Explained: Mystery Of Greta Thunberg’s Deleted Toolkit On Farmers’ Protests And Invisible Hands Of Digital Propaganda 

An accidental Tweet by environmental activist Greta Thunberg on farmers’ protests which was quickly deleted has raised a Tweetstorm of its own.

The tweet contained the link of article titled ‘Global Farmers’ Strike - First Wave’. It further asked the reader to stand up against India’s “failing democracy (at the behest of ruling fascistic party RSS-BJP”.

On front page was written, “Will you be part of largest protest in human history?”

The document seems to be a well laid out plan for carrying digital propaganda against farm acts passed by the Indian government.

The document provides a list of “urgent actions” as well as “prior actions”. The former contain a time line: a Twitter Storm on 4 and 5 February; solidarity photo or video message by 5 and 6 February; contacting government representatives to ask them to take action; signing online petitions; and divesting from Adani, Ambani enterprises.

The list of “prior actions” includes a ‘Digital Strike’ with ‘Ask India Why’
hashtag and asks the readers to tag @PMOIndia, @nstomar (Minister of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare), the heads of other nations, and international bodies like the IMF, WTO, FAO, World Bank.

The document also listed a "Extinction Rebellion (Global) Instagram Live” on 26 January (India’s Republic Day) with farmers at the borders of Delhi and environmental workers and activists worldwide. The document shows several other activities planned for the same day.

Notably, the same day as “Extinction Rebellion” (also referred to as ‘XR’ in the document) the farmer tractor rally turned violent in the national capital.

Targeting the Republic Day is explained by the deep contempt the document shows for Indian democracy. It says that “India has a long history of human rights violations, violence, and a cruel indifference for its most vulnerable citizens”.

“On January 26th, the government will be celebrating the adoption of its constitution with a military parade, while continuing to perpetuate harmful policies that violate their own Constitution.”

“India's farmers, and other citizens need the global community to pay attention — the world needs to know that India is retreating from a democracy, regressing hard by rushing headlong into fascism. International focus on these protests may be the only thing preventing more state-sponsored violence and another massacre/genocide in India.”

It further urged the readers to take "physical actions" near “Indian Embassies, government offices, media houses (or even Adani-Ambani offices) globally”.

The document contains a “toolkit”, various images, “samples” and "scripts” in different languages for all the planned actions that the readers can pick from. The document says that “it is paramount to put international pressure on India’s Government” and asks the reader to use these.

The document further notes that there is a “strong interest in UK MPs on this issue”, and asks the readers to petition UK MPs.

It says that UK MPs are being asked to act now to support India's farmers in two ways. First is by using aid to India as an instrument under the Conceptual Framework on Agriculture and the UK-India Infrastructure Technical Co-Operation Facility (ITCF); Second, by stopping exports of pesticides banned in the UK to India and other countries.

The document asks readers to divest from companies linked to Adani and Ambani, saying that “Billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani manufacture wealth by working hand-in-hand with the Modi Regime to exploit the world’s people, lands and culture”.

It asks the readers to “hit them where it hurts”.

Another key feature of the document was the segment "Suggested Posts" under which it laid out a series of tweets which would be posted as part of this protest. Incidentally, one of the suggested tweets in the document is meant for Rihanna, who seems to have copy pasted the same word to word, day before yesterday.

The document also asks the readers to support accounts that tweet in favour of the protests like that of Rihanna and Greta Thunberg.

Thunberg didn’t clarify why she quickly deleted the Tweet which she had posted, on reasonable assumption, to further help the organisation of protests against Indian government.

After Thunberg made the document public, its handlers frantically edited out the most controversial bits (which included the suggested posts page) and ultimately made it unavailable for access. Many social media users were quick to take screenshots of the original document.

The document solidifies the suspicion that farmers’ protest in India are being used by vested groups for their own agenda; that there are invisible hands and pockets behind these protests; and that social media posts by celebrity types are not organic outrages.

After all, there is a long history of foreign-sponsored protests to harm the security and sovereignty of nations, especially in the Third World.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India yesterday issued a statement, saying: “Yet, it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them. This was egregiously witnessed on 26 January, India’s Republic Day. A cherished national commemoration, the anniversary of the inauguration of the Constitution of India, was besmirched, and violence and vandalism took place in the Indian capital.”

“Some of these vested interest groups have also tried to mobilise international support against India. Instigated by such fringe elements, Mahatma Gandhi statues have been desecrated in parts of the world. This is extremely disturbing for India and for civilised society everywhere,” the MEA said.

“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,” MEA said in the statement.