Angry members of a Hindu nationalist organization have set on fire photographs of Greta Thunberg in India's capital city after the Swedish environmental activist took to social media to express support for India's protesting farmers.
The outraged activists also burned the posters of Hollywood celebrity Rihanna after she tweeted "why are we not talking about this?" sharing a CNN article as she expressed support for the Indian farmers.
In the face of growing animosity between the disgruntled farmers and the government, the members of the United Hindu Front held signs that said India would not "tolerate intervention into its internal affairs."
The farmers have been demonstrating since late last year over new agriculture laws, which they say only benefits private buyers at the expense of growers.
But the government said the new agricultural policies would generate much-needed investment to the country's farm sector, which accounts for nearly 15% of India's $2.9 trillion economy but employs about half its workforce.
Thunberg and Rihanna, and other foreign celebrities sparked a backlash from loyalists of the Modi administration, including swathes of Bollywood and Indian cricket stardom, who claimed they were intervening in the nation's internal affairs.
India's foreign ministry hit back on Wednesday, denouncing what it called as "sensationalist social media comments" by celebrities as "neither accurate nor responsible," Al-Jazeera said.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers have occupied the streets outside of New Delhi ahead of a planned protest on Saturday. More protesters participated after a farmer died following violent clashes with police on January 26.
The 18-year old Thunberg also proposed that those overseas demonstrate outside their nearest Indian consulate on February 13 and 14. Members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had alleged that Thunberg was involved in a plot to divide the nation.
The U.S. embassy in New Delhi called on India's government on Thursday to resume talks with the farmers angry over the country's agriculture reforms. "We encourage that any differences between the parties be resolved through dialogue," a U.S. embassy official said in a statement.
Modi's government has conducted several rounds of meetings with representatives of farmers, but there has been no word on when the discussions would resume after the Republic Day clashes.
Meanwhile, an inquiry will be carried out on the developers of an Indian farmers' demonstration "toolkit" that was shared by Thunberg, police said, claiming it was created to "encourage disaffection and ill-will" against the government.
Authorities said they had filed a complaint against the toolkit's makers. Thunberg was not included in the complaint.
