Farm laws take centre stage in Parliament again
NEW DELHI: After a rocky start to the Budget Session of Parliament, Rajya Sabha proceedings went relatively smoothly on Thursday even as the Opposition continued to raise the issue of the three farm laws that have triggered months-long protests by farmers on Delhi’s borders.
Participating in a discussion on a motion of thanks for the President, Congress MP Digvijaya Singh raised the issue of farm laws and said democracy was being suppressed in the country.
“We respect the mandate you have, but the way in which dissent,
which is the backbone of a democracy, is being suppressed in our country is deplorable,” Singh said. “The foisting of cases against farmers, journalists, activists and such need to stop.”
He was backed by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien who said that the government had failed to uphold the sanctity of Parliament. He added that he had prepared a draft bill to repeal the three farm laws.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, continued to defended the three new farm , and questioned the Opposition for changing their stance on agricultural market reforms. Senior BJP member Jyotiraditya Scindia said the government is committed to the welfare of farmers and has taken a host of steps in the last six years to increase their income.
NEW DELHI: Twitter India on Thursday removed two of the tweets by Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut, citing a violation of the platform’s rules.
The actor has been criticising protesting farmers over their agitations against the Centre’s three farm laws. When tried to access the two tweets, a message appears, reading, “This Tweet is no longer available because it violated the Twitter Rules.” In one of the tweets, the actor had talked about “eradication” of “cancer” from the country.
This is not the first time that Twitter has taken action against Ranaut. The actor’s handle was last month briefly suspended after she posted a tweet in reference to the controversy surrounding Amazon Prime Video series “Tandav”. In the tweet, the actor had used the phrase “time to take their heads off”, which was reported by many users as offensive. Ranaut has been actively posting on Twitter since Tuesday when international pop star Rihanna came out in support of the farmers’ agitations.
The actor also went after actor Taapsee Pannu for her tweets but was criticised for her language.
Responding to the flurry of tweets from prominent celebrities from Bollywood and sports following Rihanna’s tweet, Pannu on Thursday said, “If one tweet rattles your unity, one joke rattles your faith or one show rattles your religious belief then it’s you who has to work on strengthening your value system not become ‘propaganda teacher’ for others.” It was enough to tick off Ranaut who called Pannu “a sasta copy (cheap duplicate) and also dragged the actor’s mother in the conversation.
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT TWITTER HAS TAKEN ACTION AGAINST RANAUT.