NEW DELHI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday had a word of advice for Sachin Tendulkar, whose tweet against remarks of international personalities on the ongoing farmers protest has evoked sharp reactions.
“Indias sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Lets remain united as a nation. Tendulkar had tweeted on February 3 with hashtag #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.
Tendulkar was one of the several celebrities, including cricketers, who took to Twitter to support the Centre’s call on standing against “propaganda” against the Indian government and its policies.
Several other celebrities, including Lata Mangeshkar, Virat Kohli, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Ravi Shashtri, also tweeted in support of the Centre’s call.
This after international personalities like Rihanna and Greta Thunberg tweeted their support to the farmers protest.
Reacting to this, Sharad Pawar said, “Many people have reacted sharply to the stand taken by them (Indian celebrities).”
The NCP chief went on to advise Sachin Tendulkar to exercise caution.
“I would advise Sachin (Tendulkar) to exercise caution while speaking about any other field,” Pawar said.
Yesterday, RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari had alleged that the Union government “fielded” Sachin Tendulkar to “counter” international personalities.
He went on to say that it was an insult to have conferred the Bharat Ratna on the batting legend.
The issue has led to a clear divide between Bollywood celebrities.
Taapsee Pannu, Swara Bhasker, Siddharth have criticised similarly worded tweets by stars like Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn in response to pop star Rihanna’s post drawing attention to the farmers’ agitation in India.
South star Siddharth also tweeted on the issue and said that powerful celebrities toeing the government line was the real propaganda.