Mamata Banerjee condemns trolls against Sushma Swaraj
Kolkata, July 2 (IBNS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday condemned the entire episode where External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was trolled on social media.
Mamata said indulging in verbal abuse was not accepted.
" Strongly condemn the language used on the social media against @sushmaswaraj Ji . She is a senior politician. We must respect each other and must never indulge in any form of verbal abuse," Mamata Banerjee tweeted.
Social media trolls on Saturday targeted External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, blaming her for appeasing Muslims and even did not spare her husband, Swaraj Kaushal.
Kaushal had posted a screengrab of a Twitter user’s post who asked him to, “beat her up and teach her not to do Muslim appeasement”.
Sushma, in reply, retweeted some of the tweets by that person and also conducted a poll on Twitter where she asked the Twitterati to give their take on this-whether they approved of such things or not.
She also thanked President Ram Nath Kovind who lauded the External Affairs Minister for her leadership qualities.
"There are higher expectations from us as a country from our citizens living outside. I compliment EAM @SushmaSwaraj for her exemplary leadership".
"She has given a new confidence to our people abroad in the ability of our Govt to reach out to them when in need #PresidentKovind,” read a tweet from the official Twitter handle of the Indian President.
Sushma has been on the receiving end of a lot of backlash and trolls after she had a Passport Seva Kendra official in Lucknow transferred for allegedly harassing a Hindu-Muslim intefaith couple.
The couple had stated that Vikas Mishra, the official, had asked the man to convert into a Hinduism and had also criticised the woman for engaging in marital ties with a Muslim.
Swaraj later retweeted some of those tweets, some of which were abusive and even communal in nature.
When asked as to what can be the role of the EAM against such trolls, ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "The EAM (External Affairs Minister) has responded to those malicious tweets and the trolling which she was subjected to in her own way and in a manner which she deemed fit.”
He said, “I don't think I have anything further to add on that."
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