Image: CNN
Faizel Patel – 05/02/2021
Guernica mag marketing director and freelance journalist Madhuri Sastry says it’s unclear if Indian actors and cricketers are being forced to back Narendra Modi’s Government on the Indian farmers protests
Authorities say the creators of an Indian farmers’ protest “toolkit” shared by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg will be investigated by police, claiming it was designed to “encourage disaffection and ill-will” against the government.
Tens of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of India’s capital New Delhi since November, calling for a repeal of laws they fear will allow large corporations to crush them
The tussle between the government and farmers protesting for more than two months against new agriculture laws deregulating the sector took at an international turn on Tuesday when pop superstar Rihanna and Thunberg tweeted about the mass demonstrations.
Speaking to Radio Islam, Shastri says there are very real consequences against speaking out against the Modi regime.
“It’s just not the government that scares people, it’s the mob at its disposal. We’ve been noticing what happens to dissenters like journalists and academics and now even standup comics who are arrested and detained and brutalized by the police for things like innocuous tweets or jokes that they even make.”
Sastry says the Bollywood actors are acting in their own interests and protecting their career and economic opportunities.
“I am in no way giving them a free pass. On the contrary I think we should be very critical of those who are silent and supporters of the regime and encourage and protect those who do speak out. Some have stood up in the past like the actor Deepika Padukone and the actor Farah (Basti) is always very vocally anti-fascist. But that really can’t be said of the others. What use is the security that your that your power, money and fame can bring you if you can’t speak out against human rights atrocities that are being perpetrated in your name.”
The foreign ministry hit back on Wednesday, criticizing “sensationalist social media hashtags and comments” by celebrities as “neither accurate nor responsible”.
Listen to the interview with Madhuri Sastry
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