Journalists in India have a penchant for saying the worst things on social media. A tweet of one such ‘journalist’, Aveek Sen, who writes for Left portals like Newslaundry and Shekhar Gupta owned The Print, went viral. In the tweet that went viral, Aveek Sen could be seen calling for the rape of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
In the tweet from 2013 that went viral, Aveek Sen was seen quoting TimesNow, saying that Mamata Banerjee had called the Barasat rapists ‘CPIM supporters’. To that, Aveek Sen had responded saying “Its high time these cpm supporters rape Mamta!”
Interestingly, Aveek Sen has been given a platform on various Left portals because he claims to “fight hate” online.
This abusive tweet against the Chief Minister of West Bengal went viral after Aveek Sen made it his mission to doxx those with who he does not agree ideologically. Aveek Sen has, as late as 27th July 2021, written for The Newslaundry about how one can protect themselves from “Online snooping”.
Aveek Sen had also written for The Print, owned and run by journalist Shekhar Gupta, as late as 2020.
Journalist who called for the rape of Mamata Banerjee runs an account ‘fighting hate online’, doxxes people regularly
Interestingly, Aveek Sen, who called for the rape of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee runs a handle on Twitter where he claims to “fight hate” online. The handle that he runs is called @hateSWATteam, which claims to be a “SWAT Team Against Hate & Fake Posts”.
On August 3rd, Aveek Sen claimed that he had launched “Hate SWAT Team” “to track troll farms making hate speech & fake news viral in India”. Launching a platform to doxx people he did not agree with, Sen even asked people to “donate to him for this work”.
We have just launched @hateSWATteam to track troll farms making hate speech & fake news viral in India. Please donate if you like our work. No amount is considered small by us
— Aveek Sen (@aveeksen) August 2, 2021
Link for payments from abroad & international credit card users- https://t.co/lcdo1mksDU
He also revealed that in a stunning case of joblessness, he also maintains an elaborate excel sheet where he records the names of those he wishes to doxx and target. All of the individuals on his list were those from the non-left.
It's no use suspending just people who tweet hate. People RTing them must be suspended too @TwitterSafety. Here the suspended account @theskindoctor13 is back with @theskindoctor14 & already within minute promoted by big accounts. Top followers in sheet- https://t.co/5lcxPXokzQ pic.twitter.com/25BJpFsrWE
— Aveek Sen (@aveeksen) August 5, 2021
It is pertinent to note that Aveek Sen has been doxxing Twitter user @theskindoctor13 for several weeks now and recently, had managed to get his account suspended from Twitter. He had then urged even those retweeting the account to be suspended.
The top accounts tweeting protesting @TwitterSafety suspending @theskindoctor13's account for hate speech are @KapilMishra_IND,@ManMundra,@Rajput_Ramesh,@rishibagree,@sushilkedia,@MODIfiedVikas,@pafcoms,@ippatel,@indiantweeter,@MulaMutha pic.twitter.com/9nYYUhOhhL
— Aveek Sen (@aveeksen) August 5, 2021
Aveek Sen stands by his tweet calling for the rape of Mamata Banerjee
Team Saath, the handle that is associated with actor Sushant Singh, who had participated in the anti-CAA protests that led to the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, claims that they had “approached” Aveek Sen as they were working for the “same cause”. Team Saath has also regularly doxxed people from the non-Left and has run hate campaigns against those who are ideologically aligned with the non-Left and support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, Team Saath that regularly hounds people said that they were “wrong to approach him” because he had called for the rape pf Mamata Banerjee. They even called for his account to be suspended.
To this, Aveek Sen responded standing by his tweet that called for the rape of Bengal CM.
He said that his “past is an open book” and he will not delete the tweet unless Twitter asks him to.
I had 8 years to delete this tweet. I could have deleted the tweet a week before I started these reports. I didn't. My past is an open book. I don't care what BJP trolls dig up. I am not deleting anything unless Twitter asks to https://t.co/4luyCi1k5n
— Aveek Sen (@aveeksen) August 5, 2021
It is interesting to note that an individual who claims to “fight hate” has refused to delete a shameful tweet that targets a Chief Minister and a woman, no less, with rape.
Aveek Sen, who was then possibly scared that his Left credentials would be cancelled, proceeded to try and prove that he was a non-Left supporter and now, he has changed his ideology.