Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Apr 26: Anantkumar Hegde, MP of Uttara Kannada district has claimed that his Twitter account had been 'blocked' by the microblogging website after he posted a complaint against an 'anti-national' tweet.

Hegde has written in this regard on his official Facebook account. He vented his anger stating, "Anti-Indian policy of Twitter is out in the open once again. Twitter is carrying on the business of dividing and hatching a plot against India."

The MP said that Twitter has asked him to delete his tweet in order to restore his account. Giving more details on the issue MP Hegde stated that on April 20, he had made a written complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah regarding an 'anti-national' tweet by a person named Gurupatavantha Singh Pannun who had advocated independence of Punjab by demanding the formation of Khalistan. "Being an Indian, in its true sense, I saw that tweet as an anti-national and anti-social act and hence reported to the government to safeguard our national interest," he said.

He further stated that earlier to this, he had tweeted explicitly about the 'modus-operandi and the hidden agenda' of the Tablighi Jamaat movement within India and around the world.

Hegde said that as a consequence of the above two steps, Twitter on April 24 'blocked' his official account on its site. "Twitter has also told me that my account would be restored if I delete my tweet on Tabligh Jamaat," he added.

He however stated he would never delete the tweets as demanded by Twitter. "I will, certainly, never delete the said tweet because it was the wrong being done under the umbrella of a religion. Undoubtedly, I am not against any religion, but, as an Indian, I will never allow any person or organization to spread hatred or to provoke people to indulge in any anti-social or anti-national activity. I stand affirm on my statement and will defend it strongly," he said.

He also claimed that Twitter India had been showing 'discrimination' and 'favouritism' to 'anti-nationals', adding, "If Twitter India is earning revenue from sponsoring or giving advertisement space for anti-nationals then my specific question is: Shouldn't Twitter be accountable for the law of this land?"

Twitter in its notice sent to MP Hegde reportedly said that he had violated some of its rules. It also asked the MP to delete the said tweet to unlock his account.

However, as of Sunday April 26, Anantkumar Hegde's Twitter acccont was functional, but a recent tweet by him seems to have been deleted for violating Twitter's rules. Reports stated that his account has been locked, but not suspended.