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 Tens of thousands of young and
old farmers have blocked roads leading into New
Delhi for more than two months, sheltering in
tractors from the cold.
A tractor rally by farmers last week in New
Delhi turned violent. Police responded by
shutting down the internet, digging ditches,
driving nails into roads and topping barricades
with razor wire to prevent farmers from entering
the capital again.
"Why aren’t we talking about this?!" Rihanna
said in a Twitter post, sharing a CNN article on
the demonstrations with her 100.9 million
followers on the platform, using the hashtag #FarmersProtest.
It was not immediately clear what led Rihanna,
whose songs have done well in India, to suddenly
tweet on the subject.
As she trended on Twitter in India, a
Mumbai-based actress who backs India's ruling
nationalist party lashed out at Rihanna.
"No one is talking about it because they are not
farmers, they are terrorists who are trying to
divide India..." Kangana Ranaut told her 3
million followers on the same platform.
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 The protests are led by
turban-wearing Sikh farmers from the wheat and
rice-growing state of Punjab in India's north.
The close-knit community, which is spread around
the world, has also organised protests in
Australia, Britain and the United States.
Sikh Coalition, a New York-based rights group,
thanked Rihanna for casting more international
spotlight on the subject.
"For over a week, the Indian government has been
suspending internet services around #FarmersProtest
sites in a clear affront to the freedom of
speech," it said on Twitter.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Mark
Heinrich)
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