Sushma Swaraj’s response to trolls is so epic that even Congress is applauding it

(Photo: Twitter/IANS)


External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj gave back in kind to the trolls who took to social media to call her names following the proceedings in the passport row involving an interfaith couple in Lucknow.

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.

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.

The passport officer, Vikas Mishra, was transferred to Gorakhpur and the couple were issued the passports on Thursday, 21 June.

Mishra later denied the allegations saying he didn’t ask Anas to convert. He said he only followed the procedure and that Tanvi had a different name in her ‘nikahnama’ (wedding certificate), compared to that in her other documents, which was why he had asked for more proof.

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.

 

At the time of writing, the Union Minister’s Twitter account revealed that she had ‘liked’ 70 tweets – all of them criticising her for Mishra’s transfer. Some of them even referred to the kidney transplant the Minister underwent in 2016.

 

 

Even the Congress came out in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and condemned the criticism that was being hurled at the 66-year-old Minister.

“No matter the situation or reason, nothing calls for threats of violence, disrespect & abuse. @SushmaSwaraj ji, we applaud your decision to call out the heinous trolls of your own party,” a tweet posted from the official account of the Congress read.

 

Besides Twitter, trolls had also targeted Swaraj on Facebook.

Read More: How trolls forced Sushma Swaraj to turn off ‘review’ option on official Facebook page

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.