Row after Haryana minister’s ‘exterminate’ tweet on Disha
Chandigarh: Haryana home minister Anil Vij on Monday posted a tweet on activist Disha Ravi's arrest that appeared to urge exterminating those who harbour the seed of anti-nationalism , prompting an investigation by Twitter. The remark in Hindi could also be read as exterminating that seed of anti-nationalism .
Twitter notified the minister about a complaint it received under the German law over the tweet but said after investigation it found that no guidelines were broken.
Congress leader Shashi
Tharoor reacted sharply to Vij's tweet. "Surely tweets like this are far more harmful to our democracy than anything in the 'toolkit' Disha Ravi retweeted?" he said.
Desh virodh ka beej jiske bhi deemag mein ho uska samool nash kar dena chahiye fir chahe veh # Disha Ravi ho yaan koi aur, it said.
Roughly translated it reads, Whoever harbours the seed of anti-nationalism in their mind, that has to be destroyed from the roots, be it #Disha_Ravi or anyone else.
Chandigarh, Feb. 15: In a comment on the arrest of climate activist Disha Ravi, Haryana home minister Anil Vij on Monday urged “extermination from the roots” wherever seeds of antinationalism found.
The minister’s remarks came two days after Disha Ravi was held by the Delhi police for allegedly sharing with climate activist Greta Thunberg the toolkit related to the farmers’ protest against the Centre’s farm laws.
The Delhi police had claimed that the 21-yearold activist was an editor of the “toolkit Google doc” and “key conspirator” in the document's formulation and dissemination.
In the document, various urgent actions, including creating a Twitter storm and protesting outside Indian embassies, were listed to support the protest.
Whoever harbours the seeds of anti-nationalism in their mind, that has to be destroyed from the roots (samool naash), be it #Disha_Ravi or anyone else, Vij said in a one line tweet in Hindi.
Later, the minister posted a response from the Twitter after a complaint was filed regarding his tweet.
The response from Twitter read, We have received a complaint regarding your account, @anilvijminister for the following content (Vij's particular tweet In Hindi (Desh virodh ka beej Whoever harbours the seed..).
We have investigated the reported content and have found that it is not subject to removal under the Twitter Rules or German law. Accordingly, we have not taken any action as a result of this specific report, the response said.