Odisha-Born Singer Sona Mohapatra & Cricketer Pragyan Ojha Rebuff Rihanna’s Tweet On Farmers’ Protest

Bhubaneswar: Pop star Rihanna’s tweet on farmers’ strike in New Delhi has got a tongue-lashing from actress Kangana Renaut to former international cricketer Pragyan Ojha and singer Sona Mohapatra (both from Odisha).

Ojha said there is no need for an outsider to poke nose in the internal matters of the country.

“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!,” replied Ojha.

Sona Mohapatra said India doesn’t need validation about how to handle its affairs from someone who has nothing do to with it.

“‘She’ has no skin in the game to start with. So Rihanna or that angry child, virtue signalling shouldn’t be any kind of validation we seek in India. Doubt Rihanna studied or understood the protest, the people, the context of the land or anything that is also just as necessary. I hope I am wrong & when questioned she can answer some Q’s. Of course dissent is necessary but surface-level woke-ism is also a real thing & scary too,” she said.

Referring to the 18-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg’s tweet: “We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India,” Sona said, “Dear Greta, Since you are a climateer & more concerned about saving the environment, maybe you should start by studying matters... Also, Punjab & Haryana are close to only 3% of India’s land & have the most prosperous farmers who are largely protesting.”