In a shocking move, the Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra government is now all set to investigate the tweets posted by celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Akshay Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Ajay Devgn and others who had tweeted in support of the Centre after foreign celebrities had begun criticising the Centre on farmers’ protests.
The development comes a day after the Congress demanded a probe by the police into the tweets to find out if the celebrities were pressured by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take to social media in support of the Centre. State Congress’s general secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant met state home minister Anil Deshmukh, who is currently under isolation after being tested covid positive, with the demand of the probe.
Sachin alleges that national heroes were being intimidated by the BJP and they were forced to do the same. He was quoted as saying that there was a “similar pattern behind these tweets by the celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, sportspersons Sachin Tendulkar, Saina Nehwal.”
Several celebrities had taken to Twitter shortly after the Ministry of External Affairs reacted to Rihanna’s tweets, defending the farm laws and alleging that some “vested interest groups” were trying to enforce their agenda on the protests. The MEA’s statement had two hashtags, #IndiaAgainstPropaganda and #IndiaTogether and soon, several bigwigs including Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Suneil Shetty, Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli had joined top ministers in calling for ‘unity’ and ‘support’ to the Indian government.
