On Friday (June 4), Anti-BJP cartoonist Manjul took to Twitter to insinuate that the Modi government has been trying to silence his freedom of expression. He had shared a screenshot of an email received from ‘Twitter Legal’, wherein it pointed out that the microblogging platform had received a request from Indian law enforcement authorities regarding his account. “Jai Ho Modi ji ki sarkar ki (All hail the Narendra Modi-led-government),” he alleged.
In another tweet, he claimed, “Thanks to the Modi government that it did not ask Twitter to shut down the handle for being anti-religion and atheist and not considering Modi ji as my God.” Manjul further insinuated that the warning from Twitter was received on the behest of the Indian government. He wrote, “It would have been better if the government informed about the tweet that had offended it. I could have re-posted the same tweet. This would have helped the people.”
Manjul was earlier a cartoonist with the Zee Media owned DNA. After taking up freelance work, he turned virulently anti-BJP and has been drawing cartoons since then to peddle anti-BJP agenda. The cartoonist turned propagandist soon recieved support from the left-liberal lobby, who further gave credence to the allegations of government’s attempt to silence him. While reacting to the development, alleged journalist Swati Chaturvedi claimed that the Modi government is now ‘terrified’ of a cartoonist.
What is the Truth?
As it turns out, Twitter correspondence is nothing out of ordinary. Popular Twitter user Ankur Singh shared an email sent by Twitter Legal containing the same message. “Twitter has received a request from Indian Law Enforcement regarding your Twitter account,” read the message. Earlier, cartoonist Vikaso too had a fair share of such emails.
Opindia regularly receives such ‘legal warnings’ from Twitter
Even Opindia has received 100s of emails from law enforcement authorities, warning of requests made by the Indian law enforcement authorities.
Here is a screenshot of one such email received from ‘Twitter Legal’ by Opindia on January 24, 2021. This body of the email contains the same exact words as received by Manjul. Opindia regularly receives such notices and legal warnings from Twitter on account of our extensive coverage of the brutal killing of Hindus and BJP workers. It becomes obvious that a vicious lobby does not want our news reports to be published so that the deaths of countless Hindus and BJP workers remain unheard.
Irrational and motivated strategy to defame Modi government
While Manjul brazenly tried to portray the hand of the Modi government behind the Twitter correspondence, nothing can be further from the truth. If we apply the rationale of the anti-BJP cartoonist, then, it will imply that the Indian government is out there to destroy Opindia and popular Twitter users such as Vikaso and Ankur Singh.
While it is not unusual for the left-liberal lobby to pin the blame on the Modi government over trivial issues, the hullaballoo created on Twitter by Manjul appears to be a part of a new devious strategy to peddle propaganda against the incumbent government.
Cartoonist Manjul shares fake news, uses image from 2017 to criticise Indian healthcare system. pic.twitter.com/6jMagSzdT3
— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) May 7, 2021
Manjul was earlier found sharing fake news to target the Modi government. He had shared an image from 2017 of a man carrying a dead body on a rickshaw to criticise the government’s efforts in tackling the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.