The discourse around the farmers' movement in India also has its reach outside India. Recently, American pop singer Rihanna tweeted in support of the Farmers' protest in India. The tweet was followed by a lot of other tweets from people outside of India. In response to Rihanna's tweet, a lot of Indian celebrities including Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Akshay Kumar commented that the farmers' protest is an 'internal matter' and the 'outside forces' must not interfere in it. Tendulkar's role drew mixed reactions across the country, and for the first time, Tendulkar faced heavy criticism too. NCP President Sharad Pawar has also commented on this whole incident.
"Many ordinary people are reacting angrily to the statements of Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar. Therefore, I would advise Sachin to be cautious when speaking about issues outside of his own field," said Sharad Pawar in Marathi while speaking at a program in Pune.
Sharad Pawar's reaction comes amid the on-going Farmers' protest on the state borders of Delhi. In sarcastically trade-mark style, Sharad Pawar took a dig at Sachin Tendulkar.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">why aren’t we talking about this?! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiaTogether?src=hashtag_click">#FarmersProtest</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiaAgainstPropaganda?src=hashtag_click">https://t.co/obmIlXhK9S</a></p>— Rihanna (@rihanna) <a >February 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But why did Sharad Pawar make such a statement?
Tendulkar had slammed foreign celebrities who raised their voices against the farmers' movement in India. He had tweeted: "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"
<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's remain united as a nation.<a >#IndiaTogether</a> <a >#IndiaAgainstPropaganda</a></p>— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) <a >February 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In reaction to this tweet, there were mixed reactions from fans around the country. Some came in support of the great cricketer, while some chose to outrightly criticise him. Pawar's 'advice' to Sachin to be 'cautious' when talking about issues comes in the backdrop of all these tweets.