Celebs’ tweets to come under scanner: Govt
MUMBAI: Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said on Monday that there would be an investigation into tweets by Indian celebrities made last week in response to tweets by international celebrities on the farmers’ protests. The state will probe whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pressured celebrities to post pro-government messages on their Twitter accounts, he said.
The assurance was given to a Congress delegation led by Maharashtra Congress general secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant, during a virtual meeting with the home minister on Monday.
The Maharashtra Congress demanded a probe by the police into the tweets posted by Indian celebrities in response to the global criticism of the Central government’s handling of the farmers’ protest. The party sought an investigation to check if the celebrities were pressured by the BJP to take to social media in support of the Central government.
“The timing, pattern of the tweets need to be investigated as the [Narendra]] Modi government is known for arm-twisting the people who speak against them. The government has been ruthlessly using central agencies against opposition party leaders. Here it needs to be verified if there was any pressure on the celebrities to tweet in support of the government. Intelligence department of the Maharashtra Police will probe into this,” said Deshmukh.
Sawant had earlier pointed out a similarity between the tweets posted by various Indian celebrities. “There needs to be an investigation to check if these national heroes were pressured by the BJP for such advocacy on social media. If so, these celebrities need to be given more protection,” Sawant said.
Celebrities, including Sachin
Tendulkar, playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and a host of Bollywood actors took to Twitter on February 3 after international personalities such as musician Rihanna and climate change activist Greta Thunberg expressed support for the farmers’ protest in Delhi.
Former chief minister and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Devendra Fadnavis slammed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, calling the move disgusting and highly deplorable. “Where is your Marathi pride now? Where is your Maharashtra Dharma? We will never find such ‘ratnas’ (gems) in entire Nation who order probe against Bharatratnas who always stand strong in one voice for our Nation? Has this MVA Govt lost all its senses. MVA should feel ashamed while using the word probe for Bharatratnas! Actually, now it seems necessary to probe the mental state & stability of the ones who made such demand & of people who ordered probe against our Bharatratnas!(sic),” Fadnavis tweeted.
The announcement received a harsh reaction on social media against the state government, prompting Deshmukh to clear his stand. Deshmukh tweeted in the evening that the celebrities honoured with Bharat Ratna are respectable to all. “The Congress has demanded a probe to verify if any BJP leader pressured them to tweet,” he tweeted in Marathi.
Earlier in the day, Deshmukh had tweeted about the meeting with the Congress delegation and his assurance of action.