Amit Shah to Jaishankar, Ministers Condemn Rihanna, Greta Thunberg's Tweets in Support of Farmers' Protest

Several ministers of the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday, in reaction to the Rihanna and Greta Thunberg’s tweet on the farmers protests, said that it was a part of ‘international propaganda’ and tweeted with hashtags #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.

This was after the Ministry of External Affairs released a statement saying celebrities tweeting on the farmers protests were neither accurate, nor responsible.

Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue said in a tweet: “No propaganda can deter India’s unity! No propaganda can stop India to attain new heights!”

His tweet was posted with hashtags – #IndiaAgainstPropaganda and #IndiaTogether – that were used in the MEA’s statement.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a tweet said: “Motivated campaigns targeting India will never succeed. We have the self confidence today to hold our own. This India will push back.”

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to Twitter, quote-tweeting the Ministry of External affairs statement on the issue, saying, “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.”

BJP chief JP Nadda said, “We stand together. We stand United against all attempts to malign India through propaganda and fake narratives.”

Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways VK Singh said, “Times are changing. Influencers on the digital media platforms have immense power when they talk to their followers. One must be mindful of that power and the responsibility that comes with it.”

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, and Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju said, “For 1000 of years India was defeated, occupied, looted & ruled by the invaders not because India was weak but there was always a Jaichand. We need to ask who’s behind this international propaganda to defame India.”

Union Cabinet Minister for Textiles and Women & Child Development Smriti Irani too tweeted the statement with the hashtags #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.

Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said, “It is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to derail the process & protests by enforcing their agenda. We saw this on Republic Day & are seeing it again when some public figures are making statements without ascertaining facts & proper understanding of issues.”

“The reformist legislation relating to agricultural sector were passed by India’s parliament after full debate & discussion. The govt has already held 11 rounds of talks with some farmers who expressed their reservations about the laws,” he said.

Bhupendra Yadav, BJP general secretary said, “So people on foreign soil read one article and tweeted against laws made in India. Would have been better had they educated themselves on the laws first. But that would be expecting too much from the liberal cabal.”

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs put out a statement saying that comments by celebrities tweeting on the issue were “neither accurate nor responsible”.

“It was unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them. This was egregiously witnessed on January 26,” the ministry said as it called out the “sensationalist social media hashtags and comments”.

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