Rihanna International actress, singer, and businesswoman posted a tweet in the support of ongoing farmers protest in India’s capital New Delhi, saying, “Why aren’t we talking about this?”.
Rihanna said in a Twitter post while sharing a CNN article on the suspension of internet access at the borders of New Delhi following the ongoing protest by hundreds of farmers continued for months against the controversial agriculture reforms introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Indian government.
The US pop superstar raised the voice for Indian farmers with her over 101 million followers on Twitter by using hashtag #FarmersProtest.
Rihanna’s tweet has garnered 197.6 thousand retweets, 417.8 thousand likes and 61.9 thousand comments so far.
The protesting farmers expressed gratefulness to Rihanna for her support and timely gesture.
The ongoing protests by Indian farmers gathered attention across the globe.
Climate and Environmental Activist, Greta Thunberg, has also expressed her support to the Indian farmers by sharing the same story, saying, “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.”
India had blocked mobile internet services in several areas surrounding New Delhi on January 30 as protesting farmers began a one-day hunger strike after a week of clashes with authorities that left one dead and hundreds injured.
Angry at new agricultural laws that they say benefit large private buyers at the expense of producers, tens of thousands of farmers have been camped at protest sites on the outskirts of the capital for over two months.
India’s interior ministry said on Saturday internet services at three locations on the outskirts of New Delhi where protests are occurring had been suspended until 11 p.m. (1730 GMT) on Sunday to “maintain public safety”.
Indian authorities often block internet services when they believe there will be unrest, although the move is unusual in the capital.
At the main protest site near the village of Singhu on the northern outskirts of the city, there was a heightened police presence on Saturday, as hundreds of tractors arrived from Haryana, one of two states at the centre of the protests.
Farm leaders said Saturday’s hunger strike, to coincide with the death anniversary of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, would show Indians that the protesters were overwhelmingly peaceful.