Retired Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has joined the consortium of ‘intellectuals’ who have been showing solidarity with the protesting ‘farmers’ and the global celebrities to the likes of singer Rihanna, who have spoken in favour of the ongoing protest in India.
Recently, foreign celebrities like Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, Amanda Cerny, Lilly Singh, Jay Sean tweeted in support of the farmers and their protest which caused a massive uproar after it was revealed that their supports were part of a coordinated campaign, with Indians coming out to slam these interlopers. From prominent Bollywood celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Suniel Shetty, Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor, Kailash Kher to Indian cricketers including legendary Sachin Tendulkar, team India’s head coach Ravi Shastri, captain of the Indian cricket team Virat Kohli have called for unity in the light of comments made by these international figures.
Surprisingly, in this hour of need, while the entire cricket team was seen standing rock-solid behind India by extending their support to stay united against ‘propaganda’ and shared tweets with the hashtag #IndiaAgainstPropaganda, there was Irfan Pathan, the former India all-rounder, who took to Twitter to take a veiled dig at those taking on Rihanna and other foreign meddlers for poking their nose in India’s internal matters.
Pathan Tweeted: “When George Floyd was brutally murdered in the USA by a policeman, our country rightly expressed our grief. #justsaying”.
Irfan Pathan not only chooses to show solidarity with the rioters who, disguised as ‘farmers’ entered Delhi to unleash violence on January 26, but he also goes on to evoke the over and done with George Floyd incident to take an indirect dig at those celebrities and cricketers’ who have slammed outside interference.
It may be recalled how soon after the killing of George Floyd, an African American, by the Police, the consortium of ‘intellectuals’ back in India had tried to incite the sentiments of Muslims in the country. They wanted Muslims to take to the streets for this so-called ‘Muslim Lives Matter’ protests.
On Tuesday evening, singer Rihanna tweeted, “Why aren’t we talking about this?” while sharing a news story about the farmers’ protest. Sharing the same story, activist Greta Thunberg expressed her ‘solidarity’ with the protesters.
A statement was issued by the external affairs ministry subsequently contending that “vested interest groups” are trying to enforce their agenda on the protests to derail them and said that these groups are trying to mobilise global support against India. The statement also referred to “sensationalist social media hashtags and comments” by “celebrities and others” but didn’t name anyone in particular.
Celebrities both from the film industry and the cricket federation have called for unity in the light of comments made by several international figures, including singer Rihanna and activist Greta Thunberg, over the ongoing farmers’ protests. While Sachin Tendulkar said that India’s sovereignty can’t be compromised, Ravi Shastri in pure and simple terms asked foreign meddlers to back off.
