Taapsee Pannu enters row over Bollywood celebs & Cricket stars countering Rihanna & co

As several Bollywood and cricketing stars rallied around the government in its pushback to the global celebrities meddling in the farmers' protest against Centre's 3 contentious farm laws, actor Taapsee Pannu called out the 'counter' celebrity campaign to Rihanna's tweet. The actor who had always been vocal about her political opinions took to Twitter and 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."

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Taapsee Pannu's tweet comes after cricketing stars including Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravi Shastri and many Bollywood actors including Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar used twin hashtags, #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainst Propaganda, to amplify the pushback to the global celebrities. Besides Taapsee Pannu, Farah Khan Ali too criticised the actors in her industry for putting out identical tweets and making it 'look like a marketing gimmick'. 

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Cricketers & Bollywood stars back up Indian govt

MEA cautions foreign celebrities

In a strongly-worded statement, the MEA made it clear that the farm reforms were enacted by the Parliament after a full debate and discussion. Maintaining that only a very small section of farmers have reservations about these laws, it mentioned that the Centre has not only conducted 11 rounds of talks with farm unions but also offered to keep the implementation of the laws on hold. The MEA lamented that "vested groups" were trying to derail the protests despite this scenario.

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To buttress its point, it highlighted the violence that took place in the national capital during the farmers' tractor rally. Moreover, the Ministry linked the desecration of Mahatma Gandhi statues in different parts of the world to the instigation by fringe elements seeking to mobilize international support against India. Thereafter, it called upon the foreign entities and individuals to ascertain the facts before "rushing to comment" on such matters.

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We would like to emphasize that these protests must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse," the statement said. 

After the External Ministry's official statement, many Indian celebrities and politicians spoke out against the unwarranted statements made by Western artists such as Rihanna, urging the nation to stay united amid attempts to divide. 

The Centre has so far held 11 rounds of talks with the protesting farmers, with the top court of the country forming a panel to encourage further talks on the reforms. Moreover, just days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended an olive branch to the community, assuring that he was only one-call away if they wanted to hold any further discussions on the three Farm Laws. 

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