देश
Don’t know Rihanna, Greta Thunberg but welcome their support to farmers’ protest, says BKU leader Rakesh Tikait
For all the global attention the farmers’ ongoing movement against the Centre’s new farm laws has garnered, the man at its centre seems oblivious of the celebrity support the movement has been getting.
Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, has welcomed the support from international artists and activists, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, although admitting he does not know them.
“Mujhe kya pata, kara hoga. Main kya unhe jaanun (I don’t know. They must have done. I don’t know them),” Rakesh Tikait said on Thursday, breaking into his characteristic rustic style of conversation when asked about the support from several international celebrities to the protests against new farm laws.
Talking to the media at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, Tikait, who is credited with reviving the agitation that had gone slim after the January 26 violence in Delhi, sought to know who these people were.
“Kaun hain ye videshi kalaakar? (Who are these foreign artists)?? Tikait said exhibiting unawareness when asked about the foreigners supporting the farmers’ movement.
When informed about American pop-singer Rihanna, adult star Mia Khalifa and Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, the Sisauli-born Tikait responded,“Mujhe kya pata, kara hoga. Main kya unhe jaanun! (They would have supported the farmers’ protest, but I don’t know them!).”
