Right-wingers want Kashmiri activist Raheel Khurshid to be removed.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Twitter India has landed itself in political trouble after announcing that Kashmiri activist and former journalist Raheel Khursheed would take over the company’s news, politics, and government division.
Right-wingers in India have slammed the appointment of Khursheed, particularly for his rather intense dislike of Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. They’ve called for Khursheed to immediately be removed from his position at Twitter.
Specifically, Khursheed has referred to Modi as being a communist, the perpetrator of the Gujarat riots in 2002, and a corrupt politician whose election to Prime Minister would spell doom for the world’s largest democracy.
In fact, a Change.org petition has been organized that has gathered over 3,000 signatures so far. Written anonymously – although credited to right-wing activists – and addressed to Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, the letter urges that Khursheed’s employment be terminated post-haste so that the social media firm can maintain its integrity, at least in their eyes.
“In recent years, Twitter has gained huge popularity in India because it provides an unbiased and neutral platform for people to express their opinion,” says the petition. With the appointment of Mr Khursheed we believe Twitter as a platform will loose [sic] all it’s credibility. We fear, with a severely biased person at the helm of a critical function, Twitter will end up becoming a manipulation tool in the hands of the ruling party and their cohorts.”
Khursheed’s tweets are often incredibly loaded, politically speaking. With over 7,530 followers and over 44,000 tweets, he has a substantial online following. His tweets regarding Indian politics and politicians have garnered mixed reactions online, with several hailing him as the voice of his generation while other have called him extreme, disturbing, and potentially dangerous.
But the vast majority of Khursheed’s tweets are simply conversations he has with other followers. Most contain innocuous things like “Cookbooks are awesome” and “RT [Re-Tweet] this for no reason.” The occasional tweet may spark some outrage, but most of what Khursheed is doing on social media is relatively inoffensive.
Khursheed earned his master’s degree from Pune University’s Symbiosis Institute in mass communication. He has worked for the Mercy Corps., a US-based non-government organization dedicated to working in Kashmir, and has headed several advocacy campaigns, such as StopRape.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com