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Rihanna: Support for protesting farmers in India
Photo: Samir Hussein / WireImage / Getty Images
Indian farmers have been protesting against agricultural reform for weeks.
Now pop star Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg have shown solidarity with the demonstrators.
The Ministry of Agriculture in New Delhi accuses the international stars of interfering in the planned structural reforms for Indian agriculture in a "sensation-seeking" way.
"Before quickly commenting on such matters, we warn that facts are determined and an appropriate understanding of the facts at hand is made," said a statement on Wednesday.
Very few farmers in India have any concerns about the reform, the ministry wrote.
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Protesting farmers in India
Photo: Hindustan Times / imago images / Hindustan Times
The protests of Indian farmers against the planned deregulation of the markets have been going on since November.
Tens of thousands of farmers settled in camps on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi.
Rihanna, who has more than a hundred million followers on Twitter, wrote: "Why don't we talk about this?" - and linked a report from CNN about a cut Internet connection in some protest camps.
Thunberg also got involved in the debate.
She wrote on Twitter that she was in solidarity with the farmers' protests in India.
In India, grain was previously traded in state-organized wholesale markets at guaranteed minimum prices.
After the reform, farmers should also be able to sell their goods directly to private companies.
The government argues that the free market will allow producers to make higher profits and that the reform will modernize agriculture.
The farmers, on the other hand, fear a drop in prices because they would be in a bad position in negotiations with the agricultural corporations.
The Indian government threatened the short message service Twitter with fines for releasing 250 accounts and many tweets that had previously been blocked.
The company said it would have to follow government orders.
India is the most populous democracy in the world, but regularly uses internet lockdowns to curb the flow of information during civil unrest.
Agriculture contributes around 15 percent to Indian economic output and is the livelihood for around 60 percent of the country's more than 1.3 billion inhabitants.
Many farmers in India have money problems.
Talks between farmers and government representatives had not yet led to an agreement.
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bbr / AFP / dpa