Did the police “raid” the Twitter office as several Indian media outlets reported or did they only pay a “visit” as claimed by Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal to enquire “who was the right person to serve a notice”? If that was the intention, was it necessary to send 10 policemen in three cars, all wearing prominent ‘Special Cell’ uniforms, to Gurgaon and another team to Mehrauli around 7.40 pm as a daily had reported?
In any case, whoever advised Delhi Police to pay a “visit” to the Twitter office in New Delhi on바카라 웹사이트May 24바카라 웹사이트to coincide with our external affairs minister S. Jaishankar라이브 바카라 first visit to US after Joe Biden became President should be complimented for the brilliant timing. Not to be forgotten is the바카라 웹사이트December 2018바카라 웹사이트incident when Jaishankar had refused a meeting with the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, objecting to the presence of a leading US Congresswoman who is now chairperson of an important Congressional Committee and a more emphatic votary of human rights.
The police “visit” came after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEIT)라이브 바카라 strong communication to Twitter on바카라 웹사이트May 21바카라 웹사이트registering its objection to labelling in a matter already pending before a law enforcement agency. It asked Twitter to “remove the tag” as it would interfere with the police investigation. In its editorial on바카라 웹사이트May 25, a prominent Indian daily called this directive “arbitrary censorship” and not legal as the IT Act empowered the government only to regulate content, not order the removal of a label. It went on to claim that “the Government of India is willing to go to any lengths to empower BJP functionaries to tarnish political opponents and misinform the public”.
Also, the stern affidavit from MEIT on바카라 웹사이트May 26바카라 웹사이트calling WhatsApp라이브 바카라 move to approach the Supreme Court for review of the IT Rules 2021 as an act of “defiance” will also be of interest during Jaishankar라이브 바카라 discussions. This is because Biden라이브 바카라 Democrat administration and the BJP-led Indian government are not on the same page on the subjects of free expression and human rights.
Even without this, Jaishankar라이브 바카라 calendar would have been full to explain his government라이브 바카라 position to his interlocutors on various subjects. Apart from bilateral or multilateral issues, this would include New Delhi라이브 바카라 Covid management in the background of unprecedented adverse international publicity on alleged mishandling of oxygen and vaccine supplies resulting in record number of deaths, superimposed with ghastly visuals of bodies floating in the Ganga.
On바카라 웹사이트May 25,바카라 웹사이트Wall Street Journal바카라 웹사이트made a connection between freedom of expression and poor Covid management: “Authorities’ latest move in confronting US tech companies comes as government is under fire for its handling of the pandemic.” It alleged that the “police action comes as India has been taking steps to exert control over US tech firms in the country”. It said that the police “visit” was in the background of Twitter appending tweets by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and others as ‘Manipulated Media’, a rule they started last year and enforced even in respect of a video of Biden “circulated by one of then-President Trump라이브 바카라 top aides”.
This incident and also the arrest of four prominent TMC leaders, including two ministers, by the CBI on바카라 웹사이트May 17바카라 웹사이트for involvement in a six-year-old sting bribery operation called Narada, so soon after the BJP라이브 바카라 humiliating electoral defeat on바카라 웹사이트May 2, would indicate that the ruling party at the Centre would continue to use pliant central agencies to further its political agenda. Journalist Mathew Samuel, who had organised the sting operation, accused the CBI of being partial in investigation as TMC defectors Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari were spared from arrests. This partial investigation by the CBI was also frowned upon by the Supreme Court on바카라 웹사이트May 25. A prominent daily reported: “The Bench questioned the partial approach of the Bureau in arresting a set of persons named in the FIR while sparing another set of TMC leaders who have now defected to the BJP.”
(The writer is a former special secretary, Cabinet Secretariat. Views are personal.)
