Minister orders inquiry after major controversy erupts

The All India Radio Twitter handle on Sunday re-tweeted obnoxious anti-Pakistan tweets by some of its followers after India beat Pakistan in their opening World Cup cricket match. Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore told The Hindu that he would order an inquiry on Monday.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi using cricket diplomacy to resume talks with Pakistan, the national radio broadcaster’s social media feed can snowball into a major controversy.

AIR re-tweeted ‘best tweets’

All India Radio invited tweets wishing Team India the best when the India-Pakistan World Cup match was under way in the Adelaide Oval on Sunday afternoon.

“Give your best wishes to #TeamIndia for #CricketWorldCup using #WCFirSe. Best will get re-tweet from us,” it said. But some of the followers of the broadcaster’s Twitter handle tweeted explosive anti-Pakistan tweets, which it re-tweeted.

“This is within the scope of Prasar Bharti. Whoever is handling the Twitter account must have done it in excitement. I will bring it up and have it looked into on Monday,” Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said. “People tend to get excited, but a certain grace must be maintained.”

“India’s explosive win over Pakistan at #AdelaideOval. Hindustan decides Pakistan’s #GharWapsi #WCFirSe,” a tweet originally in Hindi, which was re-tweeted by the All India Radio News’ verified account @airnewsalerts read. The handle is the “Official account of News Services Division, All India Radio”.