India's "sidelined" FM Sushma Swaraj at loggerheads with pro-Modi twitterati, blocks a few in "kneejerk" reaction

Is India's "sidelined" foreign minister Sushma Swaraj at loggerheads with right-wing pro-Narendra Modi trolls, who make no stone unturned in attacking anyone criticizing the Prime Minister on the popular micro blogging site Twitter? It would seem so, if what is being termed as her recent "kneejerk responses" to some of the pro-Modi twitterati is any indication.

Pointing out that she has gone so far as to block some of these trolls, the well-known site altnews.com, known to be keeping a close watch on Twitter trends, says, this has happened ever since "India tightened its visa policy for Pakistani nationals... Many Pakistanis have approached Swaraj on Twitter for help with acquiring medical visa on humanitarian grounds."
"The fact that she has been equanimous and considerate in her approach has earned her the ire of many right-wing twitterati, terming her 'Medical Mata' and 'Visa Mata'. The recent treatment of Kulbhushan Jadav’s family by Pakistan further aggravated matters", an article by Sam Jawed, objecting to the minister's behaviour, says, even as quoting several instances.
Jawed says, "Her assistance to Pakistani citizens ... earned her the ire of her right wing supporters and made her a target of incessant trolling with tweets like, 'Those who promised to bring us ten heads in retaliation for one are distributing visas to our enemy state', 'You criticise or trash Medical Mata @SushmaSwaraj, you will be instantly blocked by her... even though she's a public offficer…'”

The "attackers" on Twitter have called Swaraj's "daily routine of tweeting medical visas" as becoming "embarrassing now", even as insisting that "her responses are usually in cases with good PR potential" having "no accountability", and there is "no good reason for her to be behaving like a consular officer."
One of those who has been blocked by Swaraj (Prasun Maitra@prasunmaitra) has tweeted, "I am proud to be blocked by a minister who seeks votes from secessionists in exchange of compromised foreign policy. She is a stigma on @narendramodi government". He even provides a screenshot of the blocking message from Twitter. And Namrata@_Namrataa tweets, "Achievement unlocked: Sushma ji blocked me thanks to people tagging her in replies perhaps".
A pro-Modi Twitter enthusiast, @namo_satya, complains, "Respected @PMOIndia @narendramodi ji, Ma'am Sushma Swaraj ji blocked me for no reason. If I require any help then to whom shall I contact? She is free to issue medical visa to Pakistanis but why to block Indian citizens?", adding, "This approach is not appreciable from External Affairs Minister of India."
Twitterati have variously said, "No processes, just minister's whims... They should open a medical visa department instead", "Is there any other external affairs minister in world who issues visas at Twitter? Modiji needs to give some real work to Sushma Swaraj", and "After three years in office, why isn’t she able to set up a system that works without the need of her intervention in every case? She appears to be more accessible to Pakistanis than their own government..."
Notes Jawed, "Swaraj runs a very popular Twitter handle with close to 11 million followers. Many people reach out to her via twitter. Lost a passport in a foreign country? Need to travel on an emergency? Need consular access on a holiday? Whatever the issue for Indian citizens abroad, Swaraj was always a click away, resolving problems with a warm, personal touch."
He adds, "Though her personal intervention in individual cases won her much acclaim, she also invited criticism from those who argued that her talent was severely underutilized in the ministry... Ironically many of those who are mocking Swaraj and have been blocked by her are staunch supporters of her own party, some even followed by Modi on Twitter."

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

Unchecked urbanisation, waste dumping: Study warns of 'invited disaster' as khadi floods threaten half of Surat

An action research report, “Invited Disaster: Khadi Floods in Surat City”, published by two civil rights groups, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Surat, states that nearly half of Gujarat's top urban conglomerate—known for its concentration of textile and diamond polishing industries—is affected by the dumping of debris and solid waste, along with the release of treated and untreated sewage into the khadis (rivulets), thereby increasing the risk of flood disaster.

Guha plans book to counter Dalit, Marxist, and right-wing critics of Gandhi, recalls Modi’s 'pernicious lie' on Patel

Let me first confess: writing about an event three weeks after it has taken place is no good, especially for a newsperson. However, ever since I attended the public lecture by well-known historian Ramachandra Guha on May 18, organised by Sarthak Prakashan for the release of the Gujarati edition of his book monumental book "India After Gandhi", frankly, I kept wondering if he had said anything newsworthy apart from what had already appeared in the media ever since the book's first edition came out in 2007. Call it my inertia or whatever.

Two decades on, hunger still haunts Gujarat: Survey exposes stark gap behind poverty claims

A Niti Aayog report , released about two years ago, estimated that in Gujarat — which our powers-that-be have long considered a model state — 11.66% of people are "multidimensionally poor," a term referring to an index that seeks to estimate "multiple and simultaneous deprivations" at the household level across three macro categories: health, education, and living standards.

Search This Blog