Writer Salil Tripathi's Twitter account restored after brief suspension over poem on Babri demolition

Writer Salil Tripathi's Twitter account was briefly suspended on Sunday over a poem on the Babri Masjid demolition. The account was restored later in the day.

After Tripathi's account was restored, he wrote—

Maybe I was right in invoking MacArthur earlier today on @BDUTT's show, when I quoted him as saying on leaving Corregidor: "I shall return."

It seems I have.

I will have more to say later. I appreciate all the support and love.

— saliltripathi (@saliltripathi) December 7, 2020

Earlier, several writers, journalists, and activists slammed Twitter for suspending Tripathi's account, with many, including Salman Rushdie, Nilanjana Roy, Amitav Ghosh, and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor describing it an "outrageous act of censorship" and publicly calling out Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

The account of Tripathi, a senior journalist and chairperson of the PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee, was suspended Sunday after he posted a video of a reading of one of his poems, written in 2009, about the Babri Masjid demolition on 6 December, 1992.

Sunday was the 28th anniversary of the demolition.

As per The Print, the poem was also "about 1947, 2002, and a call from his mother."

Soon after Tripathi's account was suspended for the tweet flagged as "offensive", several prominent writers flayed Twitter for the action against "one of India's most important human rights activists".

Rushdie, calling the action "outrageous", demanded the restoration of Tripathi's Twitter account.

This is an outrageous act of censorship against one of the most important advocates of free speech. @Twitter stop it now! @jack what’s going on? https://t.co/Rwig7c3FHo

— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) December 6, 2020

Ghosh, tagging the PEN International's official account, called Tripathi an "outstanding journalist, writer, and human rights activist".

Beyond astonished to learn that Salil Tripathi's @Twitter account (@saliltripathi) has been suspended. Salil is an outstanding journalist, writer and human rights activist. He is also the chair of PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee. @pen_int @ayadakhtar

— Amitav Ghosh (@GhoshAmitav) December 6, 2020

Congress leaders Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh slammed Twitter and questioned whether the company was "trying to earn brownie points" from the government.

I can’t believe this. How on earth could ⁦@Twitter⁩ suspend the account of a highly respected writer, author & human rights activist? Do their algorithms have no human being applying common sense before undertaking such actions? ⁦#SalilTripathi pic.twitter.com/nVZLvvZzi3

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 7, 2020

Is Twitter trying to earn brownie points by suspending Salil Tripathi’s account after incurring the wrath of the ruling establishment? https://t.co/RuZ3uz5iOn

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) December 7, 2020

Other authors and journalists were also vocal in their support for Tripathi and demanded immediate action from Twitter:

Why has @saliltripathi's Twitter account been suspended?

Earlier today, he'd tweeted about the demolition of the #babrimasjid, expressing the continuing anguish many also feel — hope @TwitterIndia will restore his voice soonest. pic.twitter.com/3Ul3kQfvOe

— Nilanjana Roy (@nilanjanaroy) December 6, 2020

Salil Tripathi and I both Gujju, both ex Bombay wallahs, both ex-Amnesty wallahs, both had column in same paper (Mint Lounge), both called for same litfest in Pakistan, both suspended by Twitter.

— Aakar Patel (@Aakar__Patel) December 7, 2020

Nothing on Salil Tripathi handle would justify blocking it. If twitter has any interest in restoring civility, it should stop allowing anonymity & bots. Both are used to spread lies & hatred. Of course, twitter wont do it, because that’s the revenue model

— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) December 7, 2020

Seems more than hypocritical of @Twitter to be tagging misinformation/ hate speech ridden tweets on one hand in the US, but shutting down voices like @saliltripathi who call out precisely that in other parts of the world, on the other. Come on. @jack https://t.co/LEWCx83I54

— Maya Mirchandani (@maya206) December 7, 2020

I just spoke to my friend @saliltripathi, a wonderful journalist & writer. His account was suspended by @Twitter without explanation, but after several Hindu nationalist Twitter accounts complained about his tweets and work. Twitter should explain itself & activate his account.

— Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) December 6, 2020

Salil Tripathi is one of our most important human rights activists. Absolutely unacceptable for @TwitterIndia to suspend his account. India need's Salil's voice!

— Suketu Mehta (@suketumehta) December 6, 2020

I'm horrified that my friend @saliltripathi has been banned from Twitter. I cannot think of someone more humane, gentle & wise.

It seems his reading out the superb poem below might have been the trigger.

I can only hope this is an algorithmic mistake, & will be corrected soon. https://t.co/NAU8OyDuW1

— Amit Varma (@amitvarma) December 7, 2020

First @sanjayuvacha. And now @saliltripathi. I don’t think @Twitter will do anything to reinstate the accounts. What a sad thing this platform is turning into.

— Nakul Shenoy (@NakulShenoy) December 7, 2020

This is ridiculous, Salil Tripathi's account has gotten suspended.

Please look into the matter @TwitterIndia https://t.co/KmDZWzjwEX pic.twitter.com/y53hryv5Kc

— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) December 6, 2020

Bring back @saliltripathi 's account, @twitter . You're being gamed. https://t.co/AyDhdYFoxe

— Deepak Shenoy (@deepakshenoy) December 6, 2020

This is odd -- is @saliltripathi ’s account suspended?

— Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitrav) December 6, 2020