It’s been three days since senior journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru. The nation is seething under the widespread outrage over the threat to dissenters. But many pointed out how Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows people on Twitter who rejoiced after Lankesh’s murder.
Soon, #BlockNarendraModi began trending on Twitter as people questioned the reason why Modi is following those who casually deliver rape or death threats.
After a controversy started brewing, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) IT cell chief Amit Malviya quickly came to Modi’s defence on Thursday by issuing a statement. He claimed that Modi was the only leader to follow “normal people” and is a “rare leader who truly believes in freedom of speech”.
In his statement, Malviya also pointed out that Modi follows Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and a former BJP volunteer Parthesh Patel – all alleged dubious characters.
However, this argument did not go down well with Twitter users who continued to criticise Modi following those who believe cold-blooded murders are a legitimate form of “justice”.
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Paid trolls wreaking havoc in the online space has been an emerging trend with targeted trolling rapidly becoming a method of intimidation.
Here’s a video explaining how Twitter trolls function:
Feature image source: ScoopWhoop