Farmers' protest: Two R's put government in spot on farm laws

As Rihanna's one tweet in support of farmers attracted huge support and other global celebrities joined in, Tikait's tearful video spread like wildfire on social media and within hours, thousands of people hit the road. It seems that the two R's - Rakesh Tikait and Rihanna - completely overturned the government's plans and put it in a spot.

Hyderabad: Pop superstar Rihanna took the internet by storm on Tuesday after she tweeted in support of the farmers' protest against the three new farm laws.

The protests that seemed to be fractured and losing its credibility after the Republic Day violence in Delhi was almost revived by a few tears of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, who in an emotional outburst, announced that he would rather commit suicide than end the protest.

Just like Rihanna's one tweet in support of farmers attracted huge support and other global celebrities joined in, Tikait's tearful video spread like wildfire on social media and within hours, thousands of people hit the road in Meerut, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and other parts of western UP to reach Ghazipur border and join the protesting farmers.

Interestingly, the Ghazipur protest site, which had started wearing a deserted look on January 27 with the police and CRPF asking protesters to evacuate the spot, saw re-energised farmers and supporters by midnight.

To quell the protest, security was beefed up at all the border protest sites.

Spools of razor wire, heavy metal barricading, layers of stone boulders and rows of concrete barricades lined the main roads at Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders.

Concrete slabs were placed across the roads to prevent the farmers from moving ahead while nails were installed so that protesters do not sit on the site.

However, the two R's - Rakesh Tikait and Rihanna - completely overturned the government's plans and put it in a spot.

Rihanna's tweet seems to have attracted global attention to farmer protests.

“Why aren’t we talking about this?!” the Barbadian singer posted on Twitter to her 101 million followers.

While the government tried all the means to diffuse the protest on the ground, it clearly felt lost to the reaction on social media for posts of global leaders and celebrities, even though it tried to get some accounts blocked.

What followed was highly unusual: the MEA issued a statement, slamming foreign individuals and entities for comments on the ongoing farmer protests.

The Ministry of External Affairs said it was “unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them.”

“Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible,” said the ministry in a statement.

The MEA’s statement also had two social media hashtags: “#IndiaTogether” and “#IndiaAgainstPropaganda” which was then used by most Indian Bollywood celebrities and other leaders.

Many Indian celebrities used the hashtag and posted about the issue, urging people not to fall for any "propaganda".

After Rihanna's tweet, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and lawyer-author Meena Harris, niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, also came out on social media in support of the farmers' protest.

From concrete barriers on the borders to suspending the internet, the government tried to manage the protests but it had gone out of hand already.

The statement issued by the ministry of external affairs instead of managing the issue seemed to have backfired with many citizens wondering if there was a need for the government to respond to an individual's opinion when it had not done so over comments by elected lawmakers in different parts of the world.

Reacting to the external affairs ministry’s statement, retired diplomat KC Singh tweeted: “As a former spokesman of MEA I feel sad at its lack of accuracy. It has obviously been drafted elsewhere & issued under instructions.”

Many observers, as well as politicians, criticised the government's stand that it was India's "internal matter".

Political analyst and writer Tavleen Singh said: "If the Government of India condemns the coup in Myanmar would it be interference in that country’s internal affairs? Indian celebrities who spoke out against Rihanna must ask themselves this question."

It went further south after the media reported that an FIR had been registered against the climate activist Greta, but the Delhi Police clarified that the complaint was filed against the creators of the toolkit on farmers protest which was shared by her.

The backlash has left many thinking whether the government's swift response to the tweets was needed at all?

At a time when India is fighting global criticism over its rising incidents of communal violence against minorities, laws like CAA and NRC, sedition cases on students, it could have surely done without the global scrutiny on farmer protests that are not dying any time soon.