This is not a sentence I expected to write, but Rihanna was right to ask why the world isn’t paying more attention to the farmers’ protests in India.
On Tuesday, the Barbadian pop star tweeted a CNN report to her 101 million followers, which detailed the latest attempt by India’s government to suppress the tens of thousands of farmers who have descended on Delhi in protest at agricultural reforms.
The farmers, many of whom come from the Punjab region of northern India, which has a large Sikh population, say that the government’s attempt to deregulate the agricultural sector will destroy their livelihoods. But this isn’t just a matter for India, and it’s not just about the reforms. Sikhs are now being threatened with potentially devastating pogroms – and without global attention, the government might even get away with it.
