The BJP troll army crushed freedom of expression

Labels such as ‘anti-national’, which the Modi government in India routinely hands out to its critics, can have deadly consequences in a democracy

Iremember pleading with my friend, wellknown Indian journalist Barkha Dutt, in May last year not to hold a press conference about our travails. This is the first time that I am sharing this episode, which involves the Swedish Embassy in Delhi and Union Minister Maneka Gandhi. After receiving the “courage prize” from Reporters Without Borders, I felt that the prize and the courage it rewarded would be meaningless if it went unreported.

So here is what had happened.

It is clearly a case of the tail wagging the dog. Witness the Right-wing troll victory in getting classical singer T.M. Krishna’s concert organised by the Airports Authority of India cancelled last week after they mass-attacked him on social media, calling him anti-Indian. Also, remember the hapless situation of Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, attacked by Modi’s trolls for issuing a passport to an inter-faith couple.

Back to my story. The Swedish Embassy contacted me in May last year and asked me to join a panel on ‘Women’s participation in the online public space’ — ironically with the hashtag #LetsTalkAboutTrolls. The other participants included Maneka Gandhi, who was to give a keynote address, Dr Anja Kovacs of the internet Democracy Project, Anju Pandey of UN Women, Osama Manzer and Ida Ostensson. The moderator was Barkha. The date set was May 8 and the venue was the Swedish ambassador’s residence.

I was invited to lunch. I chatted with three senior Swedish diplomats about the event. So far so innocuous.

Then the trolls got hold of an invite and all hell broke loose. They mass-attacked. They tagged the Swedish prime minister, all senior ministers and the Swedish ambassador. They started a hashtag #SackManeka and tagged Modi, asking him to sack her for sharing a platform with Barkha and me.

The trolls reserve a particular love for me because I had written a revelatory book I Am a Troll

— Inside BJP’s Secret digital Army, which exposed exactly what they were up to under their ‘General’ — Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Swedes were shocked at the mass-attack. They got in touch with me and said “the event would be rescheduled”. Left unsaid was that the Indian Foreign Office had threatened that they considered the discussion an “unfriendly act”.

Barkha was furious and rightly so. She wanted to hold a press conference and expose how the Modi Government had murdered freedom of expression at the behest of the trolls. Barkha also wanted to expose how the Swedes had caved in to mass trolling.

I told Barkha: “We are journalists. We tell the story. We should not become the story.”

Reluctantly, Barkha agreed.

Actionable threats

I found out that Maneka had been told by Modi to cancel her scheduled appearance. Ironically, Modi’s social media in-charge Amit Malviya claimed that Modi follows death, rape and incitement handles because Modi “passionately believes in the freedom of expression”. So Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party believe these actionable threats that get you jailed in the United States, which has the world’s freest speech laws, is freedom of expression.

I honestly hoped that the Swedish embassy event was an isolated case, but clearly it was not. Modi has absolute contempt for free press, evident in the fact that he is the first prime minister in India’s history not to hold a press conference. Modi’s hatred for being held to account also signals a wider contempt for democracy — chilling in a democratic leader. Labels such as “anti-national”, which the Modi government routinely hands out, have deadly consequences.

As for me, my story had a happy ending. last week, I spoke at the Unesco in Paris, proudly as an Indian and was honoured. And, this was the real Unesco, not the fake one promoted by the BJP IT cell calling “Modi the greatest world leader”, which is sent to the gullible.

■ Swati Chaturvedi is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist. Her book I am a Troll — Inside the BJP’s Secret digital Army has received international acclaim. Twitter: @Bainjal.