Why Rihanna and Greta Thunberg are taking on India’s Modi

Global celebrities are helping Indians to fight their government’s crackdown on dissent.

Rihanna has criticised the Indian government for its hardline approach to the recent protests. Getty

Salil Tripathi

Feb 11, 2021 – 12.01pm

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These days, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is a worried man. What keeps him awake at night, it seems, is not the spectre of Chinese troops massing at the border in the Himalayas but a celebrity with a global following.

Rihanna, the 32-year-old Barbados-born reggae and hip-hop singer, swooped in unexpectedly to support tens of thousands of Indian farmers who have surrounded the nation’s capital, Delhi, following months of protest.

Foreign Policy