New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that there was a reason why MEA reacted to the remarks of some celebrities in relation to protest by farmer unions and noted that they spoke “on matters on which they obviously didn’t know very much”.
The minister told ANI that ‘toolkit’ case, which is being probed by police, has revealed a lot. “I think it has revealed a lot. We have to wait and see what comes out. You can see there was a reason why the foreign ministry reacted to the statements which some celebrities gave out on matters on which they obviously didn’t know very much,” Jaishankar said.
He was responding to a question about ‘toolkit’ case.
The Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement earlier this week that protests by farmers against new farm laws must be seen in the context of India’s democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the Government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse.
“Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible,” the ministry had said.
Delhi Police on Friday wrote a letter to Google seeking registration details and activity log of the account through which a “toolkit” related to the farmers’ protest was created and uploaded on the social media platform.
Two e-mail IDs, one Instagram account and one Unifrom Resource Locator (URL) were mentioned in the toolkit and police has asked for details from the respective platforms.
The police had registered an FIR against unnamed persons in connection with the creators of the “toolkit’.
Delhi Police Special Commissioner Praveer Ranjan had said they had identified some 300 accounts spreading dissatisfaction and disharmony towards the Government of India.
‘”Toolkit’ account was being run by a group of Khalistanis. They had decided to conduct a digital strike post the Republic Day incident. We have recovered a document about the planned execution. We have found out that is a copycat execution. As of now, we have registered cases against the authors of that account. The case has been handed over to the cyber cell. Investigations are underway,” he had said.
Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg had on Wednesday posted the “toolkit” in a tweet which she later deleted. She had also extended support to protest by farmer unions on the borders of Delhi against the new farm laws.
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