The climate change movement wasn’t enough to fill the appetite
of the 16-year-old, so she jumps onto the bandwagon of those in support of the
farmers protests. Using a tool as influential as twitter, she goes onto express
her support and stands in solidarity with the farmers Protest in India.
Background of Greta Thunberg:
The 16-year-old started a large-scale school strike for
climate change outside the Swedish Parliament, since then she has gone global, striking
chords with all those dissatisfied by government policies to control climate change.
She has been a part of conferences in Stockholm, Helsinki,
Brussels and London. She has been invited to summits and conference all over
the world to share her thoughts. Her audacious speeches bring her intrepid and
unflinching nature to the forefront.
Practicing everything she preaches, the Swedish teen
leads a low-carbon, vegan life, avoiding air travel as it leaves behind a carbon
footprint.
What made Greta intervene in the Farmer’s
Protest:
After renowned singer, Rihanna, shared a news article
bringing to light the condition of the famers in India, Greta took to her
twitter account to highlight the crackdown of the central government against
the farmers by way of the internet shutdown all over Delhi to prevent the spread
of any instigative/false news.
As per sources, Greta’s actions were driven by her Facebook
account manager, Adarsh Pratap who advised her to intervene in the matter. Adarsh
has received a lot of backlash from the Indian media for his action of roping in
international attention to the internal matter of our country. He later went onto
release a statement declining the same and quoting that the Swedish Activist normally
disseminates information about climate change and her opinion on any other
issues are entirely personal.
The Toolkit and its Repercussions
Greta, the founder of Fridays for Future (FFF) encourages
students to skip school on Friday to participate in strikes for issues
affecting their nation and the world.
Using the organization as a weapon, on the 4th
of February, Greta released a link to a toolkit that encourages the youth to
start an uprising in support of the farmers protest in India. The document, according
to the Indian Government is an act of sedition and criminal conspiracy of the
pro-khalistani’s against the nation.
The government has taken into custody, an Indian team member
of the FFF, Disha Ravi, for allegedly having edited the document and conspiring
against the government.
Along with the 22-year-old Disha, another climate
activist and member of the FFF, Nikita Jacob is also in remand for being part of
preparing the document allegedly used to incite violence.
In conclusion I would like to state that the responsibility
of dealing with the farmers lies with the government and not with the social media
activists. Celebrities and influencers jumping into support the farmers or the
government, should refrain from doing so as it contributes to creating further
turmoil in the nation.
The central government needs clarity to think on the 3
contentious agricultural bills, and at a time when their energy and resources
should be directed at resolving the grievances of the farmers, they should not
have to deal with or track those elements who try to disrupt the peace of our
nation on the basis of misinformation.
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