So, on January 26, 2022, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Twitter (DSRT) locked my account for a week ‘or more’ because my reaction to a post about so-called students setting fire to a Shramjeevi Express train somewhere in Bihar, was “Why don’t the cops just sh**t these people?”
The decision left me shaken, if not stirred. Oh! Bloody Meri, Twitter Ne Le Li… And it is not like I threatened to pick up a gun or even a stone. But they decided that I should be locked out for a week or longer after ‘carefully reviewing’ my post because I had broken the rules set by the DSRT. The ones who were burning trains, meanwhile, would get a free run.
I am pretty sure, and I am certain so are you, that these arsonists were not actually students, and if they were, they must have been the kind that set up dens in college hostel rooms from where they rule the crime world. I am also very sure none of them had ever seen the inside of a classroom for any form of pedagogy. They were law-breakers. Some people (and I know who) will say that my words were too harsh. These are the same lot who find nothing wrong in people vandalising public property because it hurts the government they despise but will get into a fistfight if someone bumped their vehicle and even if it suffered NO damage.
These are also the same hypocrites who think it is free speech when someone threatens to maim the prime minister or a chief minister because they do not like the colour of their clothes. But they will dash off complaints to anyone who cares to listen if someone tells them to piss off. When such things are said on the DSRT, it refuses to react and instead sends a cryptic if sanctimonious message that basically tells the complainant, not in these exact words: “Hey you! We read your complaint. We took note. We welcome free speech. So, we are not going to do diddly.” In other words, ‘F**k off;.
Oh, and this was not the first time that the DSRT had locked me out. I know that it is a global entity with its own Supreme Leader, Government and Laws, but shouldn’t it follow the laws of the country when it sets up shop here? Or are we just too chicken to crack the whip? I mean, just think about it, a country like Nigeria with a GDP of US$400 million forced a social media giant to crawl. And we cannot make it bend with a trillion-dollar GDP?
Of course, not all of us can approach the courts or even afford lawyer’s fees. The DSRT knows that and behaves like a bully. We have a neighbouring country sitting above us that acts like this. Does it surprise you that leftists, Maoists, arsonists, and liberals are looked on indulgently as they threaten to decapitate the prime minister of the country because they say ‘K**L’ instead of ‘kill’ to escape an algorithm. And when I say ‘sh**t’ without the asterisks…!
Do you get my point? Lawbreakers, arsonists, budding decapitators (not sure if this word exists as a noun, but what the hell, it is my blog), and politicians, to name a few dregs of society, find favour on the DSRT. I have read some pretty incendiary stuff on the DSRT timeline that would typically qualify as more than hate speech, including insinuations that I slept with my mother and sister. The first has passed and the second does not exist. And at times, even asking if a particular politician who left-liberals love to hate (and behead) has done the same with my mother and sister. And stand-up comics who think they are funny, say things about politicians that elicits outrage from everyone else but not even a raised eyebrow from you-know-who on the DSRT.
Now let us get to the whole shebang that started it all. My view here has remained unchanged. I have no sympathy for people who pick up arms and resort to violence to achieve their ends. I remember what happened a decade back after the gang rape in Delhi. When the students and others were sitting on a peaceful protest, some anti-socials disrupted it and the police promptly used that as an excuse to hit people with water cannons. We sympathised with those kids, we felt for them. But now? Not a chance. If they want to talk, they need to stop engaging in violence. Otherwise, no government will talk to you. And, more so, when the world knows they are being instigated and funded by those who have an axe to grind with the government.
If you launch an armed struggle against the state then don’t cry when you get a bullet in return. When you pick up a gun or even a stone you lose the moral high ground. There are millions of people in this country who earn their living by doing an honest day’s work. They love this country, even if there is a lot that is wrong with it, and a lot they may not like about it. But, do we all pick up a gun?
India is not some banana republic, even if it has been ruled by a few monkeys in the last 67 years, to buckle against such tactics. No government, State or Central, can talk with a gun pointed at its head. Why should it? It is not as if those indulging in violence are contributing dollars, pounds or euros to our forex reserves that we should worry about their health. The health of our police, paramilitary or army and the LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS, and this country, is more important than those who indulge in violence, mayhem and murder.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Twitter, headed by an Agarwal thinks the word ‘sh**t’ is a bit too much to allow on the platform.
(Certain words have been asterisked due to censorship laws and algorithms in the DSRT).
Been There Done That 