Icon: enlarge
Hindu activists burn Thunberg and Rihanna posters
Photo: MONEY SHARMA / AFP
After climate activist Greta Thunberg and singer Rihanna expressed their solidarity with Indian farmers demonstrating against agrarian reform, Hindu nationalists protested against the interference by celebrities.
Among other things, they burned posters by Thunberg and Rihanna.
Thunberg shared a link on Twitter to a document that gives instructions on how people can support farmers.
She also wrote that she was still behind the farmers.
"Hate, threats and human rights violations" would not change that.
The protests of Indian farmers against the 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?"
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.
According to the Guardian, Thunberg's tweet made the Indian authorities aware of the instructions on solidarity with the peasant protests.
The document includes suggestions for hashtags and calls for protests in front of Indian embassies on February 13 and 14.
Party officials of the ruling Bharatiya Janate Party (BJP) said the document was "evidence of international plans to attack India."
The Delhi police are apparently investigating the creators of the document.
Icon: The mirror
height / AFP / dpa