New Delhi – Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg said on Thursday that “hatred” and “threats” would not stop her from speaking in support of thousands of Indian farmers locked in a confrontation with his government. Thunberg fired back online while Indian police began an investigation mentioning his tweets, which have sparked an online vitriol reaction.
“I still #StandWithFarmers and I support your peaceful protest. No amount of hatred, threats or human rights violations will ever change that. #FarmersProtest,” the young Swedish activist wrote on Twitter.
Indian police have begun the investigation process into what the government calls “propaganda” by “established interest groups” trying to “mobilize international support against India.”
The investigation may include several posts on social media, including some shared by Thunberg, in support of the farmers ’protest for months.
Delhi police cited their tweets in a First Information Report (FIR), the first step in the investigation process under Indian law, alleging a “criminal conspiracy” and an attempt to “promote enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language … and acts detrimental to the maintenance of harmony, “according to Indian news NDTV.
Earlier Thursday, Thunberg shared a “toolkit” in a Twitter post advising people on how to show support for protesters.
Delhi police said on Thursday that their investigation into a “foreign conspiracy” was not against Thunberg, but the “toolkit” he tweeted, which they said originated in a group. Sikh separatist.
Thunberg first expressed his solidarity with farmers after the popstar Rihanna they drew worldwide attention to their protest against three controversial new agricultural laws. Demonstrations have been simmering since November, with occasional violent clashes in Delhi.
Altaf Qadri / AP
The Indian government took charge of the celebrities on Wednesday after its tweets drew worldwide attention, rejecting social media posts as “sensationalist” and “neither accurate nor responsible.”
“The temptation of hashtags and comments from sensationalist social media, especially when they are traversed by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Several other public figures, including American activists and politicians, also tweeted in support of farmers.
“It’s no coincidence that the world’s oldest democracy has been attacked less than a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is being assaulted. This is related. We should all be outraged by the Internet’s unemployed. India and paramilitary violence against peasant protesters, “wrote the niece of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris Meena Harris.
“The events unfolding in India are worrying. As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I am closely monitoring the situation. The right to peaceful protest must always be respected,” the States representative wrote. United, Jim Costa, a California Democrat who works on both. the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Agriculture.
Hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers have been locked in a challenging confrontation with the government since late last year by three agricultural reform laws passed in September.
The government insists the reforms will give farmers more access to the market and more flexibility. But farmers say the measures will help large companies and destroy the livelihoods of small farmers. They demand a complete repeal of all three laws.
Eleven rounds of talks between the leaders of the agricultural protests and the Modi government have failed to resolve the confrontation.
India’s agricultural sector contributes almost 15% to the $ 2.9 trillion Indian economy and employs almost half of the country’s 1.3 billion people.
The Indian government on Wednesday reiterated its justification for the reforms and said it was only “a very small sector of farmers in parts of India” who “had some reservations about these reforms”.
The government insisted the laws were passed after a “full debate and discussion” in parliament.
Confrontation around the capital
Indian police have stepped up their efforts to prevent protesting farmers from re-entering the capital, ahead of the call for a second national closure this weekend to support the protest.
Farmers have threatened to block roads in the country on Saturday in protest of what they call harassment by government authorities, including disruption of water, energy and internet services in protest camps.
Manish Swarup / AP
Internet services closed earlier this week at three key entry points to the road in Delhi, where farmers have been camping for more than two months.
Several Indian media reported that police had placed iron spikes, barbed wire and concrete walls at various points of entry into the capital.
Human Rights Watch has called on the Indian government to withdraw legal cases against eight journalists who were arrested after reporting on the January 26 protests and clashes.
MONEY SHARMA / AFP / Getty
“The Indian authorities’ response to the protests has focused on discrediting peaceful protesters, harassing government critics and persecuting those who reported the events,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, HRW’s South Asia director.
Twitter warning
The Indian government warned on Wednesday on Twitter that it could take unspecified action against the social media platform for its move to “unilaterally” unlock more than 250 accounts that it suspended on Monday, at the request of the government, for the use of a controversial hashtag related to farmers ’protests.
The government had labeled the tweets with the label, which accuses officials of planning a “genocide” of farmers, which is part of a “campaign motivated to abuse, inflame and create tensions in society for unfounded reasons.”
“Incitement to genocide is not freedom of speech; it is a threat to law and order,” the government has insisted in its warnings to the social media company to comply with them.