Rihanna, an iconic pop star made a simple tweet that had the government leading an online Twitter campaign against her.
Within hours of the tweet, Rihanna’s image morphed with the Pakistani flag went circulating through social media circles. BJP Uttar Pradesh spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi was among those who highlighted her picture holding the Pakistani flag. The original picture shows her holding the West Indies flag during the cricket match between West Indies and Sri Lanka in the ICC 2019 World Cup game at Chester-le-Street in Durham. Pakistan was not even playing the game.
The next day, a malicious source spread a slanderous post that Rihanna charged $2.5 Million for her tweet! Rihanna donates 90% of her wealth to charity and her Clara Lionel Foundation in March 2020 donated US $5 million toward treating the COVID-19 pandemic, so money is certainly not her weakness.
The Barbados-born singer, actress, and songwriter whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty has sold more than 200 million records. She immerses herself in humanitarian causes. In 2017, celebrity pop star Rihanna, with now over 101 million followers on Twitter, was named 2017 Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year.
In 2012, she founded the nonprofit Clara Lionel Foundation Global Scholarship Program for students attending college in the U.S. from Caribbean countries. She supports the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project, which provides children with access to education in over 60 developing countries. She focuses on giving priority to girls, and those affected by lack of access to education in the world today.
The farmers’ protest, the largest in world history, is hashtagged and highlighted, with videos and pictures revealing police brutality, and Internet, electricity, and water cut off grabbing attention internationally. On January 26, 2021, there was a spat of violence when a group of unidentified “farmers” surmised to be accompanied by goons stormed into the Red Fort. Over 400 cops were injured and one farmer died. All the farm leaders and unions condemned this violence because, throughout their campaign, they pitched for peaceful protests. The matter is still under investigation.
In all this, the world was watching the war-like zone around the borders of Delhi, barricaded and barbed, cops armed with steel sticks, and Rihanna quipped, “why aren’t we talking about this?” sharing an article of cnn.com and hashtagged it as #FarmersProtest. The results of her comment were rumblings from the Indian government. Indian celebrity stars who diplomatically opt-out of all national problems suddenly starting commenting under the government’s new hashtag on social media platforms, #IndiaStandsTogether #IndiaStandsAgainstPropoganda
Why was the government so upset with her “interference?” Well, the largest protest in world history has been on for months and there have been some brutal scenes of old mild farmers beaten with sticks over the months, shot with water cannons, and hit with tear gas when the crowds gathered at the borders. When the world watches human rights violations, and videos and pictures of the protests were very alarming, people do interfere. It is the natural design of the Universe.
The reason for the turbulence could be that on June 30, 2019, Rihanna commented on the Sudan coup, “With more protests planned for today, I send my heart and I pray for the safety of the Sudanese people. They have a right to speak out and demand peace, justice, and a transition to civilian rule. Over 100 were killed & hundreds more were wounded during the June 3rd protests.” (sic).
With more protests planned for today, June 30, I send my ❤️ and I pray for the safety of the Sudanese people. They have a right to speak out and demand peace, justice and a transition to civilian rule. Over 100 were killed & hundreds more were wounded during the June 3rd protests pic.twitter.com/2T8YudGxIx
— Rihanna (@rihanna) June 30, 2019
She encouraged her followers to “fight for human rights in Africa and stand with protesters in Sudan.” This comment seemed to set sparks and stirred Sudan into a revolution, sending ripples to her then 91.8 million Twitter followers and 72.7 million Instagram followers.
She also spoke out on US immigration policy, denouncing the Trump administration’s attempts to deport thousands of families and she spoke on several other human rights issues.
If we function as a democracy, listening to the voices and hear the pulse of the people, alleviate their worries and work together positively, there would be no need for Rihanna or anyone else to speak up for India. If the government acts despotically and breaks the fabric of democracy, unfortunately, the world will interfere and we have no one to blame but ourselves.