West Bengal minister Bratya Basu  on Friday blamed that a feeling of fear and intimidation has been created by the BJP government at the Centre over farmers' agitation and it appears that many celebrities are being ''forced'' to tweet against the movement at ''gunpoint,''

Basu said that identical words and phrases have been shared in the tweets of some celebrities deriding the agitation by the farmers against the new farm laws of the Centre. ''It seems these tweets were extracted at gunpoint,'' he said.

Comments by international celebrities Rihanna and Greta Thunberg on the micro-blogging site show that the-agitation has generated ripples outside the country as well, Basu said. He said ''Despite so much criticism, mocking of our Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, despite so much unfair, crude and personal remarks against her and the TMC, democracy prevails in West Bengal.

He decried the trolling of actor Taapsee Pannu for her support to and solidarity with the farmers' movement. The trolling shows how ''fear and persecution'' pervades the country now.

''We are not a regime that will imprison scores of activists like Varvara Rao for speaking against the establishment. Our government is not vindictive like the BJP,'' he iterated.

Basu took a swipe at TMC turncoats who went to Delhi recently in a chartered flight to join BJP and wondered whether the saffron party gave any importance to its local leaders.

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