After Youth Congress workers poured black oil and ink over Sachin Tendulkar's cut-out in Kerala's Kochi on Saturday, workers of the Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana protested outside the cricketing legend's house in Mumbai on Monday.
A poster in Marathi read: "Sachin amchya shetkari bapasathi kadhi tweet karshil (Sachin when will you tweet for our farmer father?"
Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana protest outside Sachin Tendulkar's house | FPJ Correspondent
This comes in the wake of Tendulkar's tweet in support of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's fight against "international propoganda" with respect to the ongoing farmers' protest against the Centre's contentious three farm laws at the borders of Delhi.
"India’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a nation. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda," Tendulkar had tweeted after international celebrities including pop icon Rihanna, climate and environmental activist Greta Thunberg, vlogger Amanda Cerny, US Vice President Kamala Harris' niece Meena, former porn star Mia Khalifa, Indian-Canadian YouTube star Lilly Singh, Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate and many others took to Twitter in solidarity with the protesting farmers.
It is pertinent to note that Sachin wasn't the only celebrity to have taken the 'pro-government stand'. Cricketers Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane; film personalities Karan Johar, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar; Lata Mangeshkar, Saina Nehwal and many others took to Twitter to counter the "international propoganda".
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has on Monday ordered a probe into the "similar" tweets done by celebrities. The celebs had used similar hashtags like #IndiaTogether, #IndiaAgainstPropagada to counter the tweets posted by international icons, who came out in support of the Indian peasantry.
Deshmukh termed it a "serious" matter and ordered the Intelligence Department to go into the background of the tweets. "Reactions on the farmers protest are coming from across the world and many celebrities have reacted. But you have a question about the timing of these tweets and whether these were made under pressures. The tweets by Akshay Kumar and Saina Nehwal look similar," Deshmukh said.
