As I&T minister slams trolls for lauding Gauri Lankesh’s killing, PM Modi draws flak for following them on Twitter

While I-T Minister has raised his concern over trolls targeting Lankesh, PM Modi has come under fire for following multiple troll handles via his twitter account. Many of these handles have been spewing venom since the death of Lankesh last night.

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Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad (File)

Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Wednesday slammed online trolls for expressing happiness over the killing of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh. Prasad took to Twitter to express his anger against those cheering Gauri’s killing. “I strongly condemn and deplore the messages on social media expressing happiness on the dastardly murder of #Gaurilankesh,” he tweeted.

Prasad called the act of trolls shameful and said he expected speedy action by the Karnataka Police. “Expressing happiness on the killing of anyone is shameful, regrettable and totally against Indian traditions. Social media is not for that. I expect that Karnataka police will soon nab the killers of #GauriLakesh at the earliest at take action against them.”

Earlier in the day, condemning the murder, journalists, writers, artists and politicians took out protest marches across the country. Some of the protesters sported black badges and held placards against the shooting of Lankesh by unidentified assailants at her Bengaluru residence last night.

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The cold-blooded murder unleashed outrage across the country even as the Karnataka government quickly set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing. As the media fraternity and members of civil society reacted with horror and staged protests in Bengaluru, Delhi and several other cities, leaders cutting across party lines condemned the murder. However, top leaders of the Congress and the BJP were locked in a spat over the killing in Bengaluru last night.

I strongly condemn & deplore the messages on social media expressing happiness on the dastardly murder of #Gaurilankesh.

— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) September 6, 2017

Expressing happiness on the killing of anyone is shameful, regrettable and totally against Indian traditions. Social media is not for that.

— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) September 6, 2017

I expect that Karnataka police will soon nab the killers of #GauriLakesh at the earliest at take action against them.

— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) September 6, 2017

While I-T Minister has raised his concern over trolls targeting Lankesh, PM Narendra Modi has come under fire for following multiple troll handles via his Twitter account. Many of these handles have been spewing venom since the death of Lankesh last night. While some of the handles compare the journalist to a “militant”, others tweeted saying Lankesh got what she deserved. A large section of protesters who condemned Lankesh’s death called out PM Modi for following these trolls.

One of the trolls, Nikhil Dadhich re-tweeted a picture of Lankesh with Kanhiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, whom she fondly referred as ‘her sons’, saying she deserved what she got. The account is followed by the official handle of PM Modi.