Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray criticised the way in which the central government is handling the ongoing farmers’ protests. Thackeray said that the government should not have involved icons like Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar in retaliating to international celebrities who were tweeting in support of the protesting farmers.
“The government should not do such things. These people are legends, but asking them to tweet with same hashtags is unacceptable. The government should not put their reputation at stake. This is a question of government’s policy and not about a national issue like a threat from China or Pakistan. They should have limited the issue to actors like Akshay Kumar. Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar are Bharat Ratnas. They are otherwise they are very simple people. They tweeted because the government must have asked them to do it. But now they have to face the backlash of trolls,” said Thackeray.
Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar were among some of the celebrities who put out coordinated tweets with the hashtag #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda on 3 February after singer Rihanna tweeted in support of the ongoing farmers’ protests in India.
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