American lawyer Meena Harris continues to support farmers’ protest despite right-wing trolls

Meena also raised attention to the arrest and alleged sexual assault of activist Nodeep Kaur in police custody and asked right-wing supporter to “stop using religion as a cover of fascism”
Meena Harris
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American Lawyer and writer Meena Harris who has been in the news for supporting the ongoing farmers’ protests has hit back strongly at the backlash from right-wing supporters in India.

Reiterating her support to the farmers’ protests, Meena, the niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, posted a tweet, saying she won’t be silenced or intimidated. “This isn’t just about agricultural policy. It’s also about the persecution of a vocal religious minority. Its police violence, militant nationalism, and attacks on labour rights. Its global authoritarianism. Don’t tell me to stay out of your affairs. These are all of our issues,” she tweeted.

The American lawyer also slammed a Twitter user claiming that she ‘hates Hindus’. “Dude, I’m Hindu. Stop using religion as a cover for fascism,” she replied.

Meena also brought attention to the arrest and alleged sexual assault of activist Nodeep Kaur in police custody. “Imagine what they would do if we lived in India. I will tell you — 23-year-old labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured and sexually assaulted in police custody. She’s been detained without bail for over 20 days,” she tweeted while reacting to her photo of being burnt by ‘United Hindu Front’.

Meena is not the only well-known international woman celebrity to get this kind of treatment. Former adult star Mia Khalifa and pop star Rihanna, among others, were targets of right-wing trolls, slut-shaming and personally attacked.

On February 4, the group ‘United Hindu Front’ burnt photos and effigies of these women in the New Delhi. Their crime – supporting the farmers’ protest and voicing it on social media. However, none of these women were intimidated by these antics. Instead, they trolled the right-wing supporters and right-wing media channels on social media for making absurd claims such as being paid to post a tweet and support the farmers’ protest.

After foreign celebrities brought international attention to the farmers’ protests, Indian celebrities from the Hindi film industry and cricketers posted tweets with similar wording in support of the Indian government message, earning the ire of several Indian fans for not speaking up on the farmers’ crisis.

Meanwhile, as the farmers’ protest has entered day 74, the heavy security deployment continues at Tikri Border on Sunday morning. A day after the farmers’ unions called for “chakka jam”, the centre decided to deploy more security to make sure protests are peaceful.

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