Shashi Tharoor’s article “When tweets trump diplomacy” (Feb. 10) came as a total surprise. Here is an Indian minister who popularized the use of Twitter among ministers and politicians and faced flak for it from the establishment. The same man is now criticizing Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj for the extensive use of the microblogging site to empower the people of India. This is ironic and tragic.
Swaraj has emerged as the most popular politician among Indians abroad for her proactive decision-making via Twitter. As Devjyot Ghoshal wrote in Quartz India last month, her skilful administration is on regular display during her extraordinary engagement with ordinary Indians, in 140 characters or less.
Since taking office in 2014, Swaraj’s Twitter feed has transformed into a virtual clearing house for countless requests that she receives mostly from Indian citizens at home and abroad. Some reach out directly for help with visas and documents. Stranded overseas, distressed Indian workers write to her on Twitter with urgent requests. One man even asked her for help fixing his refrigerator.
In response, Swaraj — only the second woman to become India’s foreign minister — routinely stages pithily-worded interventions, issues directives and receives thanks on Twitter, with her 7 million followers in tow (she declined to help with the fridge though). Her work has not gone unnoticed or unrecognized. Last year, Foreign Policy magazine put her on its list of leading global thinkers “for fashioning a novel brand of Twitter diplomacy.”
At home, she has been polled as the best minister in the Narendra Modi government, even drawing rare praise from opposition parties in Parliament for her engagement with non-resident Indians.
Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, rightly said she clearly understands the medium and how it can dramatically facilitate communication between high-level officials and common people — communication channels that are much more difficult to establish offline.
There is something empowering about the thought that if you find yourself in a difficult situation abroad, you can tweet your foreign minister asking for help, with the very real expectation that she will actually respond and help.
To say Swaraj may be going too far, responding to every case of a lost passport or delayed visa tweeted to her — an approach that has earned her the not-entirely flattering sobriquet of “India’s minister for consular affairs” — is absolutely wrong. Tharoor is perhaps jealous of Swaraj’s popularity. Other ministers and politicians in India should follow her suit. Her’s is an example worth emulating. — Muntajib Zakaria, Jeddah
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Diplomacy through Twitter
Diplomacy through Twitter
Cartoon in bad taste
I wish to use my “right of reply” to complain about the unfortunate caricature that appeared on Aug. 5, 2017, in your well-known newspaper. The cartoon represents President Nicolas Maduro sitting on a military tank and a hand coming out of the tank’s cannon writing on a book titled “New Constitution.” Such a caricature is offensive to my country.
What the caricature seems to imply is that President Maduro wants to rewrite a new constitution with the power of arms. This is totally false. It is immoral to give your readers such a forged image of Venezuela and its constitutionally- and democratically-elected government.
The revision of our constitution, which is among the best in the world, is mainly to reinforce it and make it more adaptable to the new times. It is not an imposition of our president; it has been backed by more than 8 million Venezuelans and has the objective of re-establishing the peace process that has been trampled by a violent opposition backed by interested foreign countries that pretend to give orders to our sovereign populace.
I fail to understand why some international media report fake news about my country, with the purpose of undermining our sovereignty, and the people of Venezuela’s absolute right to decide, in a free and independent manner, how it wants to conduct its internal affairs.
I invite your newspaper to inform about our country with the truth and the same respect that we, in Venezuela, treat to our brothers of Saudi Arabia.
Joseba Achutegui
Ambassador of Venezuela
Riyadh
Saudi Arabia
Syrian civil war
Since it broke out six years ago, the disastrous war in Syria has claimed about 400,000 lives, with the victims being more civilians than fighters. Of the civilians, the most affected are women and children. Peace is shattered in and around Syria only to safeguard the most selfish monster in the world: Bashar Assad.
According to a UNICEF report, grave violations against Syrian children during the war have been recorded. The children in Syria are not only maimed and killed as a result of bombings but also forcefully recruited to be part of the conflict. Children as young as 7 years old are pushed into the front line as fighters, suicide bombers and executioners! The actual figures of those injured, dead and forcefully-recruited children are far higher than in the UNICEF report.
The innocent children “used” in the conflict have had the right to blossom, the right to enjoy life and the right to be on a play-ground torn from them. They have been deprived of the right to education and, according to UNICEF, nearly two million children have been forced to stop their education with one-third of school buildings rendered inoperative due to destruction.
With their often physically crippled parents, the children have to be the sole bread-winners in nearly 75 percent of Syrian households. Unwillingly, the children are forced to serve as garbage collectors, hairdressers and cleaners. Keeping aside what Assad gets out of this war, the beneficiaries of the war are weapon manufacturers who may well be dubbed parasites living on the blood of innocents.
Assad, the inhuman butcher of humanity, does not care what the world says, opines, suggests and warns about the catastrophic war in Syria. More than the ruinous acts of Assad, Russia and Iran, it shocks, grieves and pains to see that the world and the Muslim world has done nothing to stop the butcher of this century from his brutal and barbaric destruction of his own nation and his own people.
According to a UNICEF report, grave violations against Syrian children during the war have been recorded. The children in Syria are not only maimed and killed as a result of bombings but also forcefully recruited to be part of the conflict. Children as young as 7 years old are pushed into the front line as fighters, suicide bombers and executioners! The actual figures of those injured, dead and forcefully-recruited children are far higher than in the UNICEF report.
The innocent children “used” in the conflict have had the right to blossom, the right to enjoy life and the right to be on a play-ground torn from them. They have been deprived of the right to education and, according to UNICEF, nearly two million children have been forced to stop their education with one-third of school buildings rendered inoperative due to destruction.
With their often physically crippled parents, the children have to be the sole bread-winners in nearly 75 percent of Syrian households. Unwillingly, the children are forced to serve as garbage collectors, hairdressers and cleaners. Keeping aside what Assad gets out of this war, the beneficiaries of the war are weapon manufacturers who may well be dubbed parasites living on the blood of innocents.
Assad, the inhuman butcher of humanity, does not care what the world says, opines, suggests and warns about the catastrophic war in Syria. More than the ruinous acts of Assad, Russia and Iran, it shocks, grieves and pains to see that the world and the Muslim world has done nothing to stop the butcher of this century from his brutal and barbaric destruction of his own nation and his own people.
Spies deserve ‘harsh punishment’
This refers to the story “Pakistan’s army sentences alleged Indian spy to death” (April 11, 2017). Since the announcement of the death penalty for Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian intelligence agent who was involved in various terrorist activities in Pakistan, the Indian media are making false allegations against Islamabad.
We are citizens of a sovereign country. No one can dictate to us how to ensure the security of our people. Jadhav’s confession regarding his activities in Pakistan is available on YouTube. That should be enough for the Indian authorities.
A spy that conducts and masterminds terrorist activities that result in the death of many people has to face harsh punishment.
I firmly believe that if the death penalty is waived in Jadhav’s case, the consequences will be worse and terrorist acts will escalate in our country.
This must come to an end.
As Sartaj Aziz, adviser on foreign affairs to the prime minister, pointed out in his recent statement, Jadhav was tried according to the law of the land, in a fully transparent manner, while granting him his rights, as per the constitution of Pakistan.
Due process has been followed in the proceedings against him.
Jadhav, a serving commander in the Indian Navy, was apprehended on March 3, 2016, having crossed into Pakistan from the Saravan border with Iran.
He was found in possession of an Indian passport issued by the government of India on May 12, 2015, and valid until May 11, 2024.
He confessed that he is a resident of Mumbai, India, still serving in the Indian Navy and that his retirement is due in 2022.
New Delhi should not underestimate the fact that the entire Pakistani population is behind the Pakistan Army.
We, Pakistanis, have been victims of massive terrorist acts for decades.
I am sure that our government and armed forces understand that there shall be no compromise where Jadhav is concerned. — Farheen Ayub, Taif
We are citizens of a sovereign country. No one can dictate to us how to ensure the security of our people. Jadhav’s confession regarding his activities in Pakistan is available on YouTube. That should be enough for the Indian authorities.
A spy that conducts and masterminds terrorist activities that result in the death of many people has to face harsh punishment.
I firmly believe that if the death penalty is waived in Jadhav’s case, the consequences will be worse and terrorist acts will escalate in our country.
This must come to an end.
As Sartaj Aziz, adviser on foreign affairs to the prime minister, pointed out in his recent statement, Jadhav was tried according to the law of the land, in a fully transparent manner, while granting him his rights, as per the constitution of Pakistan.
Due process has been followed in the proceedings against him.
Jadhav, a serving commander in the Indian Navy, was apprehended on March 3, 2016, having crossed into Pakistan from the Saravan border with Iran.
He was found in possession of an Indian passport issued by the government of India on May 12, 2015, and valid until May 11, 2024.
He confessed that he is a resident of Mumbai, India, still serving in the Indian Navy and that his retirement is due in 2022.
New Delhi should not underestimate the fact that the entire Pakistani population is behind the Pakistan Army.
We, Pakistanis, have been victims of massive terrorist acts for decades.
I am sure that our government and armed forces understand that there shall be no compromise where Jadhav is concerned. — Farheen Ayub, Taif
World must unite against terrorists
This refers to the story “Three killed as truck smashes into crowd in Stockholm” (April 8, 2017).
Terrorism has nothing to do with religion. Daesh is a terrorist group and all of us believe that it needs to be crushed as soon as possible. It is very sad how these criminals take lives of innocent people.
Many South Asians are also victims of terrorism. As a Pakistani, I believe there is no such thing as good militants and bad militants. terrorists are terrorists and must be dealt with force.
I am proud that my country has done whatever it could to fight such terror groups, and we have paid a heavy price for this. I must say that the international community must unite and fight radicalism together.
In these tough times, my prayers are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives in Stockholm attack.
Terrorism has nothing to do with religion. Daesh is a terrorist group and all of us believe that it needs to be crushed as soon as possible. It is very sad how these criminals take lives of innocent people.
Many South Asians are also victims of terrorism. As a Pakistani, I believe there is no such thing as good militants and bad militants. terrorists are terrorists and must be dealt with force.
I am proud that my country has done whatever it could to fight such terror groups, and we have paid a heavy price for this. I must say that the international community must unite and fight radicalism together.
In these tough times, my prayers are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives in Stockholm attack.
Six Flag project
This refers to the story “Saudi Arabia’s largest cultural, sports and entertainment city announced” (April 8).
The expat community is very pleased to hear about Six Flag entertainment project in the Kingdom.
According to the report, Six Flags city will become a prominent landmark and an important center for meeting the future generation’s recreational, cultural and social needs in the country.
The Saudi Vision 2030 is a positive step and we hope the expat community plays a role in it, side by side with Saudi brothers and sisters.
The expat community is very pleased to hear about Six Flag entertainment project in the Kingdom.
According to the report, Six Flags city will become a prominent landmark and an important center for meeting the future generation’s recreational, cultural and social needs in the country.
The Saudi Vision 2030 is a positive step and we hope the expat community plays a role in it, side by side with Saudi brothers and sisters.
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