Twitter account blocked over criticism of farmers' stir, Budget: CPM leader Mohammed Salim

KOLKATA: Alleging that the NDA government is not open to criticism, CPM leader Mohammed Salim on Monday said his Twitter account was suspended during the day, after he compared the Union Budget with a trading platform, and slammed the Centre over its handling of the farmers stir.

Salim told reporters that his account as well those of others were blocked temporarily, "at the behest of the IT department of the Centre".

Twitter had blocked several accounts and tweets after the government asked the microblogging platform to take action against 250 handles and posts which contained "false and provocative content" related to the ongoing farmers' agitation, according to sources. "To my knowledge, 250 twitter accounts, including mine, were blocked in the country. Accounts that shared posts with the 'farmergenocide' hashtag were targeted," he stated.

He said that the posts were, however, visible everywhere outside the country. "This government does not want our voices to be heard by the people of the country. This government is scared of the agitating farmers," he said.

Salim further said that he compared the Union Budget with an online trading platform on social media, as several PSUs have been put up on sale. "It seems that the BJP government at the Centre is putting up everything on sale gradually, but it is not willing to hear the voice of criticism. Despite serious effort to fudge figures, the Centre could not hide the current unemployment rate, which is the highest at 9.1 per cent," he said.

"From notebandi (demonetisation), GST to practising divisive politics and disregarding democracy, this government is showing all signs of fascism. The Budget highlights also showed that," the former MP maintained.

He said that the "Modi-Shah regime, marked by a distinct streak of authoritarianism", always tries to suppress voices that oppose its policies. "This BJP government is not in favour of the farmers, they are in favour of profiteers who would buy the produce from the crop growers at a premium. This government had hatched a conspiracy to defame the agitating farmers. It is trying to create a rift among farmers. But they will stay united," the senior CPM leader asserted.

The veteran politician also said that his party has been taking out rallies to protest against the rising unemployment in the state as well as the country. "Our students and youth will take out 'Nabanna Abhijan' soon in protest against the Trinamool Congress government's failure to create jobs," he added.