If Delhi Police were under my control, I would have taught trolls a lesson: Kejriwal

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that if given control of Delhi Police, he would have taught anonymous social media trolls a lesson to remember.

“Aaj Delhi Police humare pass hoti toh inki naak mein dam kar dete... inki aisi-ki-taisi kar dete. (If Delhi Police was under my government’s control, I would have given these trolls a hard time... would have taught them a lesson),” Kejriwal said while referring to online trolls. He was speaking at the launch of India Social, a book by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founder-member and social media head, Ankit Lal, at Constitution Club on Friday.

Ever since coming to power in Delhi, the AAP government has been demanding bringing Centre-run Delhi Police under the control of the state government.

Terming online trolls as “cowards” who cannot afford to reveal their identity, Kejriwal said, “These people who abuse and threaten women by making fake accounts on social media will get sleepless nights if the government of the day decides to punish them.”

“In the beginning I was sad to see such comments, but then I realised they are manufactured using machines,” he said.

During Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement in 2011, he said, the response on social media posts would reflect the mood of the public. “Now, the standard of the response to my tweets is so below standard that even the genuine comments get lost in it,” he said.

“There are two trends on social media these days. If you criticise their leader slightly or make a cartoon, you will be arrested. But if their leader issues open threats to kill someone, he will be safe,” he said without taking names, while referring to threats made to Padmavati actors, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

“It looks like this country is not run by IPC or CRPC sections, but instead by the party who you support or oppose,” he said.