Farmers' protests blow into global social media war as celebs join in

NEW DELHI: The farmers' strike escalated into a full-blown war on social media cutting across international borders on Wednesday.


US vice-president Kamala Harris's niece Meena Harris, climate activist Greta Thunberg, US House foreign affairs committee member Jim Costa, YouTuber Lilly Singh, poet Rupi Kaur, rapper Russ, former adult filmstar Mia Khalifa, UK MP Claudia Webbe and a host of others poured out in support of the ongoing agitation after Rihanna's one-line post on Tuesday. "Why aren't we talking about this?!," the international popstar with a Twitter following of 101 million had written with the hashtag #FarmersProtest and a CNN report on the internet shutdown around Delhi.

On the other side, actors Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Suniel Shetty, producer-directors Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor, singers Lata Mangeshkar and Kailash Kher, cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan and shuttler Saina Nehwal posted tweets with the hashtags India Together and India against Propaganda that MEA spokesman Anurag Srivastava had used while sharing a statement.

"The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible," MEA said, reacting indirectly to Rihanna's tweet. The two hashtags had garnered over 759k and 821k tweets by 10.45pm and were the top trends globally around 10.30pm; #IndiaWithModi, was also among the top trends on the microblogging platform with over 262k tweets.

Rihanna's tweet made her the top trend in India on Wednesday with over 278k retweets and 634k likes around 8pm. The hashtag also drew 1.4 million mentions and reached the third spot on the global trend list at one point. Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh sang a song for her, which crossed nearly 560k views on YouTube just nine hours after its release. Through the day, Kangana Ranaut took several digs at Rihanna on social media.

"Don't fall for any false propaganda against India or Indian policies. It's important to stand united at this hour w/o any infighting," Devgn posted.



Mangeshkar also posted with the two hashtags. "India is a glorious nation and we all Indians stand with our heads held high. As a proud Indian, I have full faith that any issues or problems that as a country we face, we are fully equipped to resolve them amicably, keeping the interest of our people in mind. Jai Hind," she wrote.



Meena Harris, daughter of Kamala Harris's sister and a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, while drawing parallels between the Capitol Hill siege when Donald Trump's supporters attacked Capitol Hill, wrote: "It's no coincidence that the world's oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault. This is related. We ALL should be outraged by India's internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters." She also shared a picture of women farmers holding up a placard that read "Stop Killing Farmers". Harris's tweet had over 40k likes and was shared by over 18k people.

Tendulkar posted: "India's sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a nation." By 10.45pm, it had received over 153k likes and over 65k retweets.

Union home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and other ministers like Hardeep Singh Puri and Gen V K Singh, and UP CM Yogi Aditya Nath also used the MEA hashtags to tweet their support to the farm laws. BJP president JP Nadda posted: "We stand together. We stand united against all attempts to malign India through propaganda and fake narratives."

Greta Thunberg, who has over 4.7 million followers on Twitter, also shared the CNN article initially posted by Rihanna. "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India," she wrote. Her tweet was also retweeted by 92k people and liked over 226k times.

Replying to Thunberg, economist Shamika Ravi wrote, "The irony! Climate champion standing in support of farming practices that have led to poisoned land, vanishing water-table and the "cancer trains". India can definitely do better. India is trying to do better by bringing in long awaited farm reforms. Pls don't muddy the waters."

Other youth climate activists - Vanessa Nakate from Uganda, Jamie Margolin from the US, Elizabeth Wathuti from Kenya - all rallied behind the farmers after nine-year-old Delhi-based climate activist Licypriya Kangujam asked for their support.

Global watchdog Human Rights Watch used its official, verified handle to share Rihanna's tweet, while condemning the "politically motivated" cases against activists.