*ISLAMABAD – Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been accused of inciting hateagainst India’s highest caste after being photographed holding a posterdeclaring “smash Brahminical patriarchy” during a visit to the country.*
Dorsey was snapped holding the offending poster alongside six women whoparticipated in a discussion last week on the role of Twitter in India,where caste is a flashpoint issue and grievances can turn violent.
The reference to Brahmins, the traditional priestly class who sit atop therigid caste hierarchy, outraged some Hindus when the photograph was postedonline Sunday evening.View image on Twitterlink[image: View image on Twitter]link
linkAnna MM Vetticad✔@annavetticadlinklink
During Twitter CEO @jack link visit here, he &Twitter’s Legal head @vijaya link took part in around table with some of us women journalists, activists, writers & @TwitterIndia link @amritatlink to discuss the Twitter experience in India. Avery insightful, no-words-minced conversation [image: ????]2:14 PM – Nov 18, 2018link
– 1,227 link – 1,698 people are talking about this link
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“Do you realise that this picture has potential of causing communal riotsat a time when several States are going to Assembly Elections in India,”tweeted Indian police officer Sandeep Mittal.
“Even now an apology is not offered. Actually its (sic) a fit case forregistration of a criminal case for attempt to destablise (sic) thenation,” he added.
Twitter defended Dorsey in comments posted on its official India pageMonday, saying a low-caste activist had “shared her personal experiencesand gifted a poster to Jack”
“It is not a statement from Twitter or our CEO, but a tangible reflectionof our company’s efforts to see, hear, and understand all sides ofimportant public conversations that happen on our service around theworld,” the company said.
Another user, tweeting under the name Prassant DeshPehle (country first),wrote: “Shame on you @jack. Hate against any community or group should becondemned. Spewing hate on one to please the other isn’t right.”
linkPrassant DeshPehle@PrassantVlinklink
Shame on you @jack link
Hate against any community or group should be condemned.
Spewing hate on one to please the other isn’t right.#Jacklink don’t fall into the trap ofthese divisive friends of yours.#Twitterlink as a problem should beneutral, why lean?#JackMustApologiselinkMohandas Pai✔@TVMohandasPai
Hate posters, promoting hate by Twitter isnot acceptableRepublic@jack @TwitterIndia @Twitter We demand an unqualified apology, takingdown the offensive photo! @Ra_THORe @PMOIndia Minister we requestaction by GOI! linkblogs/hate-posters-promoting-hate-by-twitter-is-not-acceptable …link9:18 AM – Nov 20, 2018link
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But others praised the Twitter chief for touching on the plight ofmarginalised, low-caste Dalit communities and women in India, aconservative country of 1.25 billion.
“Dalit lynching and oppression, incidents of which we read about everyother day, do not cause as much Twitter outrage as Jack Dorsey holding up aplacard saying ‘End Brahmin Patriarchy’,” wrote user Ranjona Banerji.
South Asian historian Audrey Truschke said: “My Twitter feed is full ofelite men hyperventilating about Twitter CEO @jack holding a sign thatcalls out sex-based & caste-based discrimination in India.”
“Caste and sexism are real and virulent in modern India. If you want to beangry about something, let it be that reality,” she added.
Caste politics can explode into violence in India, where a centuries-oldhierarchy has divided Hindus into classes starting with Brahmins and endingwith the Dalits — formerly known as “untouchables”.
Although the system has been officially abolished, it still prevails inrural areas and determines where people live, who they marry and what typeof work they do. – APP/AFP