Indian government and Rihanna embroiled in row after singer shows support for protesting farmers

Rihanna's tweet has been liked over 530,000 times on Twitter so far

Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

The Indian government and pop star Rihanna have become embroiled in an unlikely row, with New Delhi describing a tweet from the singer that drew global attention to India’s widespread farmers’ protests as “sensationalist”.

On Tuesday evening, Rihanna shared an article by CNN to her 101 million Twitter followers with the caption “why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest.”

why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest https://t.co/obmIlXhK9S

— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 2, 2021

Hundreds of thousands of farmers are occupying the streets surrounding New Delhi in the largest protests in global history. 

They pose the first serious challenge to the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by demanding new agricultural bills — which they say will decimate their profits — are scrapped.

As the number of protesters continues to swell ahead of a nationwide strike on Saturday, the Indian authorities have increased security at three main protest sites on the outskirts of New Delhi, adding iron spikes, steel barricades and hundreds of riot police to repel the protesters. 

With roughly half of Indians employed in agriculture, the farmers’ protests have enjoyed mass public support and Rihanna’s posts have been received mostly positively by Indians.

Rihanna’s tweet inspired other messages of support from other public figures for the farmers, including Greta Thunberg,much to the disdain of the Indian government.

There were deadly clashes between farmers and the police in New Delhi on January 26

Credit: Anadolu Agency

A Google trend search shows a dramatic increase in searches for the popstar from within India, particularly from the states of Punjab and Haryana, where the majority of protesting farmers are from.

On Wednesday, the Indian government responded to Rihanna’s tweet with a firm response, aware it had raised the farmers’ concerns to an unprecedented global audience.

“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,” read a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

“The temptation of social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible.”

Twitter suspended 250 accounts on Monday for 12 hours at the request of the Indian government, which claimed they had sent “provocative tweets” related to the protest.

The authorities are also pressing charges against nine journalists and one senior leader of the opposition Congress Party, Shashi Tharoor, for tweeting claims that a protester who died in Delhi on January 26 was shot. Delhi Police say he died after his tractor overturned.