These days, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is a worried man. What keeps him awake at night, it seems, is not the specter of Chinese troops massing at the border in the Himalayas but a celebrity with a global following. Rihanna, the 32-year-old Barbados-born reggae and hip-hop singer, swooped in unexpectedly to support tens of thousands of Indian farmers who have surrounded the nation’s capital, New Delhi, following months of protest.
Indian farmers are seeking the repeal of three controversial laws passed in 2020. The laws are intended to reform India’s highly regulated and subsidized agricultural market but which, many farmers fear, will leave them defenseless against corporate power and increase their risk of uncertain returns. The Indian parliament passed those laws in unseemly haste, without the usual consultation or parliamentary scrutiny. Since then, protests have continued unabated, with farmers laying siege on the outskirts of New Delhi and embarrassing the government. The Indian Supreme Court has intervened and set up a committee to examine the laws. A whiff of constitutional crisis is in the air.
