The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra is all set to launch a probe on the tweets posted by Sachin Tendulkar, Akshay Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Ajay Devgn and other celebrities after the Indian celebrities shared concerns about a global propaganda to tarnish India’s image under the pretext of the so-called farmer protests.
The Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday said that tweets of celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Suniel Shetty, Virat Kohli, Akshay Kumar, and others will be investigated by the Maharashtra Intelligence agency to ascertain if they were made under some pressure by the Modi government or the celebrities genuinely wanted to support the centre on the Farm Laws.
Apparently, the Maharashtra government believes that showing support to one’s own country against a global propaganda is questionable activity and needs an investigation.
Deshmukh claims that there were stark similarities in the tweets posted by the celebrities which hinted that it was a planned and coordinated move. The Maharashtra Home Minister said it is for this reason that the tweets posted by eminent personalities belonging to various walks of life will be investigated by the state intelligence agency.
Congress claims pushback by celebrities against Rihanna’s tweet a result of Centre’s pressure
The pushback against Rihanna came under scanner after Maharashtra Congress had sought an investigation into whether the celebrities were ‘pressurised by BJP’ to show support for their own country. Earlier today, the leaders had an online meeting with Mr Desmukh, who has tested Covid positive and is currently in isolation.
Yesterday, Maharashtra Congress leader Sachin Sawant had stated that he would ask the State Home Minister to launch a thorough probe into the matter to determine if the celebrities were working at the behest of the central government.
#WATCH | There was series of tweets after MEA's response to Rihanna's tweet. If a person opines on their own, it's fine but there's scope of suspicion that BJP could be behind this…Spoke to HM Deshmukh. He has given orders to Intelligence dept to probe: Congress' Sachin Sawant pic.twitter.com/kutYYJjxqG
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2021
“There is a similar pattern behind these tweets by the celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, sportspersons Sachin Tendulkar, Saina Nehwal. The contents of the tweets by Nehwal and Kumar are the same while Shetty had tagged a BJP leader. This shows that there was communication between the celebrities and the ruling party leaders. It needs to be investigated if there was any pressure from the BJP on these national heroes for such advocacy on social media. If so, these celebrities need to be given more protection,” he said.
Rihanna’s tweet on Farmers’ Protest triggers a fierce pushback from Indian celebrities
Rihanna’s unwarranted tweet sparked a massive row, raising aspersions on the foreign involvement in stoking tensions in India. Following Rihanna’s tweet, several other global celebrities too made unsolicited remarks on the demonstrations, after which the Indian celebrities came out and took a stand against the global smear campaign launched against India.
Prominent personalities such as Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Suniel Shetty, Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor, Kailash Kher and several others had extended their support to the Farm Laws and 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.
The pushback from the celebrities came after the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement, wherein it said that “vested interest groups” were trying to enforce their agenda on the protests to derail them and said that these groups were 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.
