Jack Dorsey | SabrangIndia

Modi Govt said we will shut Twitter down, raid employee houses if orders are not followed: Jack Dorsey

sabrang — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 08:04:17 +0000

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey on Monday, June 12 publicly said that Indian authorities threatened to shut the microblogging platform in the country if it did not act against the dissenting voices during the farmers’ protest.

Interestingly, Dorsey made the comments during an interview with YouTube channel Breaking Points when asked to give examples of foreign governments putting pressure on Twitter to comply with their demands.

“India, for example, had many requests of us around the farmers’ protest – around particular journalists that were critical of the government,” the former Twitter chief executive officer said. “It manifested in ways such as ‘we will shut Twitter down in India’…and ‘we will raid the homes of your employees’ – which they did.”

The historic months long farmers protest had enthused citizens all over the country. As many as 128 participants of the farmers struggle died between May 26, 2021 and September 21, 2021, said the farmers group Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) ‘Human Cost of Farmers Protest’ blog.

This takes the total death toll to 605 people, who have died since November 24, 2020, when the Delhi Chalo Farmers campaign first started in India. Each of these individuals had travelled to the national capital’s borders to demand the repeal of the three farm laws – Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act – the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the legalisation of MSP among other demands.

Besides, Dorsey also said that Indian authorities threatened to shut down Twitter’s offices in the country if the company did not comply with its requests. “…And this is India, a democratic country,” he added. However, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday, June 13 dismissed Dorsey’s claims as an outright lie.

The impact of the protest on social media platform twitter had been profound. For example, a report in Sabrangindia dated September 25, 2020, just a few months after the worst impact of India’s Covid-19 lockdown were being felt, three #hashtags supporting the farmers movement were trending on twitter.

“By early afternoon of September 25, hashtags supporting farmers’ and workers’ defiance to the recent agriculture and labour laws were trending on Twitter.

Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav who attended protests in Haryana posted a screenshot that showed #BharatBandh #NoToFarmerBills and #ScrapAntiFarmerActs as the top three trending hashtags in India.

Similarly, the three-day long “rail roko” agitation of Punjab farmers was leading on Twitter news. However, the star of the Twitter trend show was its neighbouring state that sent in visuals of dissent from every nook and cranny of Haryana.”

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar rubbished the interview, however. “Dorsey’s Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law,” he claimed. “It behaved as if the laws of India did not apply to it. India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India.”

Chandrasekhar said that during the farmers’ protest, there was a lot of misinformation and “even reports of genocide” that were definitely fake. He appeared to have been referring to tweets from 2021, with the hashtag #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide, which the Centre had directed Twitter to hold back. “To set the record straight, no one was raided or sent to jail,” the Union minister added on Tuesday.

“Our focus was only on ensuring the compliance of Indian laws.”

This is an outright lie by @jack – perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of twitters history

This is an outright lie by @jack – perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of twitters history

Facts and truth@twitter undr Dorsey n his team were in repeated n continuous violations of India law. As a matter of fact they were in non-compliance with law… https://t.co/SlzmTcS3Fa

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@Rajeev_GoI) June 13, 2023

The interview has caused outrage and indignation in India, however. Several Opposition leaders reacted sharply to Dorsey’s claims about pressure on Twitter from the Union government. Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV shared excerpts from the interview on Twitter with the caption: “Mother of Democracy – Unfiltered.”

Mother of Democracy – Unfiltered

Mother of Democracy – Unfiltered

“During farmer protest, Modi govt pressurized us and said we will shut down your offices, raid your employees’ homes, which they did if you don’t follow suit.”

– Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO pic.twitter.com/tOyCfyDWcz

— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) June 12, 2023

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre “tried to arm-twist social media platforms to mute the voices of those supporting the farmers”.

The BJP and the government tried to crush the farmers protest,
They tried to defame the movement,
They called farmers terrorists,
They called farmers anti national
They lathicharged the farmers
They let farmers die,
They tried to silence the opposition in parliament
They…

— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) June 13, 2023

In February 2021, the government asked Twitter to remove hundreds of accounts that criticised the Centre over its handling of the widespread farmers’ protests that started in November 2020. According to the reports at the time, the social media platform initially refused, but eventually relented after its local employees were threatened with prison time.

The Centre had also then repeatedly criticized Twitter for not fully complying with the new Information Technology rules that came into force in May 2021.In August, a former security chief of Twitter, Peter Zatko had alleged that the Indian government forced the social media company to put one of its “agents” on its payroll. Zatko had also alleged that the “agent” was given access to user data when the government was facing “intense protests”

The post Modi Govt said we will shut Twitter down, raid employee houses if orders are not followed: Jack Dorsey appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Why did Twitter CEO give millions to RSS-affiliated Sewa International?

Wed, 12 May 2021 12:37:39 +0000

Image Courtesy:businesstoday.in

US-based Sewa International has recently got a donation of 2.5 million dollars from Twitter, proudly announced on the micro-blogging site by its CEO Jack Dorsey. Sewa International on its own website states that it “aspires to be the pre-eminent, Hindu faith based, humanitarian organization that serves selflessly, and with compassion to create a positive impact,” adding that they “strive for a world in which all people live in harmony, free from suffering.” Sewa International, is well known to be the American version of Sewa Bharti, which is an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Basically it is a part of what is known as the right wing collective Sangh Parivar.

Twitter has donated a total of $15 million (Rs 110.22 crore) to three organisations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic’s devastating impact in India. Jack Dorsey shared that the money was given to: CARE, Aid India and Sewa International USA. CARE got USD 10 million, Aid India and Sewa International USA each got USD 2.5 million.

$15 million split between @CARE, @AIDINDIA, and @sewausa to help address the COVID-19 crisis in India. All tracked here: https://t.co/Db2YJiwcqc ??

— jack (@jack) May 10, 2021

Twitter also described Sewa International as a “Hindu faith-based, humanitarian, non-profit service organisation” and said the donation “will support the procurement of life-saving equipment such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators, BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) and CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines as part of Sewa International’s ‘Help India Defeat Covid-19’ campaign.”

According to news reports, Sewa International’s vice president for Marketing and Fund Development, Sandeep Khadkekar said, “Twitter’s generosity will go a long way in helping us do the work we want to do and that we need to do.” The organisation has reportedly raised USD 17.5 million for its “India Covid-19 relief efforts”.

Thank you @jack. Our volunteers are working day & night to help the people in need. We appreciate your support. #SewaInternationalusa #togetherweservebetter #sewahelpsindia #covid19india https://t.co/qbegCaxCdm

— Sewa International (@sewausa) May 10, 2021

However, it is the organisation’s affiliation with the right wing RSS, and therefore an affiliation to its Hindutva ideology that has been questioned by many.

Dear @jack and everyone else reading this. Please stop funding hate in the times of corona. @SewaUSA is a well-known peddler of hate and bigotry. #COVID19 #Covid19IndiaHelp

RT requested for rapid awareness! @PKashwan

— Dilip Mandal (@Profdilipmandal) May 11, 2021

According to Pieter Friedrich, a freelance journalist, who posted an in depth analysis of Twitter’s donation to the Sangh Parivar, the affiliation illustrates that there may be a bigger reason than philanthropy at play here. The donation comes soon after the Indian Government reportedly “ordered Twitter to censor tweets” critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic policy. Friedrich recalled that British Lord Adam Patel in August 2002 had said that he was “satisfied that Sewa International is a front for controversial militant Hindu organisations”. Patel had helped it raise relief funds in the aftermath of the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, however he resigned in disgust, wrote Friedrich quoting his statement, “I very much regret ever having been part of this racist organisation.”

It is a matter of record that Sewa Bharati was founded in 1989 by Madhukar Deoras, the third chief of the RSS, as a ‘welfare service’ wing, then Sewa International was subsequently launched “to engage the Indian Diaspora (NRI) worldwide” and the US branch, now cash-rich thanks to Twitter, was registered in 2003.

Journalist Neha Dixit had in fact appealed to NRIs not to donate to right wing organisations as the funds could be misused. She quoted from an Al Jazeera report that, “Five organisations with ties to Hindu supremacist and religious groups have received Covid-19 relief funding amounting to $833,000, according to data released by the United States’ Small Business Administration (SBA), a federal agency.” These included Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, Infinity Foundation, Sewa International.

Dear NRIs,
Please don’t donate to Sewa International for Covid relief. They work as the welfare wing of RSS. Apart from supporting BJP govt’s massive crimes including abandoning Indian citizens in this pandemic, they also traffic children from tribal areas to indoctrinate them.

— Neha Dixit (@nehadixit123) May 4, 2021

Right Wing blog OpIndia confirmed that Rashtriya Sewa Bharti and Sewa International are affiliated to RSS, “Rashtriya Sewa Bhar[a]ti operates nationally, Sewa International has volunteers working both in the US and India, coordinating the work of raising funds.” Friedrich quotes Awaaz, who says the organizations “are dedicated to building a Hindu nation based on Hindu extremist ideas, glorifying the RSS, recruiting for the RSS and expanding RSS physical and ideological training cells (shakhas) in India.” According to reports Sewa International, is “managed mainly” by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the international wing of the RSS. He added that “Sewa International’s sentiments towards the Hindu supremacist paramilitary are no secret.”

The post Why did Twitter CEO give millions to RSS-affiliated Sewa International? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Opinion: Will the caste mind rise and smash Brahmanical Patriarchy?

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:43:42 +0000

When the world can join hands and feel offended on anything that has racial connotations, then why do we in India, not feel offended by caste discrimination and violence? Why has India tolerated untouchability which is nothing but a hidden apartheid?

Photo courtesy: Twitter handle @wbf_canada

‘Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy’ has created a lot of hurt among the ‘liberal’ brahmins while the hardcore are threatening Twitter to extract an apology. A privileged brahmin journalist wrote that it has become a norm to ‘blame’ brahmins who are a ‘minority’ community. She compared attacking Brahmanism to the Nazi treatment of Jews during Hitler’s regime. If I am not wrong, Hitler was never an idol for the Bahujan Samaj but I have heard stories of how Hitler has influenced India’s powerful brahmins who ‘hegemonised’ everything about India, right from its culture to politics. Apart from Nagpur, another Hindu Hriday Samrat in Mumbai was known for speaking violently against Muslims as well as South Indians, and he too was fond of Hitler. It is not for unknown reasons that after 2014, Hitler’s Mein Kampf became available everywhere.

I am not surprised by the Brahmanical backlash at the image of Twitter’s Founder Jack Dorsey holding the much talked about poster. They have thronged twitter claiming victimhood. Dorsey has come to India for the first time and has been welcomed with nothing but scorn on Twitter.

In the last one decade, we have seen that the powerful Savarna lobby which enjoys all the privileges of being a minority in the western world, actually hates to speak for the rights of minorities and marginalised in India. It is this group, which has been consistent in its approach to support the forces of rabid Hindutva in India. We all know how Twitter became a factory of Hindutva hatemongers, threatening and intimidating all those who disagreed. We know very well how everyone else who disagreed became anti-national and the level of debate in our media went to the gutters.

Smashing Brahmanical Patriarchy, White Supremacy, caste forces or racist forces amount to the same thing. It is important to know that when we speak of Brahmanical patriarchy, it should not just be about Brahmins but about the Varnashram Dharm which was founded by them. They are the torch bearers of this institution.

A Thakur, a Bania, a Yadav or Kayastha, a Bhumihar or anyone else could be a person of Brahmanical patriarchy which carries hatred and contempt for women. What we termed Hinduism today was actually known as Brahman dharma or Varnashram dharma. When the hurt victims claim all the goodness of the set up that benefits them, they cannot turn their backs or deny the criticism of the same system.

Yesterday, there was a big story in The Hindu of how two lovers were killed. They were killed because the boy was a Dalit while the girl belonged to the Vanniyar community, an OBC. The Vanniyars have been at the forefront of demanding the scrapping of the SC/ST Act. Many of the OBC leaders in the past have demanded that because much of the violence unleashed on Dalits today are by OBCs and that is why Baba Saheb Ambedkar called them the gatekeepers of Brahmanism. All of this is Brahmanism. They abuse their powers given to them Brahmanism and take shelter in it. Baba Saheb Ambedkar gave us the path of Buddhist enlightenment which was essential for the annihilation of castes.

A friend wrote that why should the Dalit OBC’s break the caste structure. It is the Brahmins who created and hence they should annihilate the caste. He meant that annihilation of caste slogan was not meant for the Dalits and OBCs but for the Brahmins. The problem with such jumlebaazi is that they take us nowhere. They ask all of us to continue behaving in a casteist way and ultimately take escape in blaming the Brahmins all the time. Brahmins created our structures of justifications of caste and caste-based discrimination but those have been exposed by our forefathers like Baba Saheb, Jyoti Ba Phule, EVR Periyar and others.

The fact is that the caste system has given the Savarnas, particularly the Brahmins, absolute privilege without being accountable. Despite the facts that most of the Kings and emperors did not hail from the Brahmin community, yet it was they who enjoyed all the patronage of power. The Brahmin power in India actually came after independence as they occupied all the major centres of power right from politics to the judiciary, academia, media and even sports, apart from unchallenged supreme social status.

I agree with those who say brahmins are a minority. Yes, all the Savaranas are a minority but got disproportionate power. Find out the castes of the officers in the Prime Minister’s Office. Look at who are heading our academia, media and judiciary. Look out at our armed forces, our sports, our advertising world and the world of cinema in India. They all are a ‘den’ of Brahmanism and not merely brahmins. Caste system manifests in each of these institutions in different ways. All the powerful temples of India have one hundred per cent Brahmin and Savarna quota. All the gutters of India are left in the hands of ‘sanitation workers’ or Swachchkar samaj. There’s 100% quota for Dalits in the sanitation department.

With these privileges, I am sure, the annihilation of caste won’t be possible by those who are enjoying it. Baba Saheb knew it very well and that is why he gave a call to all those who believed that these power structures must go, to embrace Buddhism and work for Prabuddha Bharat. Yes, that Prabuddha Bharat call was not meant for the untouchables alone but for all Indians who wanted to make India stronger and a nation which can be proud of its cultural heritage.

We know that not everyone has heeded Baba Saheb’s call. The Bahujan communities have yet to respond because as long as they are part of this structures, the caste system will flourish and Brahmanical supremacy would continue. The caste-based killings will continue. It is not merely brahmins but the Thakurs, Bhumihars, Yadavas, Reddy’s, Thevars, Jats, Gujjars and others will kill innocent couples who are in love if it challenges their caste structure. The young couple marrying beyond their caste limits will continue to face it unless our families become enlightened or we leave them and create our own new world. The meaning of a Brahmanical system is those people who believe in supremacy and sanctity of caste and its hierarchies. Many of the enlightened intellectuals identified that their parents were Brahmins but smashed the patriarchy. We can’t ignore the great work of Rahul Sankrityayan as well as MN Roy in this regard, both born as brahmins yet exposed the Brahmanical systems.

The solution to these issues is not making everyone feel guilty. None can be harassed on the basis of their birth but it is a fact that in India, caste is based on birth and it gives you absolute privilege. We cannot decide our birth. We cannot choose our parents but we can decide on our present and future action. We can’t politely accept the dangers of hierarchical society as it is dangerous for all. It will destroy India. We need an enlightened India and it will not be possible without destroying birth-based hierarchies and privileges.

The problem is that the wider debate on these issues are polarised and every one only speaks in their ‘confined’ circles, thought bubbles or hubris. Youngsters are not groomed to accept diverse thoughts and hence any dissent of their popular belief is considered as sacrilege. No society can grow if they feel hurt on every small issue which challenges the popular notion. One thing which is clear is that we can’t stop the march of the communities who have been historically denied justice. Their assertion of their caste identities cannot be termed as ‘casteism’. The Dalit assertion today and brahmin supremacy are two different terms and cannot be equated. But beyond these things, there should be a realisation that everyone needs a space and each person should be provided justice. It will not be possible unless historical injustices are not acknowledged and diversity is not placed in our academia, media, judiciary and bureaucracy.

The caste system is the biggest crime imposed on people of India. We know as the world becomes too small and accessible to all, these things will also get exposed. Those who claim victimhood from the ‘colonial’ masters actually have the biggest consolidation of power and have victimised communities in much worse ways than their colonial masters. We must admit that caste discrimination and untouchability are crimes equivalent to racial discrimination. When the world can join hands and feel offended by anything that has racial connotations, then why do we in India, not feel offended by caste discrimination and violence? Why has India tolerated untouchability which is nothing but a hidden apartheid?

These issues are serious but will only find resolutions when the Savarnas in India genuinely feel that certain communities have been historically wronged and denied justice. It will pave the way for reconciliation and nation building but that has a lot to do with voluntarily resigning from privileges which give the community enormous social and political power. Will the Indian Parliament ever discuss this and apologise to its Dalit Adivasi communities for the historical wrong done to them? A reconciliation is only possible if the powerful and those who enjoyed fruits of the system offer their hand, admit their collusion and proceed to build a new future.

There is no winner here except humanity. But will the caste mind rise and condemn the system of their privilege?

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