Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeTrendingMeena Harris says she won’t be intimidated amid protest over her support...

Meena Harris says she won’t be intimidated amid protest over her support to farmers’ protest

United States Vice-President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris shared a photo of a protest against her over her tweets in support of the farmers’ protest in India. She said that she spoke out in support of human rights for the Indian farmers and in response, she is getting criticism referring to a photo by Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui.

The photo depicted activists of right-wing organizations holding portraits of her before burning them. She added: “I won’t be intimidated, and I won’t be silenced.”Meena Harris had earlier said that we all should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters.

CNN media report on the Indian farmers’ protest on Tuesday was tweeted by international pop star Rihanna who has over 100 million followers on Twitter and since then several international celebrities and activists have been tweeting in support of the farmers. The international community has been criticizing the Modi government’s tacking of the crisis in the wake of the suspension of internet services by the Indian government at the protest sites and other moves aimed at crippling the farmer’s movement. Climate activist Greta Thunberg and YouTuber and comedian Lilly Singh have also tweeted in support of the farmers.

ALSO READ | Support from international celebrities pours in for farmers’ protest following Rihanna’s tweet

As the tweets provoked a backlash in India, the Indian foreign ministry issued a statement and called out the posts by international celebrities as irresponsible and inaccurate. Thereafter, several Indian celebrities, sportsmen, and other public figures including Sachin Tendulkar and Akshay Kumar tweeted with the hashtags “IndiaAgainstPropaganda” and “IndiaTogether” in support of the Indian government and appealing to their followers not to get divided on propaganda.

Soon after Meena Harris’ tweet, the US government expressed its support towards the Indian government’s agricultural reforms that open up the sector for private investment. The US State Department spokesperson said, “In general, the United States welcomes steps that would improve the efficiency of India’s markets and attract greater private sector investment.”

ALSO READ | Thousands of farmers gather near Delhi UP border at Ghazipur

Meanwhile, Delhi Police launched an investigation yesterday into a “toolkit” tweeted by Greta Thunberg which according to the police was authored by a Canada-based Khalistani outfit. An FIR has been registered on charges of promoting hatred, sedition, and criminal conspiracy against the 18-year-old climate activist, although the activist is not named. Greta deleted the original tweet but tweeted another toolkit on Wednesday.

Delhi Police Special Commissioner Praveer Ranjan said that since the farmers’ protest has been going on for a long, Delhi police has been monitoring social media and identified handles that have published rumors or are spreading fake news.