The 18-year-old’s first tweet came on Tuesday night, soon after pop star Rihanna posted a one-line comment sharing a CNN story. “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India,” Greta Thunberg wrote, sharing the same CNN story about the protests and the government restricting Internet near protest sites. Today, the Swedish climate activist shared a “toolkit” advising people on how to show support for the protests. Delhi Police officers said it “exposes the conspiracy by an organized overseas network” to instigate the farmer protests.
Greta Thunberg’s tweets on farmers have been cited in a case filed today by the Delhi Police that alleges a “criminal conspiracy” and an attempt to “promote enmity between groups”. The teen climate campaigner, unfazed, tweeted that she “still” stood with farmers and “no amount of threats” would change that. Greta Thunberg’s tweets in support of the protests near Delhi against farm laws are among many posts that have drawn international attention over the past two days to the farmers’ agitation that began late-November.
The media, based on senior police sources, reported that the police First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Greta Thunberg. However, the police then said the FIR did not name her as an accused. The charges that the FIR lists are those of conspiracy and “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language… and acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.” Soon after the news emerged, Greta Thunberg doubled down on her views with a new tweet: “I still #StandWithFarmers and support their peaceful protest. No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that. #FarmersProtest.”
She had deleted a similar “toolkit” she posted last night with information on supporting farmers on Republic Day, which was last week. This morning, she said she was sharing an updated list, which included seven ways to back the agitation. She also suggested organising protests near the closest Indian embassy on February 13 and 14. Yesterday, the government, in an extraordinary and sharp response to the international tweets, warned against the “temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments” and said the protests were by “a very small section of farmers” in parts of India.
Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut went on a rampage on Twitter over International Pop singer Rihanna’s tweet on Farmers’ protest. On Thursday, the micro-blogging site took action against her by deleting some of her tweets. After Rihanna’s tweet, she called protesting farmers ‘terrorists’ and even got in a spat with Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh after he dedicated a song to the pop singer titled ‘RiRi’. She went on to call him a ‘khalistani’. Twitter said in a statement that Kangana’s tweets ‘violates the rules’.