On Sushma Swaraj’s Twitter poll, 43 per cent approves trolling

Swaraj Kaushal urged the troller to not use such words for her and that they pray for nothing more than her life. He said, "Your words have given us unbearable pain."

Union Minister Sushma Swaraj at the parliament house in Delhi on Tuesday. Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey 02 Jan 17

Facing extreme backlash and trolling on Twitter, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday initiated an online poll asking users whether they approve of such trolling. At the time of writing the copy, 1,21,654 votes were polled, while 57 per cent disapproved such trolling, a staggering 43 per cent voted in favour of it.

Swaraj, who had been retweeting some of the offensive tweets directed at her over the transfer of Passport Seva Kendra official Vikas Mishra in Lucknow for allegedly humiliating an interfaith couple, began the Twitter poll asking people whether such trolling was fine. “Friends: I have liked some tweets. This is happening for the last few days. Do you approve of such tweets? Please RT,” she tweeted.

“Your words have given us unbearable pain. Just to share with you, my mother died of cancer in 1993. Sushma was an MP and a former Education Minister. She lived in the hospital for a year. She refused to engage a medical attendant and attended on my dying mother personally,” tweeted Swaraj Kaushal, husband of Sushma Swaraj.

In a democracy difference of opinion is but natural. Pls do criticise but not in foul language. Criticism in decent language is always more effective.

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 1, 2018

Kaushal urged the troller to not use such words for her and that they pray for nothing more than her life. “Such was her devotion to the family. As per my father’s wish, she lit my father’s pyre. We adore her. Please do not use such words for her. We are the first generation in law and politics. We pray for nothing more than her life. Pls convey my profound regards to your wife,” he added.

https://twitter.com/governorswaraj/status/1013311768305676289

Taking note of the unanticipated support to trollers on Swaraj’s poll, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah said that the support to trollers shows what a miserable place the Twitter universe has become. “That 43% of almost 120,000 respondents support the vile tweets that have been used to troll @SushmaSwaraj tells its own story of what a miserable place part of the Twitter universe has become. Shame on the trolls & their supporters/apologists,” Abdullah tweeted.

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