One of the passages in the poem said, “The bullets have just started, don’t say later you didn’t get a warning, you will have to say Vande Mantaram every morning.” Another read “Thrash them all you want, army; break their bones; If Mehbooba calls the police; Modi will handle it.”
THE official handle of Digital India, a flagship government initiative for a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, on Thursday tweeted a poem promoting the killing of Kashmiris by the Army. The tweet, which was soon deleted, included the screenshot of a poem posted on Facebook that it labelled “Heights of #Patriotism..!!!”
Managed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Digital India has more than 5.34 lakh followers on Twitter.
The poem, written to the lyrics of a popular Bollywood song, asked the Army not to stop firing on people till they come to the city square and sing the national anthem. It read, “Issued in public interest; all who love their lives; should quietly come to the city square; sing the national anthem; and not throw any tantrums here.”
The tweet was highlighted by Aam Aadmi Party’s senior leader Ankit Lal. Posting screenshots of the tweet, Lal wrote, “Govt verified handle @_DigitalIndia finds poem calling fr mass murder of Kashmiris ‘Height of Patriotism’.”
Govt verified handle @_DigitalIndia finds poem calling fr mass murder of Kashmiris "Height of Patriotism"#Shame! pic.twitter.com/3c2ANynS82
— Ankit Lal (@AnkitLal) September 8, 2016
When contacted, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said he “immediately sought a report” when the tweet was brought to his notice. The person who tweeted the poem has been suspended, he said.
Calling the act “mischievous”, Prasad said, “The contents of the tweet don’t represent the views of the IT ministry, Digital India or the government of India. I regret the tweet.”
S Radha Chauhan, CEO of National e-Governance Division, which leads the Digital India project, said the management of the official Twitter handle has been outsourced to an organisation called Trivone. The person responsible had mistakenly tweeted from the official handle what he wanted to tweet from his personal account, Chauhan told The Indian Express. The person has apologised for it in writing, he said.
One of the passages in the poem said, “The bullets have just started, don’t say later you didn’t get a warning, you will have to say Vande Mantaram every morning.” Another read “Thrash them all you want, army; break their bones; If Mehbooba calls the police; Modi will handle it.”
(IE)