Sena attacks PM over int’l support to farm protest

SENA QUESTIONED PM’S SUPPORT TO THEN US PREZ TRUMP AND SOUGHT TO KNOW HIS STANCE ON CAPITOL HILL VIOLENCE

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena has questioned the Centre’s response to international celebrities for their stand on the farmers’ protest, and said that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s views on the violence at Capitol Hill in the United States (US) and his rallies in Ahmedabad and the US in support of then US president Donald Trump were interferences in America’s internal affairs.

“The agitation at the Ghazipur border is not of rebels or anti-national elements. They are hardcore farmers who are chanting Jai Hind and fighting their battle. The farmers are getting support across the world. Popstar Rihanna’s support provoked strong reactions from the bhakts of PM Modi. The recent violence and rioting at Capitol Hill by Trump followers was condemned by many Indians including our PM Modi. Modi had held campaign rallies in Ahmedabad and the US for Trump. That, too, was interference in their internal affairs,” said Sena MP Sanjay Raut in his weekly column Rokthok in the party mouthpiece Saamana.

He said the world is watching what is happening at the Delhiuttar Pradesh border at Ghazipur. Raut, who is the executive editor of Saamana, has also taunted Indian celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut, Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar who joined the ‘India against Propaganda’ drive in which they condemned international celebrities for their interference in India’s internal matters.

The MP said that the celebrities were roped in by the government after it realised the farmers’ protest was getting international attention. They had jumped in the fray after Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and Meena Harris, who is the niece of US vice-president Kamala Harris, expressed support to the farmers. “Our celebrities did not sympathise with the farmers who have been agitating from the past three months. This demonstrates that the Central government is using them to neutralise the foreign condemnation… The farmers are agitating not to create unrest or divide. It is a humanitarian struggle which is bound to receive support from across the world,” Raut said. He said the government should seriously introspect why the farmers are getting international support. He also criticised the use of force by the Centre against agitating farmers.