AAP Approach Sachin To Tweet In Favor Of Farm Laws, Write Open Letter To Acknowledge A Farmer Who Came From Pandharpur

Aam Aadmi Party’s National Executive Member Preeti Sharma Menon requested Sachin Tendulkar to tweet in favor of the farmers. One Ranjeet Bagel, a farmer and fan of Sachin came all the way to Mumbai from Pandharpur to see Sachin.

Photos: Getty Images (left); Twitter (right|)

Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar had tweeted about the on-going farmers’ movement in response to American pop star Rihanna’s tweet about the farmers protest. He asserted that India's sovereignty cannot be compromised while reacting to the comments made by some foreign celebrities on the farmers’ protests in the country and said external forces can be spectators but not participants. Popstar Rihanna and climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg besides others earlier came out in support of the farmers' protesting against the three central laws on Twitter which opened a new type of Pandora’s Box online. In this wave, many including Sachin Tendulkar were criticized by a section of the society.

On Monday, AAP’s Preeti Sharma Menon wrote an open letter to the legendary cricketer on behalf of the party seeking a simple tweet in favor of the farmers’ protest which is on-going since November on the borders of New Delhi. Thousands of farmers have been protesting since November, demanding the government to repeal the three farm laws besides ensuring the legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. This is what Sachin had tweeted:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">India’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. <br>Indians know India and should decide for India. Let&#39;s remain united as a nation.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiaTogether?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>#IndiaTogether</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiaAgainstPropaganda?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>#IndiaAgainstPropaganda</a></p>&mdash; Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) <a href="https://twitter.com/sachin_rt/status/1356959311075934215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>February 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In the open letter, Menon wrote: “You are India's pride. This nation of 1.3 billion people has prayed for you, wept for you and rejoiced in your success. In this country where Cricket is a religion, you are God for us. I am certain, as our Bharat Ratna and a Member Of Parliament your heart must want to bat for all multitudinous hued people of this country who have worshipped you." She appealed to Sachin to see the pains of the farmers and write in support of all those who have been protesting for almost three months now. She further wrote: “So I, a humble citizen, request you to heed the appeal of Ranjeet Bagel, a farmers son, who travelled all the way from Solapur to your door. He came from Pandharpur, the "DevNagri" where all us Maharashtrians go for a pilgrimage, on a pilgrimage to Bandra, Mumbai where his God Sachin Tendulkar resides with a simple prayer - a tweet in support of our 'Anndaatas", the farmers who are protesting against the Farm Laws that will rob them of their livelihood.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OpenLetter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>#OpenLetter</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/sachin_rt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>@sachin_rt</a> requesting him to make one tweet supporting farmers. <a href="https://t.co/sgBo5BSow8" rel='nofollow'>pic.twitter.com/sgBo5BSow8</a></p>&mdash; Preeti Sharma Menon (@PreetiSMenon) <a href="https://twitter.com/PreetiSMenon/status/1358779989987008521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>February 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In the open letter she mentioned a boy named Ranjeet Bagel who came all the way to Mumbai from Pandharpur and travelling for more than 370 kilometers.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ranjeet Bagel a farmers son came all the way from Pandharpur with prayer to the God of all cricket fans, to tweet in favour of farmers. Heed his prayer <a href="https://twitter.com/sachin_rt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>@sachin_rt</a> <a href="https://t.co/yVEaLkmk5E" rel='nofollow'>pic.twitter.com/yVEaLkmk5E</a></p>&mdash; Preeti Sharma Menon (@PreetiSMenon) <a href="https://twitter.com/PreetiSMenon/status/1358780475590909958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>February 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sachin Tendulkar hasn’t reacted to it so far, nor has he reacted to any allegations leveled against him.