Meena Harris, author and niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, on Wednesday became the latest prominent global personality to speak in favour of the protesting farmers in India.
She said in a tweet —
It’s no coincidence that the world’s oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault. This is related. We ALL should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters. https://t.co/yIvCWYQDD1 pic.twitter.com/DxWWhkemxW
— Meena Harris (@meenaharris) February 2, 2021
Harris further wrote, “Militant nationalism is just as potent a force in US politics as it is in India or anyplace else. It can only be stopped if people wake up to the reality that FASCIST DICTATORS aren’t going anywhere. Not unless: 1) we organize and 2) THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE CAPITOL ATTACK…’Unity’ begins with truth. ‘Healing’ is not possible without accountability. Stay loud. Accept nothing less.”
On Tuesday, international pop star Rihanna voiced her support to the ongoing farmers’ agitation while criticising the internet shutdown at the protest site.
The 32-year-old singer, who has over 100 million followers on Twitter, took to the microblogging site and shared a CNN news article headlined, “India cuts internet around New Delhi as protesting farmers clash with police.”
“Why aren’t we talking about this? #FarmersProtest,” Rihanna wrote.
The singer’s tweet gained instant traction on Twitter, with more than one lakh retweets and two lakh likes within hours.
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg also voiced her support for the farmers’ protest saying —
We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.
https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points since November last year, demanding the government to repeal the three farm laws and legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.
Security was stepped up manifold at Delhi’s borders on Tuesday, with the deployment of police and paramilitary personnel and the setting up of concrete barricades, razor wires and ditches.
With inputs from PTI