Now Trevor Noah shines spotlight on India's farmers protest

Mumbai: Stand-up comic and late night show host Trevor Noah is the latest international personality from the entertainment industry to highlight the ongoing farmers agitation.

Through his popular TV programme “The Daily Show”, the Emmy-winning presenter on Wednesday night explained the origins of the farmers’ protest, their demands and the subsequent global support the agitation has received.

On February 2, a tweet by pop star Rihanna triggered a wave of support for the protesting farmers by a number of global personalities, activists and politicians.

“Why are India’s farmers protesting? The government tried to change the decades-old agriculture laws and that’s when the manure hit the fan,” Noah tweeted, along with the video link.

In the show’s segment ‘If you don’t know, now you know’, which ran over eight minutes, the 36-year-old South African comic pieced together news clippings to provide a holistic view of the protest.

The video clip also mentioned the burning of effigies of Rihanna and Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, who had voiced her support.

Thousands of farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November demanding the repeal of three new agriculture laws that they say will end the minimum support price (MSP) based procurement of crops like wheat and paddy by the government and usher in big corporates into the farm sector.

They have rejected the government’s offer to suspend the reforms for 18 months and have not joined talks after 11 rounds of talks ended last month.

Noah, who delivers satirical news related to the international and American political matters in an entertaining way on “The Daily Show”, said the government has decided that they’ve had “enough” of the protest because this is “a major crackdown”.

“Maybe they think postponing the law will satisfy the farmers. But think about it. In 18 months, people will be in the same position that they are in now. And the protests will happen all over again…

“But this crackdown shows you how worried the government must be about the protest. And honestly they should be, because it’s clear that these farmers are digging in for the long haul,” Noah said in the video.

Meena Harris, an American lawyer and niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, Hollywood veteran Susan Sarandon, actors John Cusack, Amanda Cerni, singers Jay Sean, Dr Zeus and former adult star Mia Khalifa have also lent their support to the protesting farmers.

The government had criticised the tweets by Rihanna and other international celebrities, saying facts must be ascertained before people rushing to comment on the issue, calling it “neither accurate nor responsible”.