New Delhi: Within 16 hours of international pop star Rihanna tweeting a photograph of India's protesting farmers with an article highlighting the internet ban around Delhi's borders, singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh has released a song on her titled 'Riri' (another name for Rihanna). The token of appreciation has not gone down well with actor Kangana Ranaut, who has been critical of the farmers often calling them terrorists. She took to Twitter to mock Mr Dosanjh.
"They also need to earn a rupee or two. Since when have you been planning this? It takes at least a month to release a song, and libru (short derogatory term for liberal) want us to believe it's all organic. Ha ha," Ms Ranaut tweeted in Hindi sharing Mr Dosanjh's 'Riri' post.
At 1.30 pm on Wednesday, Mr Dosanjh, who has been supportive of the farmers and even addressed their gathering at Singhu in early December, released 'Riri' written specifically for Rihanna.
The 2.15-minute Punjabi song that premiered on YouTube calls Rihanna an angel and speaks of her home country Barbados. Mr Dosanjh also posted the song on his Twitter handle with a fist emoji which is used as a way to extend solidarity.
Minutes on, he tore into Kangana Ranaut, whom she had earlier criticised for misidentifying a woman farmer at Singhu as a Shaheen Bagh protestor alleging they could be hired for "Rs 100".
"Rs 2 (laughing emoji) Don't talk to me about your job," he quipped in Punjabi adding that the song, which was released without a video, only took half an hour to make. "Please go. Do not bore me," he added.
In a string of responses in Hindi, Ms Ranaut emphasised that her "singular job is patriotism", which she does adding "I won't let you do your work" and called Mr Dosanjh "Khalistani (terrorist)".
"This country is only for Indian, not Khalistanis. Say you are not a Khalistani, condemn fringe groups such as Khalistanis participating in protests. If you say this I will apologise and consider you a true patriot," she tweeted.
"Why are you acting like God "I won't let you". Who are you? This country doesn't belong to you alone. The country belongs to us all. Stay in your senses... I am with India. It is the government's job to check those creating mischief. You and I do not decide that," he continued in Punjabi.
When Ms Ranaut egged the actor-singer with more name calling, Mr Dosanjh signed off saying: "You create your own responses to problems and celebrate... who asked for your certificate of approval?"
He said he would not reply to Ms Ranaut's tweets any more.
Late on Tuesday night, Rihanna had asked her 100 million followers "Why aren't we talking about this (farmers' protest)?" Within hours, a long list of international celebrities and lawmakers from the UK and US had joined the chorus, including UN ambassadors, climate activist Greta Thunberg, US representative Jim Costa and US Vice-President Kamala Harris' niece Meena Harris.
Responding to Rihanna's question, Ms Ranaut held little back and stated that no one was talking about the movement since they were "terrorists" trying to "divide India", the Queen actor also called the singer a "fool".
The global outpouring of support on Twitter has drawn an unprecedented and sharp response from the Indian government.