Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli join B-town on Twitter after RiRi's tweet causes stir, urge fans to stay 'united'

Hours after Twitter went into an overdrive with responses to international celebrities Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and Mia Khalifa's tweets on the farmers' protest, Indian stars flooded the micro-blogging site with messages of 'unity' using the hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.

Sporting icons including Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Shikhar Dhawan joined the Bollywood brigade in sending out tweets to their followers after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) put out a strongly-worded statement in the response to global celebrities articulating concerns on the farmers' protest.

In a move to do some damage control, the Government agency had , on Wednesday, said that a very small section of farmers in parts of the country had "some reservations" about the agriculture reforms.


"Some of these vested interest groups have also tried to mobilise international support against India," MEA said in a statement.


Indian sporting legends echoed the MEA's thoughts, urging their fans to sty 'united', telling them that this is 'an internal matter', and 'external forces can be spectators but not participants'.

Tendulkar, in a tweet, that read eerily similar to those posted by other Indian celebrities, wrote, "India’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a nation. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda"


The 'God of Cricket' as he is known has 35 million followers on Twitter as compared to RiRi's 101.2 million.

Team India coach and former cricketer Ravi Shashtri also tweeted to his 1.2 million followers saying, "Agriculture is a very important part of the machinery of the Indian economic system. Farmers are the backbone of any country’s ecosystem. This is an internal matter which I’m sure will be resolved through dialogue. Jai Hind! #IndiaStandsTogether #IndiaAgainstPropoganda."


Former cricketer Anil Kumble repeated the statement shared by his former colleagues, saying, "As the world's largest democracy, India is more than capable of taking her internal issues to amicable solutions. Onwards and upwards. #IndiaTogether
#IndiaAgainstPropaganda."


Team India skipper Virat Kohli skipped the 'propaganda' hashtag, in his tweet, where he urged fans to "stay united in this hour of disagreements."


Hardik Pandya, just like his captain, went with the #IndiaTogether hashtag, forgoing the 'propaganda' hashtag. Keeping it short, he tweeted, "Stronger together."


Shikhar Dhawan joined his teammates on the micro-blogging site, saying, "Reaching a solution that benefits our great nation is of utmost importance right now. Let’s stand together and move forward together towards a better and brighter future. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda."


Rihanna had kicked up a storm on Twitter after she shared a CNN article on the farmers' protests saying, "Why aren’t we talking about this?!". Her post was followed by tweets by climate warrior Greta Thunberg, US Vice-President Kamala Harris's author- niece Meena Harris and former adult movie star Mia Khalifa among others.


Thunberg, who had, on Wednesday, tweeted, "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India," added a comment to her original tweet, today, sharing a "toolkit by people on the ground in India' for those who want to help. She accompanied the post with the hashtags #StandWithFarmers #FarmersProtest.