As more Western celebs and Extinction Rebellion back farmers’ protests, the UN Human Rights office calls for restraint

LONDON: American actors Susan Sarandon and John Cusack, the US fashion magazine Vogue and environmental movement Extinction Rebellion have joined the growing stream of voices endorsing and amplifying the farmers’ protests in India.


Sarandon, known for her roles in films like “Bull Durham”, “Thelma and Louise” and “Dead Man Walking”, tweeted an article on the protests, saying: “Standing in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.”



Cusack, known for his roles in “High Fidelity” and “Grosse Pointe Blank”, tweeted enigmatically: “#FarmerProtest #r #FarmersAreIndia”.

Vogue published an article on the protests with the tweet: “This is what’s happening in India and how you can help.”

The US celebs join NBA player Kyle Kuzma, American climate justice activist Jamie Margolin, US actress Amanda Cerny, Lebanese-American artist Mia Khalifa, former NBA player Baron Davis, journalist Lauren Frayer, British TV presenter Ranj Singh and Canadian NPD leader Jagmeet Singh in a video alongside pop singer Rihanna, climate activist Greta Thunberg and Kamala Harris’s niece Meena Harris titled “Roar of the farmers has gone global”. The video ends with “World is watching you #ModiGovernment.” Such videos were proposed in the toolkit that Thunberg deleted last week.

Farmers protest live updates

The teen activist has not backed down despite the media storm she created and retweeted a tweet by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday that said: “India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all.”

Extinction Rebellion, too, has written about the farmer protests on its Instagram account, saying: “The world needs to know that India is retreating from democracy, regressing at an alarming pace and rushing headlong into fascism. International focus on these protests may be the only thing preventing state-sponsored violence.”



Thunberg’s original toolkit promotes a Zoom call that Extinction Rebellion was to hold about the farmers’ protests on January 23 and an Instagram Live on Republic Day that Extinction Rebellion was to hold with the farmers at the borders.

Labour Sikh MP Preet Gill has tweeted a link to a website which appears to be a new toolkit for the farmers’ campaign. It gives links to five organisations, including Khalsa Aid — which is under the NIA scanner — to donate to. It lists templates of letters to send to lawmakers in the UK, Canada and the US, global petitions to sign, journalist and social media accounts to follow and its narrative on the issues with the farm laws.