'Honoured', Sushma Swaraj shuts down Twitter trolling over Lucknow passport office row
The Twitter trolls have found their latest target - External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The Union minister, who is famous for using the social media platform to help people in distress, has become the victim of abuses of Twitter trolls over a controversy involving the issuance of passport to an inter-faith couple.
Last week, a Passport Seva Kendra official, Vikas Mishra, in Lucknow was transferred after the inter-faith couple alleged that he humiliated them when they went to the office with their passport applications. According to the couple, he asked the husband to convert to Hinduism and pulled up the wife for marrying a Muslim.
Mishra had said in his defence that he was secular and had told the woman that her 'nikahnama' showed her name as Shazia Anas, which should be endorsed in her file. "For this she refused. If she had consented... we would have sent it to the 'A' section for data modification. We have to see which person is taking the passport in what name. There is documentary proof, how can we ignore that. I am secular and I have myself had an inter-caste marriage," he told the media.
A section of social media attacked Swaraj and the ministry for taking action against Mishra, claiming that he was just doing his duty. However, the minister took it on the chin and retweeted some of the tweets that were even abusive and communal in nature.
I was out of India from 17th to 23rd June 2018. I do not know what happened in my absence. However, I am honoured with some tweets. I am sharing them with you. So I have liked them, she tweeted.
The trolls, some self-proclaimed BJP supporters, attacked Swaraj for the decision and asked her to step down for allegedly trying to appease Muslim community.
Her reaction to the trolls was praised by the Congress. No matter the situation or reason, nothing calls for threats of violence, disrespect & abuse. @SushmaSwaraj ji, we applaud your decision to call out the heinous trolls of your own party, a tweet on official Congress handle said.
Several people on Twitter also came to the External Affairs Minister’s support and slammed the abusers who trolled Sushma Swaraj.
(With inputs from PTI)
