An official Twitter handle of the Indian government was forced to take down a tweet that promoted an award-winning book by author Arundhati Roy, who’s been a known critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In response to Hindutva supporters’ outrage, the official Twitter handle of ‘MyGovIndia’ decided to delete the tweet.
The tweet by MyGovIndia had read, ‘… What does ‘The God of Small Things’ mean to you? Take the 20 Words Book Summary Challenge! If you are interested in publishing your own book, then participate in #MentoringYuvaScheme…,
The government came under fire from BJP supporters almost immediately after the tweet was shared by one of the Indian government’s most prominent Twitter handles. Faced with growing outrage, MyGovIndia decided to take down the tweet.
Roy, whose book ‘The God of Small Things’ had won the prestigious Booker prize in 1997, has been one of the fiercest critics of the Narendra Modi government.
In her previous interview, Roy has said, ‘Because today you’re looking at a situation where the Muslim community has been ghettoized. You’re looking at people being lynched on the streets. You’re looking at them being pushed out of an economic activity they participated in earlier, you know meat shops, leatherwork, handicrafts, all of this under assault.’ She further added ‘The violence in India is terrifying. You all must have followed the rape of the little girl in Kashmir. That happened but thousands of people marched in support of the rapists including women, support of the alleged rapists let’s say. But the point is there was an attempt to change how that trial was going to take place. So the polarisation is so frightening.’
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