After Tripura Muslims Faced Mob Attacks, Muslim Twitter Handles Nationwide Face Police Action
In the bright mid-morning sunlight, Mohammad Sanohar Ali was distraught as he stared at the remnants of his shop that was partially burnt down by a Hindu mob on 26 October…. Even as Ali and other Muslim shop-owners in Rowa Bazaar calculated their losses, on 6 November, the West Agartala police station of the Tripura Police filed criminal cases against 102 social media handles that had called attention to the developments in Tripura….
The social media handles the police selected for criminal cases had posted opinions and comments on the violence; some had shared reports. The police’s letter claimed they had used photographs or videos of unrelated incidents, and had “fabricated” statements and commentary.
The police demands from Twitter included registration details of the handles, browsing logs “from the date of registration”, lists of IP addresses used to log into these handles, linked mobile numbers and linked accounts. Barring a few, most of these handles belong to Muslims…. it is still unclear how many and which of them may face charges under UAPA or sections of the IPC….
