Gulf Today Report
Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut, the self-styled 'Queen' of controversy, has clearly exceeded her brief. Earlier, she called singer Rihanna a ‘fool’ and a ‘dummy’ for her tweet on the farmers’ protest in India; she has now called her a porn singer, a porn star, and a Left Wing role model.
Kangana also attached a scantily-clad picture of Rihanna alongside a sari-clad photo of herself along with the above two tweets.
"Right Wing role model VS Left Wing role model ...I rest my case. #Indiatogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda," Kangana Ranaut tweeted on Wednesday, according to Indo-Asian News Service.
Scores of widows of farmers on Thursday staged a noisy protest in Yavatmal to slam the Bollywood actress for her "anti-farmer remarks", burnt her effigy and demanded an unconditional apology from her.
They also hit her effigy with shoes to register their anger before setting it afire.
However, soon after the Indian actress tweeted about Rihanna she was trolled on social media, with screen grabs of her intimate scenes from past films.
Some tweets of actor Kangana Ranaut were deleted on Thursday by Twitter, which said the posts were in violation of the platform's rules on hate speech, according to a report in a section of the Indian media.
Two tweets by the actor have been deleted in the last few hours, both related to the farmers’ protests and the backlash on the world stage after tweets by international celebrities.
"We have taken action on tweets that were in violation of the Twitter rules in line with our range of enforcement options," Twitter said in a statement.
Kangana also called climate activist Greta Thunberg a "rat" for her comments on the protests.
On Tuesday, Ranaut called the farmer protesters "terrorists" and said they were trying to divide India.
Ironically, one of Kangana’s old tweets appreciated a song by Rihanna.
More than 250 accounts were blocked for tweeting or retweeting with the 'farmer genocide' hashtag, and making "fake, intimidatory and provocative tweets" in connection with the farmers’ protests.
Twitter unblocked the accounts later. Yesterday, the Indian government warned of action if Twitter did not comply with its order.
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Meanwhile, the farmers’ widows announced their resolve to boycott all films of Kangana till withdrew her remarks and tendered an unconditional apology to the Indian farmers for her "insulting statements".
Leading the protests was social activist Smita Tiwari along with farmers' widows like Bharati Pawar, Poornima Kopulwar, Kavita Sidam, Lakshmi Gandhwar, Rama Thamke, Vandana Mohurle, Rekha Gurnale, Aparna Malikar, and Yogita Choudhary.
Farm activists like Anil Tiwari, Ankit Naitam, Sunil Raut, Suresh Talmale, Neel Jaiswal, Manoj Chavan, Sandeep Jajulwar, Chandan Jainkar, Pradeep Kosare, Bablu Dhurve, and Ashutosh Ambade also participated and raised slogans against Kangana.
"We have seen the repression let loose on farmers on Delhi borders by police and paramilitary forces. We witnessed peasants getting beaten up mercilessly and dying. The farmers will return home only after the three new central agricultural laws are withdrawn by the BJP-led Union government," Pawar said in her speech.
Rihanna arrives at the launch event for her autobiography “Rihanna” at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, US. File/Reuters
A young widow, Seedam recalled how her debt-ridden husband committed suicide and her family suffered as a consequence. "However, rather than sympathise with the cause of farmers' widows and orphans, unpatriotic people like Kangana are making fun of their sacrifices," she said.
Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM) president Kishore Tiwari, who spoke at the protest meet, labelled Kangana as the "BJP's unofficial spokesperson" and criticised her for tweets comparing poor farmers with terrorists as an "outcome of a perverted mindset".
Tiwari, accorded a Minister of State status in the state, said that the whole country was now waiting for the February 7 'chakka jaam' programme and appealed to the people to avoid travel by road on that day in support of farmers agitating on Delhi borders.
Anil Tiwari said that the biggest problem confronting the agro sector was the unending suicides by farmers. Instead of speaking up for the suffering peasantry, Kangana has chosen to ridicule the 'annadaatas' (food providers) by branding them as terrorists, he alleged.
Last month, the VNSSM and other farm organisations had sent batches of farm widows to Delhi to join the protesting farmers and express solidarity on behalf of Maharashtra's peasantry.