Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the comments from international celebrities on the ongoing farmers' protests. He said that India has been seeing increased FDI but there is a new FDI that has emerged -- Foreign Destructive Ideology. He said India needs to be protected against it.
"The nation is making progress and we are talking about FDI but I see that a new FDI has come to the fore. We have to protect the nation from this new FDI. We need Foreign Direct Investment but the new FDI is 'Foreign Destructive Ideology', we have to protect ourselves from it," he said in the Rajya Sabha.
PM Modi's comments come amid furore from international celebrities who have spoken up in support of the farmers. It all began when pop star Rihanna shared an article about suspension of internet around Delhi, near farmers' protest sites.
Adult star Mia Khalifa, lawyer-author Meena Harris, niece of Kamala Harris, poet Rupi Kaur, Canadian parliamentarian Jagmeet Singh and environment activist Greta Thunberg have spoken up in favour of the farmers' protest. Thunberg shared a toolkit and asked people to help. The toolkit created quite a storm on social media, with a section claiming that plans to defame India was afoot.
PM Modi in his address at the Rajya Sabha also said that India must be protected from 'andolan jeevis' who are present in every agitation. "In the last few years, we have witnessed a new category of protesters, 'andolan jeevi', who can be witnessed in every agitation. We need to protect this country from these andolan jeevis, who are actually 'parjeevi' (parasite). They don't have their own strength, but they join all agitations," he said.
The Prime Minister also urged the farmers to take a step forward and help in resolving the issue. He said Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is in talks with union farmer leaders. PM Modi also said the government is working to strengthen APMCs and mandis. He added that MSP was here, is there and will continue to remain there.
Also read: 'MSP was there, is there, will be there,' says PM Modi at Rajya Sabha
Also read: Need to protect India from 'andolan jeevis' who join every agitation, says PM Modi