Politicians, Bollywood stars, cricketers condemn Rihanna, Greta Thunberg's tweet on farmers; many support

A day after international pop star Rihanna and environmental activist Greta Thunberg drew attention and offered support to the farmers’ protest, Indian politicians, Bollywood stars and cricketers responded by condemning their social media posts and putting out tweets with the hashtags ‘IndiaAgainstPropaganda’ and ‘IndiaTogether’. On Tuesday, Rihanna, using the hashtag FarmersProtest tweeted:

Soon afterwards, activist Greta Thunberg tweeted:

Following their tweets, the Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday said it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on the protests and derail them. The detailed MEA statement noted that the Parliament of India, only after a ‘full debate and discussion’ had passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector.

Hours after the MEA statement, a number of politicians put out social media posts condemning Rihanna and Thunberg’s tweets: Amit Shah tweeted:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted:

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharman tweeted:

Rihanna’s tweet didn’t go down well with actor Kangana Ranaut:

 A number of other celebrities also chimed in on social media, stating that citizens should focus on the government’s efforts to resolve the crisis. Sharing the MEA statement on Twitter, actor Akshay Kumar tweeted:

Ajay Devgn urged people to be wary of “false propaganda against India or Indian policies”.

Karan Johar, in a lengthy note, stated that the country should not let ‘anyone divide us’.

Suneil Shetty addded:

Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan tweeted:

 

 

Others, however, remained supportive. Actress-model Shibani Dandekar came out in support to Rihanna’s tweet by sharing it in her Instagram story. Celebrities such as like Richa Chadha and Hansal Mehta chimed in:

A number of celebrities and personalities from around the world added their two bits to Rihanna and Greta’s posts. Mia Khalifa, a former adult film star, questioned the internet ban around New Delhi:

Meena Harris, the niece of US vice-president Kamala Harris took to Twitter to express outrage over the internet shutdowns: