twitter to go abuzz in India and abroad. While many have hailed Rihanna for speaking about the Farmer's Protest in India, some have been critical.

The tweet has garnered support from a plethora of famous personalities, like Greta Thunberg, Meena Harris, Mia Khalifa, and Amanda Cerny.

As the tweets went viral, the Ministry of External Affairs released a statement that reiterated its stand on the controversial laws and said that groups with “vested interests” are trying to mobilise international support against India. “The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible,” it said.

The tweets are notable considering on Feb. 1, Twitter temporarily blocked around 250 accounts and tweets of Indians who supported the farmer’s protest, or were reporting on it as journalists. A common thread among all the blocked tweets and accounts was that it criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The accounts have since been restored.

Back home though, very few Indian celebrities have voiced any opinion at all about the farmer’s protest. Most of the support has come from actors and singers from the Punjab region, who also joined the protests.

Some Bollywood personalities have taken to Twitter to downplay the protest. Indian actor Kangna Ranaut responded to Rihanna’s tweet and called the demonstrators “terrorists”. The utter disgrace shown by the National Award winning actress is being highly criticised.