Singer and businesswoman Rihanna on Tuesday tweeted about the situation in Delhi, sharing a news article about the farmers’ protests against the recently passed agriculture reforms.
“Why aren’t we talking about this?!” she asked, using the hashtag #FarmersProtest.
The CNN article she shared is about the Centre’s decision to cut off internet services in border areas of Delhi, as well as the same being done by the Haryana government in its districts following violence on Republic Day.
The Haryana government had first ordered the suspension of mobile internet services in Sonipat, Jhajjar and Palwal districts on January 26 after a tractor rally by farmers in Delhi became chaotic after the police clashed with them. On January 30, it had extended the suspension to 17 districts.
On Monday, the Haryana government had on mobile internet and SMS services in seven districts of the state till 5 pm on February 2. On the same day, the Centre also extended the suspension of internet services near Delhi’s borders – Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri – till Tuesday night.
These areas are the epicentre of farmer protests against the new agricultural laws. On Janury 26, at least one protester was killed and over 300 police officers injured after thousands of farmers took to the streets of Delhi to call for the repeal of the contentious laws. Protestors broke through barricades and poured into the city, clashing with a police force that tried to push them back with tear gas and a baton charge. Some of them stormed the Red Fort.
The Delhi Police said on January 28 that 84 people have been arrested and 38 first information reports filed so far in connection with the violence.
Several farmer leaders, including Swaraj India President Yogendra Yadav and Bharatiya Kisan Union’s Haryana unit President Gurnam Singh Chaduni, were named in one of the first information reports filed by the police.
The police have alleged that farmer leaders made inflammatory speeches, and were involved in the violence during the tractor parade. Farmers have denied the allegations and blamed “antisocial elements” for the chaos.
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