Rihanna, Greta, and others support Indian farmers on Twitter. Trolls and conspiracies follow

Support on Twitter for the ongoing farmer protests was catapulted to the global stage as international celebrities such as Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, and others got involved. The response? Merciless trolling, injunctions to "mind their own business", and even some conspiracy theories for good measure, writes SIDDHARTH GANGULY.

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ON Tuesday, February 2, pop icon Rihanna took to Twitter to show support for the cause of the protesting farmers. Her tweet read "Why aren't we talking about this?!" with a link to a CNN article titled, 'India cuts internet around New Delhi as protesting farmers clash with police."

Quickly enough, a host of international celebrities joined in.

Also Read: Twitter Withholds Prolific Accounts in an Oppressive Commentary on the Freedom of Speech in India

These high-profile Twitter users included environmental activist Greta Thunberg, activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, actors John Cusack and Amanda Cerny, and others.

While there was a fair share of appreciative comments, retweets and even memes, a large chunk of the engagement was negative.

A few netizens took a slew of personal jabs at these celebrities. Some dismissed Thunberg as a "kid". Other trolls too took up a similar line of attack on the celebrities.

1. Outsiders shouldn't "poke their nose" in India's "internal matters", said cricketer Pragyan Ojha

2. What do you know about the farm laws?

3. Who's paying these celebrities to do this?

However, the trolls are missing the point. The support expressed by international celebrities is not rooted in some great insight on solving problems faced by farmers. The point they are making is about the systematic suppression of freedoms that have been taking place in the country.

Also Read: MEA Defends Farm Laws Amid International Backlash

Shifting Goalposts

The CNN article that Rihanna has linked in her tweet laid focus on the repressive measures used by the government in dealing with the protestors. Moreover, it spoke of the threat to Indian democracy that has been becoming more and more frequent. It scarcely mentions the farm laws.

Journalists like Mandeep Punia have been jailed, protesters have gone missing, and- what has become the government's favourite tool of suppression- the internet shutdowns were the centerpiece of the article. These disclosures are likely what caused the celebrities to rally behind the cause of the farmers.

Yet, those on the other side of the political spectrum refused to engage with these arguments. Instead, they opted for their usual rolodex of claims; the protesting farmers are "terrorists" and "anti-nationals" and those who don't understand the specifics of these bills should keep quiet.

Tin Foil Hats

Another claim parroted by the trolls and even some prominent Indian news outlets was that this newfound support for the farmers protest is part of some concentrated global effort to "destabilise India from the outside".

The notion that news of the suppression of rights and freedoms in the "world's largest democracy" can garner international support was so inconceivable to these people that they suspected it must be part of a grand scheme to attack the nation.

These allegations that some elusive global entity is funding celebrity support for this movement belies a fundamental problem in Indian democracy today; factionalism facilitating an unbridgeable ideological divide.

Us Versus Them

India currently is, as Barkha Dutt puts it, "a nation at war with itself".

People segregate themselves on the basis of their ideological positions into distinct groups that refuse to listen to each other. Discourse, debate, and compromise are precluded by a grand unwillingness to listen.

Moreover, suppressing human rights to this extent no longer remains an "internal matter".

The plight of the farmers has clearly resonated with people across the globe. Instead of responding with oblique arguments and personal attacks, perhaps we should listen to what the world has to say. Without that, we will only further alienate ourselves from each other.

(Siddharth Ganguly is a  student at the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune. These views are personal.)