Greta Thunberg, Mia Khalifa and US vice-president Kamala Harris’s niece lawyer Meena Harris were among international celebrities who tweeted in support of the ongoing protest by Indian farmers against the Centre’s Farm Laws. While the nation stands divided over foreigners extending support to India’s internal issue, here are the major public figures who decided to rally behind the ongoing protest at the borders of Delhi.
1) Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg became the voice of conscience for a generation facing the climate change emergency. She first hit the headlines for her solo strike against global warming outside Sweden’s parliament last year. Thunberg has taken her disarmingly straightforward message ‘listen to the scientists’ to global decision-makers, accusing them of inaction.
2) US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, The first Somali-American to serve in the US House, the DFL leader was an ardent critic of the immigration policies of the Trump administration. When Donald Trump tweeted that lawmakers should ‘go back’ to their countries if they want to criticize the US, he was referring to Omar and her fellow congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts four freshmen women of color.
3) American football star Juju Smith-Schuster, The 24-year-old, Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver and competes in the National Football League.
4) US climate justice activist Jamie Margolin”We often take for granted where our food comes from and forget about the farmers who feed us,’ she wrote in support of the farmers’ movement”, At age of 15 in 2017, Margolin founded the youth climate action organization Zero Hour with Nadia Nazar. The 19-year-old identifies as a lesbian and in 2018 was named as one of People Magazine’s 25 Women Changing the World.
5) Teen climate activist Jerome Foster IIJerome was selected by National Geographic to tour Iceland, where he documented the entire island in VR to show how climate change is impacting the country. Before joining the band of climate activists, the teenager was known for holding a weekly climate strike outside of the White House in the morning.
6) US writer/journalist Karen AttiahThe Global Opinions editor for The Washington Post, Karen is of Ghanian origin and was named 2019 Journalist of the Year Award by the National Association of Black Journalists for her coverage of the murder of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
7) British actor Mandy TakharThe two-time winner of PTC Punjabi Film Awards, Wolverhampton-born actor has her roots in Punjab. She debuted in 2010 release ‘Ekam – Son of Soil’ and was last seen in ‘Yes I am Student’.
8) Lebanese-American media personality Mia Khalifa, Mia Khalifa is a former adult movie actor who made a career switch to sports commentary and social media modelling. Mia received online death threats from the ISIS after she ranked No. 1 on Pornhub.
9) Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate, 24-year-old Vanessa Nakate featured in BBC’s ‘100 Women’ in 2020 and the business administration graduate is the torchbearer of the pro-agriculture climate change activism in Africa. She was one of a handful of youth activists to speak at the COP25 gathering in Spain.
10) Kenyan environmentalist Elizabeth Wathuti, 25-year-old Elizabeth Wathuti founded the Green Generation Initiative which works to develop young generation into eco-conscious citizens. According to reports, her organisation has so far planted no less than 30,000 tree seedlings in Kenya.
11) British MP Claudia Webbe’Solidarity to the Indian Farmers. Thank you, Rihanna. In an era where political leadership is lacking we are grateful for others stepping forward,’ she wrote along with sharing a screenshot of Rihanna’s tweet. Labour Party’s Claudia Naomi Webbe represents Leicester East since 2019. Webbe was the Chair of the Operation Trident Independent Advisory Group, a community-led initiative created in the mid-1990s to tackle the disproportionate effects of gun violence on black communities.
12) US Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris, Meena, who is also a noted author, wrote on Twitter, ‘It’s no coincidence that the world’s oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault.”This is related. We ALL should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters,’ she added.
13) I guess I don’t have to say here much you already know her International pop star, Rihanna, Taking to Twitter, Rihanna shared a CNN article and wrote, ‘why aren’t we talking about this?’14) Last but not least UN human rights commission tweeted about farmers protest and showing concerns on farmers human rights, taking their basic necessities away like water food electricity and internet.
INDIA IN RESPONSE
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday issued a sternly-worded statement as some global personalities extended support for the farmers’ protests in India. Social media witnessed hectic activity since Tuesday evening when international pop icon Rihanna, followed by climate activist Greta Thunberg and adult star Mia Khalifa, tweeted using the hashtag #FarmersProtest.
The hashtag became an overnight rage in India, and the subsequent outpouring of global support forced the Centre to up its Twitter game. Although it was not that great response, BJP government used all the contacts, and gather all Indian celeb including Bollywood stars and sportsperson, and tweet material was given them, their tweet language, style and words were same and Akshay Kumar and Saina Nehwal tweet was a carbon copy.Â
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