Several top moderate Indian journalists including Barkha Dutt receive threats after Pulwama Attack
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NEW DELHI - Several journalists have complained of receiving threatening calls and messages, including explicit pictures, on Twitter and WhatsApp over the weekend after they offered to help Kashmiris who were being harassed in some parts of the country in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.
Forty Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in the suicide attack on a convoy.
Several Kashmiri students link and residents were harassed and threatened following the terror attack, with many being asked to leave their colleges or vacate their homes. ADVERTISEMENT
On Sunday, journalist Barkha Dutt had tweeted that her “doors are open to any Kashmiris” who need help or feel vulnerable. “Those abusing and vilifying innocent citizens are sympathisers of terrorists in the garb of nationalists,” she said.
“They are reading from a script of hate which is totally what Jaish wants.” Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror strike.
However, early on Monday, Dutt said that she had closed her direct messages on Twitter as an “abusive mob” was sending her messages. In another tweet link, she said: “Deluged with WhatsApp [sic] messages since yesterday that are abusive and threatening. Seems an organized hate campaign against some of us. One sender confirms my mobile number being circulated in groups.”
In a series of tweets, Dutt shared several phone numbers from which she received either abusive calls or messages. She tagged the Delhi Police and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the tweets warning the abusers of an FIR. She also shared images of unsolicited images that were sent to her on WhatsApp.
Delhi Police official Madhur Verma assured Dutt that the matter will be investigated, while Carl Woog link, the head of communications for WhatsApp, also offered help.
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