Image Source: KhalsaVox

Protest Fatigue is when people are tired of protests on moral grounds of the protest or lack of financial benefits. Moral ground commonly becomes a concern when the protests are orchestrated by external entities and propaganda and the protester feels a void and lack of energy in himself to protest.

In this article, we will try to discuss the concept of protest fatigue and how it is evident in the farmer protests happening in the northern part of our country in 2024. The first part of the article discusses protest fatigue around the world and the second part, we will discuss the farmer protests through the lens of fatigue.

Protest Fatigue

Here is a list of protests from across the world:

• A Trump supporter from 2020 protests says that they are funded to protest but their families suffer back there unless they all join the protest.
• A protester from Canada claims that the organizers who organize the protest are interested in the first couple of days, but then the care and support for the protesters fade away and they all are put in vain. 
• In the U.K., anti-India protests failed to meet the expected number of protests, a senior community leader who helped organize the protest cited fatigue as a reason for the low turnout.
• The fact of the matter is many people cannot protest for extended periods because they need to return to their jobs and provide for their families.
• In Chile, unaddressed structural failures that protestors are attempting to leave thousands homeless and living in poverty, like economic inequality. The people who didn’t protest had a better standard of living than the people who did. 
• The HashTag #protestisthenewbrunch trended on Instagram and Twitter around 2017 tells that protests have become a popular weekend activity more than a cause-driven one. This kind of culture was induced by negative elements that tried to instigate hate and skepticism in society.   
• There are startups like My Civic Workout that are nurturing amateur protesters to become professional protesters in what they call “meaningful civil activism”. They also publish a list of protests they can become part of that are available online.
• In Brazil, the protest fatigue led to “Issue Fatigue”, where the protesters in Brazil are tired beyond the point where they are no longer concerned about the “issues” that the protests started for.
• In Venezuela, opposition party-fueled supporters, however, are exhausted after four months of street demonstrations and disruptions to daily life, which ultimately failed to make the ruling government accept opposition demands. Turnout at marches called by the opposition has fizzled in the last few weeks, and some people just want to return to work quickly in the country plagued with empty food shelves, runaway inflation, and a fourth straight year of recession.
• As the protest days go longer, keeping the supporters on the streets may become increasingly difficult, because of both increased repression and likely popular disillusionment. It is already showing signs of severe internal strains over issues such as whether or not to participate in any issues at all. Because of the people going away from protests, militants and violent extremists are being sought across the world for running protests. It just takes a minor trigger for a protest to change into violence in this case. The disheartening trend is that youth between 13-21 years old are lured into this in exchange for narcotics, clubs, and travel coupons. 

In 2022 in the US, the National Policing Institute came up with a set of guidelines for managing communal riots, that they framed as Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), which works under the guideline that some mass demonstrations are specifically planned with the intent of wreaking havoc and causing harm. 

Violent acts during demonstrations, also commonly understood as riots, are not protected by the freedom of speech of a nation. This applies to the US Constitution’s first amendment and also to the Indian Constitution’s preamble.

Farmer Protest 2.0

With the “Protest Fatigue” stories from around the world, let’s look at the Farmer protest version 2.0 that’s happening in Delhi.

In the earlier protests in 2020, almost all the farmer organizations in Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh, numbering more than 40, had come under the Sanyukt Kisa Morcha (SKM). 

This time a breakaway faction of that umbrella body is spearheading the protests. It’s called Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and excludes major farmer leaders and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. This itself is an example proving the protest fatigue theory. Real farmers have to work. This is the sowing season and the seasons will not wait for protests to end. So the majority of farmers decide to withdraw. The cautious stance by some of the SKM leaders who have chosen to stay back indicates deep factionalism within farmer bodies.

The Seven Member Committee of SKM gives us some background on the protests.

• Jagjit Singh Dallewal (President BKU-Sidhupur): Dallewal maintains silence on the involvement of Khalistanis and other radicals in the farm protest and is not opposed to radical thought. 
• Dr. Darshan Pal (President Krantikari Kisan Union) – Ex CPI (Maiost): On 14 January 2024, CPI (Maoist) said it was dismissing “Comrade Joseph (Darshan Pal)” for “anti-party factional activities” after his Naxal “links” were exposed.
• Atul Kumar Anjan (National general secretary of All India Kisan Sabha):
• Ex-President of AISF, and ran multiple protests across the country against CAA from 2019. He actively supported LGBTQ+ rights (The AISF actively supports LGBT rights). In 2022, he promoted AISF state committee member Nadira Mehrin became the first transgender person to contest in a student union election at Kerala University. 
• Hannan Mollah: An ex-MP from CPI (Marxist), was also an ex-Waqf board president, in West Bengal. He was instrumental in bridging communication between Waqf board WB, Himachal, Chandigarh, and Punjab.
• Balbir Singh Rajewal (president BKU-Rajewal): Rajewal has been close to various political parties in the past, including Shiromani Akali Dal, Indian National Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party. He is an aspiring CM candidate for Punjab under the party Sanyukt Samaj Morcha. Contested in 2022 elections in 20 seats in Punjab and won none. Critics say that his involvement in the protests is to gain votes and not for the welfare of the farmers.
• Ashok Dhawale (National President of All India Kisan Sabha): An ex-AISF member and organizer of 2020 protests.
• Yogendra Yadav (President and founder of Swaraj India): Psephologist, was expelled from AAP.
• Gurnam Singh Chaduni: Chaduni contested in all 10 seats in Punjab, lost his own, and overall got 16000 votes across constituencies. He was a part of the 2020 protests and later protested on highways to demand MSP for sunflower seeds. Wrestler Sakshi Malik took to Twitter and demanded his release. He is not active in 2024, but very active in 2020 protests.
• Shiv Kumar Kakka: An MP who was detained in Bhopal for unconstitutional activities and then released. 

Overall we see that other than 4-5 faces from 2020 rest didn’t even show up the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha is a new faction playing with SKM and we have to see the gravity of the elements involved in them. This time we see lesser enthusiasm shown by Khaps, the Jat community organizations that had massively mobilized during earlier protests. 

In Haryana and Punjab, internet services have to be disrupted to curtail the riots that are happening, and that has put thousands of people’s lives and lives in jeopardy. 

Despite the MSP being higher than global prices for wheat and rice, farmers often express dissatisfaction, advocating for higher MSP rates to improve their income prospects.

In India, agriculture contributes to 17% of the economy and 58% of the population is dependent on agriculture. That means roughly 70 crore people are dependent on agriculture and the number of people protesting is less than 0.005% of agriculturists who are particularly motivated by a specific section of ideology/ propaganda.

The late MS Swaminathan, a renowned agriculturist and the Father of the Green Revolution in the country, who was recently conferred the Bharat Ratna, chaired the National Commission on Farmers. The policy included asset reforms with respect to various natural resources, supply of good quality seeds, timely & adequate reach of institutional credit, coverage of farmers under a comprehensive national social security scheme, and effective implementation of MSP, among others. 

It may be noted that this recommendation was not included by the UPA government in the National Policy for Farmers which was finalized in 2007, and a lot of that including the Kisan credit card, direct subsidy, and crop insurance were all introduced during the NDA government after 2014. 

Soundar is a geopolitical enthusiast, based out of Ireland. His areas of interest include cyber, technology and its role in geopolitics.

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As the news of the sinister plot to occupy Red Fort has emerged, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday (26 May) said he will continue his protests to hurt the chances of Bhartia Janata Party’s prospect of winning the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections that will be held in 2022.

This statement has now cleared the fact that these so-called farmer’s protests against the Farm Bill are purely political. Speaking to journalists in a virtual meeting organised by the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), Tikait said that, if necessary, they are willing to continue their agitation till 2024 when the next general elections take place.

When asked whether RLD leader Ajit Singh’s death has created political space for him“I am neither a Jat leader nor a politician, but I know that the state of farmers is not good in UP, and they are all with us. Be it sale of produce or the state of sugarcane farmers, or even electricity, there are issues that we will take to people,” Tikait said, reports The Economic Times.

Tikait also enjoys support from twelve opposition parties, led by the Congress who, have extended their support to the call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farm unions, for a countrywide protest on 26 May to mark the completion of six months of their agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws.

The Farm Bill introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to ensure farmers got the full financial benefit of their produce. But it was strongly rejected by some farmers, particularly from the states of Punjab and Haryana who have been protesting for the last six months by blocking the highways leading to

They want an absolute rollback of three agriculture reform laws enacted by the Modi government.

The three laws are Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance, and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

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The three-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court submitted its report on the Centre’s farm laws on Wednesday.

The committee has reportedly consulted 85 farmer organisations while compiling its report on the farm legislations, in order to work out a solution to the demands of the agitating farmers.

The Supreme Court is likely to take up the case for hearing after April 5, once the Holi vacation ends.

On Republic Day this year, the farmers’ protests and a tractor rally at Delhi’s borders had erupted into large-scale rioting, violence and damage top public property in the nation’s capital.

Earlier in January, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the farm laws after expressing disappointment with how the Centre had handled the protests and the talks with the farmers’ unions.

“Talks are breaking down because Centre wants to discuss point by point of law and farmers want the entire laws to be repealed. We will stay the implementation of the Farm Acts.”, the CJI had observed.

CJI SA Bobde had then remarked that people were committing suicides, suffering from the cold weather and gone on to raise questions about why are old people and women were present in the protest. “We don’t want to comment on the agitation”, the CJI had said.

Report was submitted in sealed cover

The Committee’s report was submitted to the apex court in a sealed cover.

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Delhi Police on Sunday had arrested 21-year-old Disha Ravi on Saturday February 14 from Bengaluru, for editing and distributing the toolkit that was accidentally leaked by Swedish radical activist Greta Thunberg. The toolkit was aimed at building international pressure on the issue of the farmers’ protests, in order to force the government to withdraw the farm laws. A Delhi Magistrate on Sunday remanded her to five days of police custody.

Now, according to news reports, the police have also accessed the WhatsApp chat between the two activists.

On February 4, Special Cell of Delhi Police had registered a case against the creators of the ‘toolkit’ on farmer protests under sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to sedition, criminal conspiracy and promoting hatred among groups namely under Sections 124A, 120A and 153 A of the IPC. A Delhi court has also issued non-bailable warrants against Nikita Jacob and Shantanu, another two accused in the case.

According to reports by News18, Disha Ravi ― to deflect the charges brought against her ― had made several false statements to the Delhi police. However, when confronted with incriminating evidence from her digital devices, including her Whatsapp conversations with Greta Thunberg, Disha admitted to having been in touch with several people involved with the toolkit. Disha had also attempted to conceal details about her having been in contact with the other accused Nikita Jacob, who is believed to be currently on the run from law enforcement.

Investigations by the police also revealed that Disha had expressed her misgivings regarding the consequences of her involvement in the making of the toolkit. She had also voiced her fears of being charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a WhatsApp conversation with the Swede. After Thunberg had leaked the incriminating document on Twitter, Disha had said, “Can we just not say anything at all for a while. I am going to talk to lawyers.”

https://twitter.com/CNNnews18/status/1361235100680261632

Delhi Police are also digging into Disha’s Gmail account to unearth any emails that were exchanged between her and the other accused. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also set to begin their investigation into any possible overseas transactions made by Disha Ravi through her organisation, Fridays for Future (FFF), in the past 5 years. The National Investigative Agency (NIA) is also expected to provide support in the case, given that several links with Khalistani organisations have now surfaced.

Online meeting with Poetic Justice Foundation’s Mo Dhaliwal

As per reports, Disha Ravi and Nikita Jacob had taken part in an online meeting with Poetic Justice Foundation’s Mo Dhaliwal. Dhaliwal is a self-proclaimed ‘proud Khalistani’ residing in Canada. A close friend of Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh, he has been orchestrating several protests in Canada and elsewhere to garner support within the Sikh diaspora for the agitating farmers in India. Nikita and Disha’s meeting with Dhaliwal was to discuss and plan a ‘Twitter storm’ ahead of India’s Republic Day, when the nation witnessed an outbreak of violence by the agitators in the national capital.

In the Zoom meeting, the group of three had formulated a plan to post messages, graphics and videos ahead of Republic Day to spread propaganda against the Indian administration in the backdrop of the farmers’ protests. They had decided to give the issue greater visibility internationally, which is why they contacted celebrities, including Greta Thunberg, Rihanna, Mia Khalifa and others.

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Pictured:  Nigel Adams, Minister of State for Asia

In the backdrop of the ongoing farmers’ protests in India, the British government has said that agricultural reform is the Indian government’s domestic policy issue. Responding to a question in the British Parliament on Friday, Minister of State for Asia in the Foreign Office, Nigel Adams, said, “We are aware of concerns in India and here in the UK about how these reforms might affect farming communities”, stressing that, “Agricultural reform is a domestic policy issue for the Indian authorities to address.”

When asked about the UK government’s assessment of the riots by agitating farmers on 26 January, the British minister stated, “The right to gather lawfully and demonstrate a point of view is common to all democracies. Governments also have the power to enforce law and order if a protest crosses the line into illegality… handling of protests is an internal matter for the Indian authorities.”

The previous week saw several India-related questions being asked in Westminster, with the Boris Johnson-led government clearly reiterating its supportive stance towards the Indian administration.

On UK’s ties with the QUAD ― Australia, India, Japan and US ― Adams said, “No decisions have yet been made on the form UK engagement with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue could take.”

In reply to a question on Kashmir, Adams said, “The UK’s position remains that it is for India and Pakistan to identify a lasting political resolution to the situation, one that takes into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.” He clarified that Kashmir was “raised” by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab with his Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar during the former’s India visit in December.

When a question was asked on Chinese aggression against India, Adams replied, “As neighbours, India and China have an important relationship with one another” and that London “welcome[s] discussions” while continuing to “support a peaceful resolution” between India and China on the border question.

More recently, tensions between the UK and China are on the rise, as China’s actions to assimilate Hong Kong into the Chinese political system has drawn sharp criticism from the UK. In what is seen as a violation of the “One country, two systems” principle and the erosion of Hong Kong’s political autonomy, the new national security law promulgated by China in the erstwhile British colony has forced the UK to open a special visa route for the island’s  residents to become UK citizens.

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American Hip-Hop Artist Unkonfined (stylized as ʋиκσиғιиɛ∂) on Wednesday tweeted in support of the farmers’ protests going on in India. However, he soon deleted his tweet, and clarified in a video that he deleted the tweet as he does not know much about the issue.

Unkonfined, who currently has more than 3,86,000 followers on social media platform Twitter, had simply tweeted “Support the farmers. #FarmersProtest”

This then led to a huge backlash from his Indian fanbase who soon unfollowed him. Here is a screenshot of the now-deleted tweet:

In his video explaining why he sent the tweet and then later deleted it, Unkonfined said that several people had been messaging him and had asked him to tweet with the hashtag ‘#FarmersProtest’. He decided to do it as he has a lot of followers in India. He further said that the deletion has nothing to do with supporting or not supporting the farmer protests. He said that he deleted the tweet because he does not know enough about the matter. “I deleted it because I don’t know enough about it to talk about,” Unkonfined said in his video. He further went on to say, “It’s important to educate yourself before you say anything and I should not have put a tweet out there that I don’t know anything about.”

THIS is an example of Real Maturity on SM! Appreciate @unkonfined 's honesty and candour. I completely agree that w/o knowing enough, Influencers ought not to opine about sensitive issues. And- if they realise they've been mistaken, they owe it to their fans to admit it! pic.twitter.com/SBSCyicMzT

— Jyoti Kapur Das (@jkd18) February 3, 2021

As reported earlier, some international celebrities like pop-star Rihanna, porn-star Mia Khalifa and radical climate activist Greta Thunberg have tweeted in support of the farmers’ protests against the Centre’s farm laws to build international pressure on India. Greta Thunberg had even posted a ‘toolkit’ allegedly prepared by the Poetic Justice Foundation to be used for this campaign, containing messages to be posted on social media, accounts of media houses, journalists and politicians to be followed etc. The celebrities had even tweeted the same messages contained in the toolkit from their Twitter handles.

Unkonfined further clarified on Twitter that he was not paid to tweet in support of the protests and nor was he part of a coordinated campaign. He admitted that he “simply fell victim to having good intentions”.

“I wanna be very clear here that I was in no way a part of a coordinated effort, was not presented a toolkit, and do not ever get paid to tweet. I simply fell victim to having good intentions but not knowing anything about the topic. It was wrong and I deleted it within minutes”, he tweeted.

https://twitter.com/unkonfined/status/1357546787687395330

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Protesters gathered in downtown Vancouver on Tuesday January 26 for what they called a “Global Day of Action”. Coincidentally, the day of the protests in Canada did coincide with the tractor rally and the ensuing riots that shook India’s capital. On 26 January 2021, Republic day, agitators protesting the Centre’s farm laws took out a massive tractor rally in Delhi. However, the rally soon turned violent and the agitators ran riot on the streets of the national capital. They destroyed cement barriers and police barricades, attacked security forces with swords and caused great destruction to Delhi’s public property. While some rioters rode horses and tried to run down policemen, others attempted trample policemen under tractors.

However, it is not just the day of the protest at Vancouver that connects it to the riots in India. The protests were held outside the Indian consulate on Tuesday in support of agitating farmers in India.

One of the groups behind the protests is called Our Avaaz. The group has been organizing local protests in Metro Vancouver, in solidarity with the violent agitators who planted Sikh and Khalistani flags on top of the Red Fort in Delhi. According to the organizers, similar rallies in support of farmers have been taking place “in Canada, the United States, Australia, the UK, Germany and Denmark to bring attention to India’s history of oppressive actions as vulnerable farmers and their families continue to protest in Delhi.”

#AskIndiaWhy

In a statement, a spokesperson for Our Avaaz said that “the focus of today’s protests was to mark a Global Day of Action, which would encourage global citizens and the Indian diaspora to #AskIndiaWhy”.

“This hashtag will connect efforts by supporters around the world to keep India accountable for human rights abuses and to highlight that global attention is turned to the farmer protest in Delhi with the expectation of a peaceful resolution.”

While one wonders what human rights abuses the Canadian protestors are talking about, one must also note that this is the same hashtag mentioned under the ‘prior actions’ list in the ‘toolkit’ document that was earlier shared by Swedish radical Greta Thunberg. The now-altered document had called for a ‘Digital Strike’ and a ‘Global TweetStorm’ by trending #AskIndiaWhy and tagging the Twitter handles of the PMO, the Agriculture Minister, other Indian government officials and press-persons.

This coincidence of the hashtag can be explained by the fact that another group involved in the Vancouver protest was the Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), and the PJF is the group that created the ‘toolkit’ document and other campaign materials and social media templates to frame the farmers’ agitations in a particular narrative.

According to the group’s website (the website being registered in Germany): “Poetic Justice Foundation challenges structures of oppression and discrimination through intersectional grassroots advocacy. We develop content, workshops and events to provoke, challenge and disrupt systemic inequities and biases. We create safe spaces for exploration, learning and healing to foster societal change. Our goal is to educate, organize and mobilize Canadians to achieve and protect equal rights in all aspects of social, political and economic life.”

The website also adds: “Currently, we are most actively involved in the #FarmersProtest that has activated Indian diaspora worldwide as a rebuke to India’s oppressive policies towards farmers.”

There is also a website AskIndiaWhy.com, registered to a UK address. This website is owned by PJF.

Mo Dhaliwal: The PJF’s front-man   

Talking of the protests in Vancouver, Mo Dhaliwal, co-founder of the Poetic Justice Foundation, stated in a press release, “These protests might feel like they are worlds away, but they are fighting for the same things we all value here at home – including the right to earn a living and feed our families. Farmers believe the agricultural reform laws introduced by the Indian government will drive down crop prices, devastate their earnings and allow private players to dictate food prices, driving small farmers even further into debt. Their concerns must be heard and their right to peacefully protest must be protected.”

According to data available with Corporations Canada, Canada’s federal corporate regulator, Monminder Singh Dhaliwal, Hardeep Singh Sahota and Sabrina Sohi are the three directors of PJF. Dhaliwal, who runs Skyrocket, a digital marketing agency, is also a friend and brand manager of Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh Dhaliwal. He even designed Jagmeet Singh’s campaign for the 2017 leadership of the federal New Democratic Party. Jagmeet Singh is known for his Khalistani sympathies and his endorsement of violence as a tool to achieve political goals. He had even been denied a visa to India in the past.

Now, by his own admission, Mo Dhaliwal is a ‘Khalistani’ and wants “an independent Punjab”.

Did the ‘Global Left’ use the Sikh diaspora to undermine India, or is it the other way round?

Dhaliwal also gave an interview to Canadian broadcaster Global News in the aftermath of the Republic Day riots, wherein he made accusations of fascism against the Indian government, and expressed hope that there would be enough international pressure on the government to force it to repeal the farm laws. He also mentioned the role of the Sikh diaspora in creating international awareness to put pressure on India.

Moreover, these rallies are not in any way recent, and nor are they limited to Canada alone. Under the umbrella of the California Sikh Youth Alliance (CSYA), Sikh activists in California, USA celebrated the Republic Day riots and also clashed with activists of the Hindu American Foundation recently. They also opposed the re-installation of a vandalised statue of MK Gandhi.

To go back farther, in November 2020, a rally was held in Surrey in support of agitating farmers in India. Rallies were also held in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary in Canada in December 2020.

Special mention must be made of the placards and the Sikh insignia used by those protesting against the Indian government’s farm laws. The phrase “Free Punjab” occurs more than once, on the placards attached to the windscreen of the cars participating in protest-rallies across Canada. The black jackets of two protestors shows the Khanda, a Sikh symbol, merged with the red maple leaf, a widely used national symbol of Canada. The words “Legendary Sikh Riders” are emblazoned on the jackets as well. Perhaps these protestors see themselves as a modern version of the sword-wielding, horse-riding Nihang Sikhs, generally identified as the “warriors of Sikhism”, who attacked Indian policemen during the riots in Delhi.

What all these rallies have in common is that the global Sikh diaspora play a huge role in organising them. That is very telling.

Where does the Sikh diaspora stand?

In some sort of protestors’ manual and ‘strategy deck’ released by the PJF, called “Global Day of Action: Protesting for Farmers on India’s Republic Day January 26, 2021”, it is clearly mentioned that the organisation aims “to develop a campaign in the Diaspora to support the people and the cause that awoke us.”

In another page of the ‘strategy deck’, the PJF clearly says that the support to the protests from the Sikh and Punjabi diaspora is seen as “extremism of militant factions”. There is also some lament that while “communities worldwide [are] engaged in protest actions to drive awareness”,  the “Indian liberals and urbanites aren’t fully expressing their support”.

In a notable SWOT analysis of the movement in the same document, the PJF expresses the sentiment that “being overtly Khalistani” may be a bad thing as they enjoy “goodwill with [the] common people of India”.

More remarkably, the document notes that “social media activism in the west” and “mainstream media accessibility” are opportunities, seemingly with the view that such activism from Western celebrities on mainstream media (and perhaps also social media) can be exploited to force the Indian government to repeal the farm laws. “Volunteerism” and “seva” are mentioned as well, in what may possibly be a reference to the langars the Sikh community is famous for.

The document further calls for a “united global disruption in the Diaspora on Jan 26th”. Was this “disruption” the riots that happened in Delhi, or something else entirely, is not fully ascertained.

The document also contains samples of messages on how protestors and other supporters can frame the narrative. It also claims that the Indian government “persistently” “oppress[es] its citizens in favour of corporate interests”, “persecute[s] critics” and “harass[es] journalists”. Here, the document is clearly signalling to the widely-held belief among several members of the international community and a section of the Indian populace that the Indian government is some sort of authoritarian regime.

The document also explicitly mentions that through these protests, the PJF aims to “develop a compelling message for the world to take notice of India’s ongoing oppression of its citizens.”

The document also asks protestors to “access” networks of Sikh organisers and Punjabi cultural groups to influence policy makers, other social and political movements and the general public.

One section asks protestors to target “Indian consulates or intersections or community gathering places in major metros”; in other words, places related to the Indian government and/or places where lots of people can notice the protests. It is noteworthy that the site of the anti-CAA Shaheen Bagh protest too was a major traffic intersection with heavy footfall.  Another interesting section of the document is called “The Plan”. This section is mostly devoted to media management and how to garner good PR for the protests.

Mo Dhaliwal is listed at the end of the document.

The PJF has also released a document for the benefit of the protestors, highlighting a few templates for social media.

The template also contains the picture, Twitter handle and a tweet by Thenmozhi Soundararajan, of the Equality Labs initiative. Equality Labs is a well-known Periyarite organisation seeking to foment hatred towards Hindus and Brahmins.

Given that the motive of the protests ― both within India and abroad ― is to de-legitimise the current Indian administration in the eyes of the world, one can only wonder what steps, if at all any, the Indian government will take to ensure that such an attempt does not succeed.

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Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has issued a press release in which it termed the recent comments by foreign individuals and entities as neither accurate nor responsible.

The statement from the MEA comes in the light of celebrity pop-singer Rihanna, radical climate ‘activist’ Greta Thunberg and porn star Mia Khalifa tweeting in support of the ‘farmers’ protests.

In the press release, the MEA said that the reformist legislations were passed by the Parliament of India after a full debate and discussion.

“These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming.”, the press release said.

It also stated that only a very small section of the farmers have reservations with the laws for which the Government of India has initiated a series of talks with farmer representatives.

“Union Ministers have been part of the negotiations, and eleven rounds of talks have already been held. The Government has even offered to keep the laws on hold, an offer iterated by no less than the Prime Minister of India.”, the press release said.

“Yet, it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them. This was egregiously witnessed on January 26, India’s Republic Day. A cherished national commemoration, the anniversary of the inauguration of the Constitution of India, was besmirched, and violence and vandalism took place in the Indian capital.”, the press release added stating that the police forces showed utmost restraint while handling these protests.

The MEA noted that certain vested interest groups  have tried to mobilise international support against India and added that the episode had led to Mahatma Gandhi’s statue being broken in parts of the world.

“We would like to emphasise 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. Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible. ” the press release concluded.

(With inputs from MEA press release)

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After western pop-singer Rihanna, porn star Mia Khalifa has joined the international influencers who have extended their support to the protesting ‘farmers’ at Delhi’s borders.

Mia Khalifa tweeting a picture of a protesting Sikh ‘farmer’ wrote ““Paid actors,” huh? Quite the casting director, I hope they’re not overlooked during awards season. I stand with the farmers. #FarmersProtest”.

“Paid actors,” huh? Quite the casting director, I hope they’re not overlooked during awards season. I stand with the farmers. #FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/moONj03tN0

— Mia K. (@miakhalifa) February 3, 2021

In another tweet Mia Khalifa sharing a picture of a woman holding a placard ‘Stop Killing Farmers’ wrote “What in the human rights violations is going on?! They cut the internet around New Delhi?! #FarmersProtest”. 

What in the human rights violations is going on?! They cut the internet around New Delhi?! #FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/a5ml1P2ikU

— Mia K. (@miakhalifa) February 3, 2021

This has now led to a ‘sticky’ situation for the protesting ‘farmers’ and others who have been extending their solidarity as they find themselves not being able to openly recognize and acknowledge Mia Khalifa’s support.

Mia Khalifa is a Lebanese-American porn star and webcam model and holds the distinction of most viewed performer on adult website PornHub. She has also starred in porn films performing sexual acts wearing a hijab.

According to a few experts who monitor internet traffic, Mia Khalifa wants to get maximum hits in the coming days as India and Pakistan have the highest per capita of people watch porn.

Pop star Rihanna on Tuesday tweeted about the farmers protests at Delhi’s borders, earning heavy criticism from Indian netizens on Twitter. Rihanna posted a CNN news report about the temporary internet shutdown around New Delhi and tweeted, “why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest”.

Rihanna ―who has earlier faced allegations of cocaine abuse when a video of her snorting a white substance at the Coachella music festival in 2015 had gone viral ― faced a lot of flak from Indians for her tweet. It is pertinent to note that Rihanna follows Khalistani sympathizing Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh on Twitter.

Swedish radical ‘climate activist’ and teenager Greta Thunberg also tweeted in support of the protests on Wednesday, when she shared the same CNN news report that Rihanna had earlier shared and tweeted, “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India”.

The post Porn star Mia Khalifa plows her way to support protesting ‘farmers’, creates sticky situation appeared first on The Commune.

Pop star Rihanna on Tuesday tweeted about the farmers protests at Delhi’s borders, earning heavy criticism from Indian netizens on Twitter. Rihanna posted a CNN news report about the temporary internet shutdown around New Delhi and tweeted, “why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest”.

why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest https://t.co/obmIlXhK9S

— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 2, 2021

Rihanna ―who has earlier faced allegations of cocaine abuse when a video of her snorting a white substance at the Coachella music festival in 2015 had gone viral ― faced a lot of flak from Indians for her tweet.

Quote tweeting Rihanna’s tweet, Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut lashed out with this tweet, “No one is talking about it because they are not farmers they are terrorists who are trying to divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like USA. Sit down you fool, we are not selling our nation like you dummies.”

https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam/status/1356640083546406913

Former cricketer Pragyan Ojha too replied to the pop star, and said that Indians don’t need an outsider poking their nose into the nation’s internal matters.

My country is proud of our farmers and knows how important they are, I trust it will be addressed soon. We don’t need an outsider poking her nose in our internal matters!

— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) February 2, 2021

Swedish radical ‘climate activist’ and teenager Greta Thunberg also tweeted in support of the protests on Wednesday, when she shared the same CNN news report that Rihanna had earlier shared and tweeted, “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India”.

We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India.
https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021

The 18 year-old Thunberg, who once said that politicians should be “put to the wall” and later had to apologise for it, has been panned by critics in the past for her ill-informed opinions on the nature of climate action.

On 26 January, Republic Day, the farmer-agitators had rioted across the national capital, damaging public property and severely injuring over a hundred policemen. They had also hoisted Sikh and Khalistani flags on top of the Red Fort.

Journalist Ashok Shrivastav, on Twitter, shared a heart-warming cartoon created by artist ArtKrafter, pointing out the pains suffered by policemen and their families by last week’s riots.

निःशब्द ! pic.twitter.com/6doeXdnAaL

— Ashok Shrivastav (@AshokShrivasta6) February 1, 2021

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The post Rihanna, Greta Thunberg earn the ire of Indians by tweeting in support of farmer protests appeared first on The Commune.