Sushma Swaraj trolled: Rajnath calls it 'wrong', Mamata condemns strong language

Singh is the only minister to have spoken out in support of his colleague, who has been the subject of offensive tweets following a passport row involving an interfaith couple.

"In my opinion, it is wrong," Singh told reporters here when asked to comment on the issue.

The external affairs minister conducted a poll on Twitter asking users whether they "approve" of such trolling -- 43 per cent said yes and 57 per cent no.

"In a democracy difference of opinion is but natural. Pls do criticise but not in foul language. Criticism in decent language is always more effective," Swaraj said on Twitter yesterday.

The external affairs minister had re-tweeted some of the offensive tweets directed at her following the transfer of Passport Seva Kendra official Vikas Mishra in Lucknow for allegedly humiliating the interfaith couple.

Mishra was transferred from Lucknow to Gorakhpur after the couple alleged that he humiliated them when they went to the office with their passport applications.

According to the couple, Mishra asked the husband to convert to Hinduism and pulled up the wife for marrying a Muslim.

Mishra had said in his defence that he was secular and had told the woman that her 'nikahnama' showed her name as Shazia Anas, which should be endorsed in her file.

A section of social media had attacked Swaraj and the ministry for taking action against Mishra, claiming that he was just doing his duty.

The minister took it on the chin and retweeted some of the tweets that were abusive and communal in nature. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today "strongly condemned" the language used in the online trolling of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and said people should never indulge in any form of verbal abuse.

Swaraj, a senior BJP leader, has been trolled and criticised by some on Twitter over the last week on a controversy involving issuance of passports to an inter-faith couple.

"Strongly condemn the language used on the social media against @SushmaSwaraj Ji. She is a senior politician. We must respect each other and must never indulge in any form of verbal abuse," Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, wrote on her Twitter handle.

The trolls started after the Ministry of External Affairs granted passports to a Hindu-Muslim couple and transferred a Lucknow Passport Seva Kendra official for allegedly harassing them.

Strong languages were used in those trolls and Swaraj was accused of appeasing Muslims.

Matters came to a head on Saturday when her husband Swaraj Kaushal tweeted a screenshot of a post by a Twitter user who asked him to "beat her up and teach her not to do Muslim appeasement". He said these harsh words had caused "unbearable pain" to his family.

The minister yesterday conducted a poll on Twitter asking users whether they "approve" such trolling to which 57 per cent respondents said they oppose it.