Govt Trying to Silence Critics: Vinod Kapri on ‘Restricted’ Tweet

Filmmaker Kapri’s tweet, which was critical of the PM, was restricted by Twitter after being flagged by MeITY. 

The Quint

Video Editor: Rahul Sanpui

"Instead of silencing those critical of the government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi must focus on addressing the COVID-19 crisis," opined filmmaker Vinod Kapri, whose tweet questioning the government's handling of the second wave was among several others restricted by Twitter. According to reports, over 50 tweets were restricted for Indian users after the micro-blogging website received a complaint from the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Referring to his tweet, that has now been restricted, Kapri said that in February 2017, Prime Minister Modi was addressing a political rally ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections, when he said that if villages can make space for burial grounds, then crematoriums should be built as well.

“When saw I visuals of mass cremations in Lucknow, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, I felt really bad. I tweeted that PM Modi has spoken about building crematoriums in every village but now every house has turned into a crematorium. I posted a video of pyres with the audio of PM Modi’s speech in the background.”  

Vinod Kapri, Filmmaker. 

Kapri says that he tweeted the video as he felt it was important to highlight how both the "PM and his government had failed" to contain the situation.

Claiming that Twitter is under "a lot of pressure," Kapri says that the Indian government wants to keep a watch on social media platforms so that voices critical of the ruling dispensation find it difficult to amplify their arguments.

Maintaining that showing visuals of burning pyres is not an insult, Kapri says that nothing can be more insulting than the fact that several have had to run from pillar to post, just to secure a hospital bed for their loved ones.