A day after having his Twitter account suspended for abusing JNU student and activist Shehla Rashid, Bollywood singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya called Twitter a medium full of “anti-nationals, anti- PM Modi and anti-Hindu” persons. He also said that he believed the social media tool was “suppressing the voice of the nation”.
Speaking to IANS from Interlaken in Switzerland, where he claims to be performing concerts and celebrating his wedding anniversary, Abhijeet said: “Twitter is a platform for anti-nationals, anti-Indian Army, anti-Modi, anti-Hindu and for terrorist supporters. I would say all are Naxals, they should be punished severely. It’s jihadi Twitter. We are not only singers. We are the voice of our nation and come out openly against anti-nationals. So, Twitter is trying to shut our voice.”
Earlier this week, Abhijeet had retweeted a derogatory tweet about Rashid when she tweeted a news story on BJP leaders running a sex racket.
Abhijeet’s Tweet
In another tweet, he insulted a woman when she called him out for incendiary tweets. He wrote, “You Ms Pak. Tell me your cage no? Will reach there…Will do the favourite pose.”
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After several users reported him, Twitter suspended his account. It is still unclear whether the suspension is permanent or temporary. Soon after the suspension, Abhijeet told PTI News, “Author Arundhati Roy and people supporting JNU were behind the suspension of his account. They are trying to block Paresh Rawal also. All Arundhati and JNU group behind this after Paresh Rawal and I tweeted against Arundhati for her anti- India stand,” adding that he doesn’t really care about his account because, “entire nation is with me.”
Paresh Rawal, veteran actor and a member of BJP, had earlier tweeted that award-winning writer and activist Arundhati Roy should be treated as a human shield in Kashmir. Last month, a Kashmiri man was tied to a jeep and used as a human shield against stone pelters. Rawal was forced to delete this tweet after several users reported him.
In a show of solidarity with his colleagues, singer Sonu Nigam has left Twitter, accusing the platform of being a “one-sided sham”. Appreciating his support, Abhijeet said, “Sonu Nigam is the only daring person from our fraternity who raised this issue along with me.”