Block Narendra Modi is trending on Twitter
“Takes Prime Minister no time to tweet about Gajendra Singh or Nitish
Kumar resigning, but continues to follow the bigot who called Gauri Lankesh
'kuttiya'” tweeted Prateek Sinha, the founder of Alt News, a fact-checking
website/media watchdog, on September 7. But Sinha is not the only one who is
angry about the PM's appalling silence.
The assassination of Gauri Lankesh, a highly revered
journalist, and subsequent reactions on social media from a section of
"nationalists" has given way to a unique form of protest. Several
users on Twitter have started blocking India Prime Minister Modi.
Why?
Because the prime minister is known to follow abusive trolls
from his Twitter account – some of whom have not only shamed Lankesh
posthumously, but have actively justified her murder.
That Prime Minister Modi is no fan of the fourth estate is
actually an understatement. An IANS article earlier this year went so far as to
say that in another two years, Modi may well enter the Guinness World Records
for being the first prime minister of a democratic country who has avoided
meeting the media at a large televised gathering. To the untrained eyes, it
would almost seem like he hates the press and that would not be a far-fetched
claim to make.
Modi’s hatred for the press, especially for the
“cocktail-drinking", "Lutyens'-residing",
"English-speaking", "liberal" media, quite possibly stems
from the "persecution" he endured in its hands following the 2002
Gujarat riots. Or maybe the Right-wing prime minister just doesn’t feel
comfortable with a media environment that is largely perceived to be Left
leaning.
Whatever be the case, the man has successfully eliminated
the need for media interactions, a key element to a successful democracy.
Instead, Modi chooses to dispense information and speak his “mann” through the
radio, at rally speeches and on social media.
Megyn Kelly may not know if Narendra Modi is on Twitter, but
his 33.7 million followers do. Apart from his personal Twitter account, the prime
minister’s office has a Twitter account that boasts of an additional 18 million
followers.
Additionally, Modi has a following of 41.9 million on
Facebook and 6.8 million on Instagram. Social media, for the most part, is how
Modi chooses to connect with his voters, eliminating the media from the entire
equation. It is also on social media that Modi follows the ones who support and
vote for him. And some of these accounts he follows have been known to be vile,
toxic and abusive on the microblogging website.
Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress, in a speech in the
Upper House in February, accused the prime minister of encouraging online
harassment by following trolls on Twitter.
“Twenty-six Twitter handles that give out rape and communal
threats are followed by the prime minister of India,” claimed O’Brien.
On September 5 and 6, after the murder of Gauri Lankesh in
Bangalore, several Twitter accounts that belonged to self-proclaimed Hindu
nationalists and Modi supporters were spewing venom about Lankesh. Some of
these accounts are those followed by Modi.
Nikhil Dadhich, a garments manufacturer/Hindu nationalist
from Surat, wasted no time in declaring the following distasteful words: “Ek
kuttiya kutte ki maut kya mari, saare pille ek sur mein bilbila rahe hain (It
took a bitch to die a dog’s death, for all pups to howl in the same tune).
Prime Minister Modi follows Dadhich on Twitter.
Ashish Singh, an IIT Bombay and IIMP alumnus, a political
strategist, cartoonist and a "Hindu Narendra Modi supporter", tweeted,
“Jaisi karni, waisi bharni (you reap what you sow).”
“After Burhan Wani Gauri Lankesh also killed how sad,” he
added from his account that is followed not just by the prime minister but also
by Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union minister for law and justice, and Vijay Goel,
the former minister of state (MoS) for sports and the present MoS for
parliamentary affairs.
In response to tweets like these and no response/condolence
message from the PM, and the general trollish behaviour of the
"nationalist Right", several users on Twitter have decided to block
Narendra Modi. Their point is simple: if the PM continues to follow abusive
folks like these, then there is no point in following the PM.
