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Rihanna lent her star power to an important cause his week over Twitter. Although fans have been eagerly waiting to hear new music from the artist, Rihanna is dedicating her time to other interests instead, including learning more about world events.
In the tweet, Rihanna directed her 101.3 million followers to a CNN article about India’s months-long farmers’ protest.
The singer questioned why more people were not discussing the news.
Although Rihanna did not comment on the details of the article she shared, her tweet made her opinion on the matter clear, as she questioned why more people were not questioning the internet restrictions.
She shared the article, tweeting, "why aren't we talking about this?!" Since then, her tweet has been retweeted 288.4K times, so it definitely looks like people are talking about it now at least.
Check out her tweet below:
why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest https://t.co/obmIlXhK9S
— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 2, 2021
The article, titled "India cuts internet around New Delhi as protesting farmers clash with police," details the current situation that India's farmers are facing as they protest three farm bills from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The article explains, "Since late November, hundreds of thousands of protesters have gathered on the outskirts of New Delhi to demonstrate against changes they say they weren't consulted on and which will hurt their livelihoods."
Last Tuesday, a violent clash occurred between protesters and police in which the officers used "tear gas and batons against the demonstrators."
In the wake of these violent confrontations, the country cut off internet access in at least 14 of 22 districts around New Delhi, a move that India's Ministry of Home Affairs said was made "in the interest of maintaining public safety and averting public emergency."
However, many people--including Rihanna--seem unconvinced.
The article quotes a statement from Darshan Pal, a leader from Samyukta Kisan Morcha, who called the decision "undemocratic."
Pal explained, "The government does not want the real facts to reach protesting farmers, nor their peaceful conduct to reach the world. It wants to spread its false spin around farmers. It is also fearful of the coordinated work of the farmers' unions across different protest sites and is trying to cut off communication means between them."
This is not the first or last time Rihanna has used her fame to direct fans to important world issues.
The star tweeted the same day about the situation in Myanmar.
See below:
my prayers are with you #myanmar! https://t.co/GMYqA5BHM8
— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 2, 2021
Although many fans appreciate her commitment to social justice, others are less enamored with her words.
One replied to her tweet, "I have utmost respect for you and your talent. I still listen to your Under My Umbrella song and I love it but but don't talk about the matter which you don't really have full knowledge of. Please I request you not to send any uninformed messages to your fans or the world."
Another wrote, "Because one should not talk about an issue about which one has no knowledge."
And people are not aftraid to take their anger at the star beyond Twitter.
this week @rihanna , @GretaThunberg & @meenaharris brought awareness to india’s #farmersprotest and look at the response. misogyny and rightwing regimes go hand in hand. i implore the world to keep their eyes open and bring international attention to modi’s harmful farm laws pic.twitter.com/Z86C957tZQ
— rupi kaur (@rupikaur_) February 4, 2021
