India has been the centre of attention since 2019 for all the controversial stuff. The introduction of CAA law, abrogation of Section 370, the Hathras rape case, and now the three farm laws. The country has been facing protests for more than a year, with the Chinese troops allegedly occupying the county’s land. But celebrities, government officials, and other pro-right wing supporters are more concerned with what a pop star tweets.
A tweet by Rihanna took social media by storm where she simply shared a news link stating internet shutdown in the farmers’ protest sites. Rihanna didn’t put forward any opinion, she just asked: “Why aren’t we talking about this?”
She was later joined by the climate activist Greta Thunberg and Kamala Harris’ niece, Meena Harris, Mia Khalifa, and many other celebrities who expressed their concerns over the plight of Indian farmers.
India’s Reaction…..Not So Positive!
After witnessing the massive reaction to Rihanna’s tweet, the External Affairs Ministry released a statement criticising the people, especially foreigners for their irrational or inaccurate facts. The ministry called it propaganda trying to malign India’s international image. Soon after this many Indian celebrities and sports persons including Akshay Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar, Saina Nehwal, Karan Johar, Sunil Shetty, and many more backed the government’s stance.
#IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda https://t.co/TfdgXfrmNt pic.twitter.com/gRmIaL5Guw
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) February 3, 2021
It’s weird how these famous personalities stayed mum when the students in Jamia Millia Islamia and JNU were brutally attacked, Kashmiris went through immense brutalities, and farmers protested or are still protesting in spine-chilling winters.
Misogyny At Its Best
Soon after Rihanna’s tweet went viral, the response on social media seemed divided. Some lauded her for supporting the farmers while a section opposed her, and called names on her saying that it’s India’s internal matter and the country doesn’t need the views of an outsider.
That’s not it, the pro-government and right-wing groups organised protests and burned posters and effigies of Rihanna and Greta Thunberg. This is a matter of ultimate shame and disgrace for our country where we let the dissent be silenced through violence and insults.
Hatred towards women is not something new. It’s been happening for ages and sadly, we, as a country have always normalised it. Whether it was the 2012 Delhi rape or Hathras rape case, we have always failed women. Women are body and slut-shamed on the internet. Something similar happened with Rihanna when trollers even appreciated her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown for assaulting her.
Disgusting, right? Well, that’s not it! Kangana Ranaut went one step further and called Rihanna a “porn singer”. A woman slut-shaming another woman is the saddest thing to see in these times. How are we ever going to invite foreigners to our country when we set such gruesome examples in front of them? Can we still say “Atithi devo bhava (the guest is like our god)” when we actually don’t practice this?
One tweet from an American pop star and the celebrities of our country highlighted their opinions, which were not really theirs!