International singer, actor and entrepreneur Rihanna caused a sensation in India on Tuesday after she posted a tweet in support of the ongoing farmers’ protest at the borders of Delhi.
Sharing a news report from CNN about the internet shutdown on the outskirts of Delhi in the light of hundreds of farmers protesting against the Indian government’s newly enacted farm laws, Rihanna tweeted, “Why aren’t we talking about this?”
why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest https://t.co/obmIlXhK9S
— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 2, 2021
The report shared by Rihanna mentions that mobile internet has been suspended at the border sites in Delhi where farmers have been protesting against the Centre.
Rihanna’s tweet on farm protests caught the attention of Indian twitterati. As of 10 pm on Tuesday, her tweet has garnered 28.8 thousand retweets, 6.2 thousand quote tweets and 63.6 thousand likes.
An hour after Rihanna’s tweet on the protest, she gained another lakh followers. While some supported her statement, others said she shouldn’t be speaking about the affairs of another nation.
Who is Rihanna?
Rihanna, a pop singer and Hollywood actress, has over 100 million followers on Twitter. She is best known for hits like ‘Don’t stop the music’, ‘Love the way you lie’, ‘Umbrella’ and more. She has also been seen in a number of Hollywood films including ‘Battleship’ and ‘Ocean’s 8’. She is of Barbadian origin and has her own fashion brand Fenty.
In 2019, Rihanna was named the richest female musician in the world by Forbes. According to the report, Rihanna’s net worth is $600 million.
When were internet services suspended?
On January 26, as India marked its 72nd Republic Day, a tractor rally being organised by protesting farmers in the capital turned violent, leading to protesters clashing with the police. In light of this violence, mobile internet services were suspended in Delhi’s border areas at protest sites, including at Ghazipur border, Singh border. Currently, seven districts of Haryana have also suspended internet services.
Farmers have been protesting against new farm laws by the Centre. The protests have been going on for over two months now with various farmer unions staging protests at Delhi’s borders, primarily at Singhu Border, Ghazipur Border and Tikri Border.
Farmers ‘grateful’ to Rihanna
Meanwhile, farmers protesting at Singhu Border said, “We’re grateful to Rihanna ji for her support, though we did not know who she was until this evening, our youngsters showed us the tweet just now and told us who she is. All the farmers from across the country want to thank Rihanna for supporting our voice and for the timely gesture she has made”.
The farmers’ protest in India has garnered attention across the globe. Earlier, Hollywood actor John Cusack had also tweeted multiple times in solidarity with farmers.
Source: India Today
