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Singer Chinmayi goes on Twitter rant and plays victim card, calls young student a ‘BJP member’ for supporting farm laws

February 20, 2021
The Commune

Controversial singer Chinmayi Sripada’s recent tweetstorm with a college student over the arrest of climate activist Disha Ravi who played a major role in the creation and dissemination of the Greta Thunberg ‘toolkit’, has sparked debate.

In her tweet, Chinmayi could be seen accusing a college student of being a member of the BJP just because she had spoken in support of the farm laws.

What started out as a harmless tweet by the student, questioning the singer’s opinions on the farmer empowerment laws, quickly blew out of proportion, as Chinmayi kept mocking the girl and even accused her of being a rape apologist.

The singer then went on to accuse the student of being “part of the problem” for not talking about Tamil actor Radha Ravi, who is accused of sexual harassment and had joined the BJP in 2019. Chinmayi also constantly referred to the BJP as “her party”. She added that the student did not have the “moral fibre” required to question misogyny.

However, the student clarified that Chinmayi may very well question actor Radha Ravi’s entry into the BJP, but should not label every supporter of the Centre’s farm laws as a ‘BJP supporter’ or a misogynist. The singer had earlier made allegations of sexual harassment, misconduct and inappropriate behaviour against Radha Ravi. She has also made similar accusations against Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu, who works in the Tamil film industry and is also closely associated with the DMK.

Several netizens and prominent Twitterati came out in support of Shruthee and tweeted in support of her, sparking a vociferous debate.

BJP Tamil Nadu spokesperson SG Suryah said that it was convenient of Chinmayi to dismiss everyone disagreeing with her as a ‘BJP supporter’ and added that the slurs used by Chinmayi against a young college student were “unbecoming of [a] self proclaimed ‘feminist’ “.

Triggered by the massive outpouring of tweets against her, Chinmayi went on a rant criticizing the arrest of Bengaluru-based climate activist Disha Ravi.

It is alleged that Ravi had played a significant role in the creation and dissemination of the Greta Thunberg ‘toolkit’ and had spoken to foreign handlers via video-conference.

When the BJP spokesperson pointed this out, she accused him of ‘peddling lies’ and also shared an article criticizing the arrest of Disha Ravi.

Even though she claimed to have read the ‘toolkit’, the singer dismissed the concerns voiced by many that the document’s creators were pro-Khalistani. She also side-stepped the fact that the document aims to build international pressure on India on social media.

Ultimately, the singer blocked the student with whom she had had the initial disagreement.

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