Haryana minister's 'exterminate' tweet on Disha Ravi triggers row

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Monday posted a tweet on activist Disha Ravi's arrest that appeared to urge exterminating those who harbour the seed of anti-nationalism, prompting an investigation by Twitter.

The remark in Hindi could also be read as exterminating that seed of anti-nationalism.

Twitter notified the minister about a complaint it received under the German law over the tweet but said after investigation it found that no guidelines were broken.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor reacted sharply to Vij's tweet. "Surely tweets like this are far more harmful to our democracy than anything in the 'toolkit' Disha Ravi retweeted?" he said.

Desh virodh ka beej jiske bhi deemag mein ho uska samool nash kar dena chahiye fir chahe veh # Disha Ravi ho yaan koi aur, it said.

Roughly translated it reads, Whoever harbours the seed of anti-nationalism in their mind, that has to be destroyed from the roots, be it #Disha_Ravi or anyone else. It could also be read advocating the destruction of that person.

The minister's remarks follow's Ravi's arrest by the Delhi Police for allegedly sharing with German climate activist Greta Thunberg the toolkit related to the farmers' protest against the Centre's new laws.

The Delhi Police had claimed that the 21-year-old activist was an editor of the "toolkit Google doc" and "key conspirator" in the document's formulation and dissemination.

The minister posted a response from the Twitter, saying it had received a complaint over the tweet.

We have investigated the reported content and have found that it is not subject to removal under the Twitter Rules or German law. Accordingly, we have not taken any action as a result of this specific report, it said.