On 30 June, Swaraj Kaushal, the husband of Sushma Swaraj, exposed a troll who asked him to “beat up” the External Affairs Minister. Today, 1 July, the former Mizoram Governor took to Twitter once again to tell the troll how much his family adores Swaraj.
Telling the troll that his words have caused “unbearable pain” to his family, Kaushal underlined Swaraj’s devotion to the family citing example of how the EAM cared for his mother when she was suffering from cancer.
“Your words have given us unbearable pain. Just to share with you, my mother died of cancer in 1993. Sushma was an MP and a former Education Minister. She lived in the hospital for a year. She refused to engage a medical attendant and attended on my dying mother personally,” he wrote in his first tweet.
Your words have given us unbearable pain. Just to share with you, my mother died of cancer in 1993. Sushma was an MP and a former Education Minister. She lived in the hospital for a year. She refused to engage a medical attendant and attended on my dying mother personally. /1 https://t.co/b4iwIUx0SA
— Governor Swaraj (@governorswaraj) July 1, 2018
“Such was her devotion to the family. As per my father’s wish, she lit my father’s pyre. We adore her. Please do not use such words for her. We are first generation in law and politics. We pray for nothing more than her life. Pls convey my profound regards to your wife,” Kaushal signed off with his second and final tweet intended for the troll.
Such was her devotion to the family. As per my father’s wish, she lit my father’s pyre. We adore her. Please do not use such words for her. We are first generation in law and politics. We pray for nothing more than her life. Pls convey my profound regards to your wife. /2
— Governor Swaraj (@governorswaraj) July 1, 2018
Earlier on Saturday, Kaushal posted a tweet containing the screenshot of a now-deleted tweet from a user who wanted him to “beat Sushma Swaraj and teach her not to do Muslim appeasement”.
Read More: Swaraj Kaushal exposes troll who wants him to ‘beat up’ Sushma Swaraj
The External Affairs Minister has been 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.
People took to Twitter to criticise, mock, abuse and even threaten the Minister for the decision taken in the Lucknow incident.
The EAM has, however, received support from even Opposition leaders and anti-BJP voices over the matter. All of them have unanimously condemned the trolls for targeting the Union Minister, who is known for coming to the aid of both Indian citizens abroad and non-Indians whenever they seek her help with matters that come under the purview of the Ministry of External Affairs.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said she was horrified by the “vicious” trolling faced by 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.
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.
Read More: Mehbooba Mufti terms trolling of Sushma Swaraj outrageous
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.
Within days after the 21 June incident, right-wing trolls flooded her Facebook page with 1-star reviews for the decision taken in the case of the interfaith couple. A deluge of 1-star ratings, numbering in thousands, brought the total rating of Swaraj’s page down to 3.8 stars from 4.3 stars out of a maximum 5.
Read More: How trolls forced Sushma Swaraj to turn off ‘review’ option on official Facebook page
The review section, which is now up, currently shows a total rating of 3.6 stars with 26K five stars and 13K one stars.