Sushma Swaraj and her husband Swaraj Kaushal have been targeted by trolls on Twitter
Highlights
- Swaraj Kaushal retweeted abusive post by a troll
- Several Twitter users condemned social media attack on the couple
- Sushma Swaraj was also targeted by trolls earlier this week
The husband of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has shown the mirror to a Twitter troll by retweeting the screenshot of an abusive post -- which the man had deleted -- that said the union minister should be thrashed.
"Friends, please see this," Swaraj Kaushal tweeted as he tackled the troll, whose Twitter profile mentions the name Mukesh Gupta with "IIT Delhi" in the handle.
In another tweet four hours later, Mr Kaushal posted a screenshot of the abusive tweet by Mukesh Gupta, who had by then deleted his post.
"when she comes home tonight why don't U beat her up & teach her not to do Muslim appeasment tell her Muslims will never ever vote for BJP," Mukesh Gupta posted, tagging both the foreign minister and her husband, a lawyer.
"who else can teach @SushmaSwaraj a lesson or two," said the troll whose profile says he's a B.Tech.
The attacks on social media on the couple were condemned by Twitter users, with several telling Mukesh Gupta to apologise. A Twitter user, Mehek, wrote: "And this dangerous mindset guy has studied in IIT. Even education can't cure such people."
The attack on Twitter comes five days after Ms Swaraj was abused on Twitter after passports were issued to an inter-faith couple from Uttar Pradesh. The woman had alleged an officer at the passport office had told the husband to change his religion.
The passport officer was later transferred, which led the trolls to attack the foreign minister - who was abroad at the time -- for what they claimed was punishing a man who was only doing his duty.
After returning to India, Ms Swaraj had retweeted some of the abusive posts directed at her.
The Lucknow police have said the inter-faith couple have not been staying at the address they mentioned in the forms for at least a year. Rules demand that an applicant has to give the most recent address -- and any previous ones in a span of a year before applying.
Police sources have said it is possible that they might be asked to file more documents, or even an application at the passport office in Noida.