Bollywood stars' near identical tweets spark criticism from within industry
Mumbai, Feb 4: A section of Bollywood celebrities on Thursday criticised big stars such as Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn for their similarly worded tweets in response to pop star Rihanna's post drawing attention to the farmers' agitation in India.
Actor Taapsee Pannu, filmmaker Onir, actor Arjun Mathur and others criticised the show of solidarity by the big stars towards the government.
Rihanna, the fourth most followed celebrity on Twitter with over 100 million followers, on Tuesday took to the microblogging site and shared a CNN news article headlined, "India cuts internet around New Delhi as protesting farmers clash with police."
"Why aren't we talking about this? #FarmersProtest," Rihanna wrote on Tuesday.
Post her tweet, Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, Meena Harris, an American lawyer and niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, actors Amanda Cerni, singers Jay Sean, Dr Zeus and former adult star Mia Khalifa voiced their support to the protesting farmers.
India on Wednesday reacted sharply to these tweets with several Bollywood and cricket stars and top ministers rallying around the government in its pushback.
The "temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments is neither accurate nor responsible, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Facts must be ascertained before the rush to comment, the ministry added, using the hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda to make its point.
Personalities including Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Lata Mangeshkar, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar and others rallied around the government on social media using hashtags - #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda as they reacted to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs on the issue.
These tweets advised people to not fall for "false propaganda" and support "an amicable resolution", rather than paying attention to anyone creating differences.
Calling it "embarrassing" and "tragic", many in the film industry called out the celebrities for their sudden Twitter activity while they failed to notice or acknowledge the plight of farmers.
Actor Taapsee Pannu, who has been a vocal supporter of farmers issue, took a jibe at the government's campaign and said one should focus on strengthening the system.
"If one tweet rattles your unity, one joke rattles your faith or one show rattles your religious belief, then it's you who has to work on strengthening your value system not become propaganda teacher' for others," Pannu wrote.
If one tweet rattles your unity, one joke rattles your faith or one show rattles your religious belief then it’s you who has to work on strengthening your value system not become ‘propaganda teacher’ for others.
— taapsee pannu (@taapsee) February 4, 2021
Actor Sonakshi Sinha, Akshay Kumar's co-star of many films, was among the celebrities to support of Rihanna's tweet.
The actor, in her Instagram stories, shared quotes from storysellers comics, which said the voices raised by the international celebrities are "about the violation of human rights, suppression of free internet and expression, state propaganda, hate speech, and abuse of power."
One of the stories on Sinha's Instagram also dismissed the argument that it was India's internal matter, saying, "these are not alien species but fellow humans who are speaking up for the rights of other humans."
Comedian-actor Vir Das said he was amazed to see how Indians got mobilized' over a tweet by Rihanna and Thunberg.
Honestly, I don't think Rihanna or Greta have anything more than superficial wisdom about Indian farmers. But gotta say it's hilarious to see literally thousands of shaky Indian men get mobilized over a tweet, all the while proclaiming how secure they are in their policymakers, he said.
Honestly, I don't think Rihanna or Greta have anything more than superficial wisdom about Indian farmers. But gotta say it's hilarious to see literally thousands of shaky Indian men get mobilized over a tweet, all the while proclaiming how secure they are in their policymakers ?
— Vir Das (@thevirdas) February 3, 2021
Filmmaker Onir too took a dig at the tweets in support of the government by noted personalities and termed the so-called support from Bollywood as a puppet show'.
It is so embarrassingly obvious that a whole bunch or celebs who do not value their voice have been sent a set message, which they are modifying a bit and postings. They Do what they have been told to. Tragic #puppetShow #worldWithFarmers #IStandWithFarmers, he tweeted.
It is so embarrassingly obvious that a whole bunch or celebs who do not value their voice have been sent a set message , which they are modifying a bit and postings . They Do what they have been told to . Tragic #puppetShow #worldWithFarmers #IStandWithFarmers
— অনির Onir اونیر ओनिर (@IamOnir) February 3, 2021
Celebrity jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali tweeted, "Disappointed with the fraternity tweeting identical tweets that make it more like a marketing gimmick. Whatever their reasons & I'm no one to judge at least u could have tried to make it more original. Now you have given yourselves away. Reel Life Heroes VS Real Life Heroes."
Disappointed with the fraternity tweeting identical tweets that make it more like a marketing gimmick. Whatever their reasons & I’m no one to judge at least u could have tried to make it more original. Now you have given yourselves away. Reel Life Heroes VS Real Life Heroes ?
— Farah Khan (@FarahKhanAli) February 4, 2021
Actor Sayani Gupta tweeted, Aiyooo! The cute Bhakts have awakened! (You know that moment in a zombie film climax, when the zombie was looking elsewhere, and a human was cautiously stepping away, and bam! It suddenly turns to him.) Just got that feeling!.
Bollywood celebrities have often been called out in the media for not speaking up on politically sensitive topics unlike their counterparts in the US.
Pointing out to this fact, actor Swara Bhasker wrote on Wednesday, "Aur Bolo 'Speak Up Bollywood, 'Speak Up celebrities'."
"Made in Heaven" star Arjun Mathur used the hashtags to mock celebrities for displaying an "utter lack of spine", a thought echoed on social media with 'Spineless Celebs' trending on Twitter.
"Let us stand together in displaying our utter and complete lack of spine, in safeguarding our hundreds of crore rupees of income and in supporting this military-style mobilisation against the very masses who have practically treated us as gods and to whom we owe everything we enjoy. Let no sane or humane voice interfere, nor influence you.
"They can spectate, not participate. Please do support us, as we intend to come for you next," Mathur wrote on Instagram.
Actor-TV host Sushant Singh said he was heartbroken with the support pouring in from the film industry for the government.
Why do you make those who are heroes or heroines in films your idols? Heartbroken now...
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and UP, have been protesting for over two months at Delhi's borders demanding rollback of the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
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BJP will bring back electoral bonds after wider consultations, says Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to reintroduce electoral bonds, which were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in some form after wider consultations if the party is re-elected in the Lok Sabha elections, as reported by the Hindustan Times.
The scheme was struck down by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on February 15, citing violations of voters' right to information and the potential for quid pro quo arrangements between donors and political parties.
Sitharaman stated that the Centre has not yet decided whether to file a review petition against the judgement.
“We still have to do a lot of consultation with stakeholders and see what is it that we have to do to make or bring in a framework which will be acceptable to all, primarily retain the level of transparency and completely remove the possibility of black money entering into this,” she said in an interview with the Hindustan Times.
The finance minister claimed that the electoral bonds scheme had brought in transparency, and that what prevailed before it “was just free-for-all”.
Sitharaman echoed the claims made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 15 during an interview with ANI, in which he contended that it was because of electoral bonds that a money trail could be found in political funding.
“If there were no electoral bonds, then in which system of power would they have been able to find out where the money came from and where it went?” Modi asked. “This is the success story of electoral bonds.”
The Supreme Court had on February 15 directed the State Bank of India to issue details of the political parties that received electoral bonds from April 12, 2019, and submit them to the Election Commission. In the initial set of data released on court orders, the State Bank of India had not revealed the unique alphanumeric numbers and serial numbers of the electoral bonds.
It was only after petitioners in the case approached the court that the bank shared the alphanumeric and serial numbers of electoral bonds that were used to match donations with the parties that received them.
On April 17, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi asked why the BJP had hidden the names of those who had donated money to the party through electoral bonds if the aim of the scheme was to increase transparency. “And why did you hide the dates on which they gave you the money?” he added.
Electoral bonds were monetary instruments that citizens or corporate groups could buy from the State Bank of India and give to a political party, which then redeemed them.
Under the scheme, buyers were not required to declare their purchase of these interest-free bonds and political parties did not need to show the source of the money. Only the total amount received through the electoral bonds was revealed to the Election Commission through the audited accounts statements.
However, the Centre could access information about these donors as it controls the State Bank of India.
Analysis of the data shared by the State Bank of India revealed that the BJP received the lion’s share of electoral bond donations. Some of the buyers of the electoral bonds were companies that had faced raids by central agencies.
