‘I Still Stand With Farmers’: Greta Thunberg After Reports of FIR Against Her

New Delhi: Renowned teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday reiterated her support for the two-month-long farmers protests in India after reports emerged of an FIR being filed against her by the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police.

Thunberg tweeted, “I still stand with farmers and support their peaceful protest. No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that.”

I still #StandWithFarmers and support their peaceful protest.
No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that. #FarmersProtest

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 4, 2021

However, when asked whether the police have named Thunberg in the FIR, Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner of Police (CP), Delhi Police, told ANI: “We have not named anybody in the FIR, it's only against the creators of the toolkit, which is a matter of investigation and Delhi Police will be investigating that case.”

On Wednesday, the 18-year-old Swedish activist had tweeted: “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.” She also shared a “toolkit” that she said could be used to help the farmers’ protest. The “toolkit” is a document which uses online tactics for social justice movements such as creating a Twitter storm and protesting outside the concerned country’s embassies to mobilise support for the farmers’ protest.

We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.
https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021

While many in India welcomed Thunberg’s solidarity to the farmers’ movement against three recently enacted agriculture laws, a section of social media users, mainly aligned to the ruling dispensation in India, also criticised and trolled her for the same.

Many other international celebrities, including American pop singer Rihanna, also tweeted in support of Indian farmers. Rihanna, in particular, triggered a storm on Tuesday by tweeting “why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest”. She and Thunberg both shared a link to a CNN article on the farmers’ protests.

 Reacting to the international support for the farmers’ movement, the Ministry of External Affairs quickly issued a statement on Wednesday saying it was “unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them.” It added, “The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comment, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible.”

 Union home minister Amit Shah also wrote on Twitter saying, “No propaganda can deter India’s unity!” while External affairs minister S Jaishankar said: “Motivated campaigns targeting India will never succeed. We have the self confidence today to hold our own. This India will push back.”