Link to Article: Rihanna Angers Indian Government with Tweet About Farmers’ Protests
The pop singer Rihanna has provoked the ire of the Indian government after wading into the debate over protests by farmers in the country, just as heavy police security and “war-like” barricades continue to be built up at demonstration sites around Delhi. This week authorities began cracking down on the hundreds of thousands of farmers camped out on the Delhi border since November. Police embarked on a heavy fortification of three camps in Ghazipur, Tikri, and Singh, erecting layers of concrete barriers, digging trenches, putting up barbed-wire fences, and cementing iron nails in the roads, in effect cutting off entry and exit to the sites.
Water and food supplies to the protesting farmers have been disrupted and paramilitary troops and police in riot gear have been deployed to all three sites. Access to mobile internet was suspended at the sites up until Tuesday evening after a government order. With the once busy Meerut-Delhi highway now resembling a high-security fortress, those at the protest sites said the intensified fortification was a sign that the government regarded farmers as “criminals”.
The farmers are demanding the repeal of three new agricultural laws they say were passed by the government without their consultation and which leave them at the mercy of big corporations. The farmers say the changes, which will allow big retailers to buy directly from growers, will mean the end of longstanding guaranteed prices for their crops and leave them vulnerable to the whims of big business.
In a tweet to her more than 101 million followers, Rihanna wrote: “Why aren’t we talking about this?!”, in reference to a news report about the heavy-handed measures being used against the protesting farmers. Several hours after Rihanna’s tweet, the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who has 4.6 million followers, also tweeted, saying: “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.” The Indian government appeared to be angered by the celebrity attention on the protests, and in an unusual step it issued a statement that did not directly mention Rihanna or Thunberg but criticized foreign individuals for “rushing to comment on such matters” without a “proper understanding of the issues”.