Dalit activism has now gone digital as columnist working for ‘upper caste Baniya’ Shekhar Gupta’s venture ThePrint has taken on microblogging site Twitter for not verifying his twitter handle. The blue tick is now being referred to as ‘neeli janeu’ because ThePrint columnist Dilip Mondal thinks he deserves a blue tick but Twitter is casteist in not giving him one.
Dear @jack, The employees of @TwitterIndia are castiest to the core, they don’t give democratic spaces to the oppressed communities, they suspend twitter accounts of democratic voices. Pl. do a social audit of your India offices. #SackManishMaheshwari
— Prof. Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) November 2, 2019
He called Manish Maheshwari, Twitter India head, a casteist bigot for being unfair to Dalits and not verifying his own Twitter handle. Essentially, Mandal, who is associated with Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint, where Gupta is an upper caste Baniya by caste and has a verified Twitter account, has accused Twitter of being casteist for not giving him a blue tick.
Hey @jack, Please dismiss @manishm345. He is a casteist bigot. He is not the right choice for a diverse country like India, with 85% SC-ST-OBC-Minority population. #SackManishMaheshwari
— Prof. Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) November 2, 2019
देश में लाखों ब्लू टिक एकाउंट हैं. लेकिन मैं SC-ST-OBC के 100 बुद्धिजीवियों, लेखकों, पत्रकारों, प्रोफेसरों, चिंतकों को नहीं जानता जिनको ट्विटर ने ब्लूट टिक देकर वेरिफाइ किया है. क्या आप इन समुदायों के वेरिफाइड एकाउंट के बारे में बताएंगे, जो नेता नहीं हैं. #SackManishMaheshwari
— Prof. Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) November 2, 2019
He said that there are lakhs of Twitter accounts which are verified, but he does not know of even 100 intellectuals, writers or others from the SC-ST-OBC community who have been verified by Twitter.
Mandal relentlessly tried to trend the hashtag ‘casteisttwitter’ and ‘sackmanishmaheshwari’. Amusingly, in his crusade to get a verified account for self where he accused Twitter does not verify Dalit activists’ accounts, he got support from other verified accounts of Dalit activists, including Congress’ Dalit department.
ट्विटर @TwitterIndia को भेदभावपूर्ण व्यवहार से दूरी बनाकर रखनी चाहिए। #JaiBhimTwitter
— Dalit Congress (@INCSCDept) November 2, 2019
Jai Bhim !! #JaiBhimTwitter
— Dr. Nitin Raut (@NitinRaut_INC) November 2, 2019
He then questioned Twitter why isn’t Prakash Ambedkar, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s grandson and politician, doesn’t have his Twitter handle verified.
@TwitterIndia, क्या आप एक वजह बता सकते हैं कि आपने प्रकाश आंबेडकर का ट्विटर हैंडल वेरिफाई क्यों नहीं किया. उनसे राजनीतिक लाइन पर समर्थन या विरोध अलग बात है. लेकिन वे बिना शक देश के बड़े नेता हैं. Ex MP हैं. हमारी चार्जशीट है कि ट्विटर जातिवादी है. @Prksh_Ambedkar #JaiBhimTwitter pic.twitter.com/62PxIKxii5
— Prof. Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) November 2, 2019
Aam Aadmi Party MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam also joined in the ‘activism’ against ‘casteist Twitter’. His account is also having a blue tick or as Mandal likes to call ‘neeli janeu’.
ट्विटर पर बहुजन एकता का परचम लहराने के लिए सभी बहुजन साथियों को क्रांतिकारी जय भीम। आज आप सभी ने बाबासाहेब के कथन को सार्थक कर दिखाया। शिक्षित बनो, संघर्ष करो, संगठित रहो…कुछ हद तक हम कामयाब हो रहे हैं। #संघर्ष_जारी_है
साथ चलते रहिए?#JaiBhimTwitter
— Rajendra Pal Gautam (@AdvRajendraPal) November 2, 2019
Later in the night, after a day-long activism demanding verified account, Mandal said that his fight is not for a blue tick, but the fact that Twitter has upper and lower caste divisions. Not having a verified profile is now described as caste discrimination on hands of Twitter.
बात वेरिफाई या ब्लू टिक की नहीं है. ट्विटर सोशल मीडिया में ऊंच और नीच कटेगरी बना रहा है. मनमाने तरीके से. यह सोशल मीडिया की वर्ण व्यवस्था है. #नीलीजनेऊ वाले लिखेंगे और बाकी लोग रिट्वीट करेंगे. फॉलो करेंगे. वाह सर बोलेंगे. हमें मंजूर नहीं है. #JaiBhimTwitter
— Prof. Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) November 2, 2019
He said that the ones with ‘neeli janeu (blue janeu)’ are the ones who tweet, and others retweet and say ‘wow, sir!’ which is not acceptable to him. Amusingly, the Dalit activists he quoted and thanked for support also have the blue tick and so do various politicians like Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, BSP chief Mayawati amongst others.
Mandal has now announced that on 4th November, the Bhim Army will protest outside Twitter office in Mumbai and lock it out.
भीम आर्मी ट्विटर के मुंबई ऑफिस में अपना पक्ष रखने के लिए 4 नवंबर को पहुंच रही है. @BhimArmyChief @Bhimarmy_BEM #JaiBhimTwitter pic.twitter.com/X08n5AGU07
— Prof. Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) November 2, 2019
While caste atrocities are real and an unfortunate reality even in 2019, this Twitter activism against Twitter itself is quite misplaced. In November last year, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey during his visit to India had posed with a ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy‘ poster which had created quite a furore. While there are non-political Dalit activists who also have blue ticks, it is unfair to say that Dalit voices are suppressed on Twitter by not verifying their Twitter accounts. A hostile Dalit narrative is always prevalent over any other narrative and anyone who dissents it is branded a bigot or a casteist person.
