Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday reiterated that she supported the farmers’ protests amid reports that the Delhi Police had filed a first information report against her. However, the police later clarified that they have not named Thunberg and the FIR only mentions the creators of a toolkit in connection with the farmers protest.

“No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that,” she said.


Also read:

Greta Thunberg not named, FIR mentions only creators of toolkit, say Delhi Police

In a tweet, posted on Wednesday, Thunberg wrote: “We stand in solidarity with the farmers protest in India”. In another tweet on Thursday, she wrote: “Here’s an updated toolkit by people on the ground in India if you want to help. (They removed their previous document as it was outdated.)”


Also read:

Indian celebrities, leaders tweet in one voice to counter global criticism of crackdown on protests


A controversy began on Wednesday after pop singer Rihanna tweeted in support of the farmers’ protest. Rihanna’s tweet drew global attention to the protests as prominent foreign personalities echoed her support for the farmers’ movement.

Following the international condemnation, India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement calling the tweets a “sensationalist” attempt by “vested groups” to intervene in India’s internal matters.

The ministry also warned about the dangers of the use of hashtags. The ministry said that the comments were “neither accurate nor responsible”, claiming that the protests were by “a very small section of farmers” in parts of India.

Shortly after, Indian actors, celebrities and sportspersons, many of whom have long been silent on the farmer protests, began tweeting in one voice. Among them were cricketing stars Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Ravi Shastri. They used hashtags #IndiaAgainstPropaganda and #IndiaTogether – both coined by the foreign ministry – and some wrote identical messages in support of the laws.

The Indian government on Wednesday sent a notice to Twitter against its move to restore accounts which used a certain hashtag linked to the farmers’ protest. The government had on Monday directed the microblogging platform to withhold around 250 such accounts.

(Corrections and clarifications: A previous version of this article stated that the Delhi Police had filed an FIR against Greta Thunberg. The police clarified at a press conference that the FIR has not been filed against Thunberg but against the creator of the informational toolkit that she tweeted. No one has been named in the case yet.)