Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said she was horrified by the “vicious” trolling of External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on social media and described it as outrageous.

“Horrified by the vicious trolling @SushmaSwaraj ji has been subjected to. Absolutely outrageous!” Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.

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The PDP president said if even the minister was not safe from trolls, what hope was there for any other woman in the country.

“If our own Minister of External Affairs is not spared, what hope is there for any other woman?” she asked.

Horrified by the vicious trolling @SushmaSwaraj ji has been subjected to . Absolutely outrageous! If our own Minister of External Affairs is not spared, what hope is there for any other woman?

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) July 1, 2018

Union Minister Sushma Swaraj was relentlessly trolled following the proceedings in the passport row involving an interfaith couple in Lucknow over the past few days.

Swaraj, who was not present in India at the time when the incident made headlines, was bombarded with a barrage of insensitive remarks by a section which was offended with the transfer of the passport officer at the centre of the row.

Also Read | Swaraj Kaushal exposes troll who wants him to ‘beat up’ Sushma Swaraj

People took to Twitter to criticise, mock, abuse and even threaten the Minister for the decision taken in the Lucknow incident.

On 20 June, couple Mohammad Anas Siddiqui and Tanvi Seth had alleged that a passport officer posted in the Regional Passport Office in Lucknow asked Anas to convert to Hinduism and pulled up the wife for not changing her name after marriage.

Swaraj, who returned from her four-nation tour of Europe on 24 June, posted a message from her official Twitter handle in which she smartly called out those who trolled her.

“I was out of India from 17th to 23rd June 2018. I do not know what happened in my absence. However, I am honoured with some tweets. I am sharing them with you. So I have liked them,” wrote Swaraj.

Also Read | Besides Twitter, trolls had also targeted Swaraj on Facebook.

The ratings of the EAM’s official Facebook page tumbled as thousands flooded it with 1-star reviews in the last few days. The total rating points of Swaraj’s page came down to 3.8 stars from 4.3 stars out of a maximum 5 forcing the administrator to turn off the review option on the page.