New Delhi: Micro-blogging site Twitter has suspended ISKCON Bangladesh and other Twitter handles. These pages were posting content related to the ongoing violence on the Hindu community in Bangladesh that had started in the previous week.
Radharaman Das, ISKCON in-charge and spokesperson, said that the radical Islamists in Bangladesh have not just killed the minority Hindus but have “killed the voices of the people of Bangladesh”.
Furthermore, he alleged that Twitter gives statements such as "we stand for freedom of speech" and put up good slogans but in reality, they have adopted a policy of “suppressing the voices of all the victims of a massacre”.
In protest of this, the day of October 30 is going to be observed on an international level across different ISKCON Temples. In around 700 temples covering 150 countries, a protest is going to be held where various people can participate and pay for the souls of those who died in the violence.
“That day, right from the morning, there will be a protest in all the Temples. And another things that will happen is payers and chants so that the souls of the victims rest in peace. We have almost 700 temples in 150 countries and all the temples are participating in this,” he informed.
Radharaman Das also mentioned that, on intending to write a letter to Twitter, no Indian address could be found in Google. “Actually we wanted to write a letter but if you Google search then you will not even find any address of Twitter in India” said Das.
He added that Twitter has earlier been lenient towards various terrorist groups and has not even suspended account on instances where a “Prime Minister of someplace had talked about beheading”.
“Here we can see that especially when something happens with the Hindus and when they post some video or other content regarding their grief and sufferings, it gets suspended,” Das pointed.
Talking about their step to approach the international bodies like the United Nation, he cleared that it was, in no way, intended to disgrace Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He emphasised that the sole purpose of opting for intentional help was to provide security and support to the victims.
“Actually we approached the UN and world leaders for three objectives. First is if the entire world stands beside the Bangladesh Government then even they will get the courage... Second, the people who are suffering from the violence even they would get the courage and hope… And the third reason is that the people who are committing the violence would know that the entire world stands with the victims,” Das explained.
The Twitter handle of the Bangladesh Hindu council has also been removed even though it is not yet clear if they have been suspended or deactivated. To this Radharaman Das tweeted, “They killed our devotees, @Twitter killed our voice”.