Arshdeep Singh row | Cannot allow deliberate efforts to incitement: IT Minister to Wikipedia

23-year bowler Indian bowler Arshdeep Singh viciously trolled on social media after he dropped a catch in match between India and Pakistan in Dubai

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, also attached screenshots of the altered Wikipedia page on Indian bowler Arshdeep Singh. File | Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh

The Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday slammed Wikipedia for allowing “deliberate efforts to incitement” after cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s page on the platform was edited to link him to the Khalistani movement.

“No intermediary operating in India can permit this type of misinformation and deliberate efforts to incitement and #userharm - violates our govts expectation of Safe & Trusted Internet,” the Minister said in a tweet.

Mr. Chandrasekhar also attached screenshots of the altered Wikipedia page.

The 23-year bowler was viciously trolled on social media after he dropped a crucial catch in match between India and Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. India lost the match.

In the edited Wikipedia page on Mr. Singh, an unregistered user had replaced ‘India’ with ‘Khalistan’ at several places, while his name was changed to “Major Arshdeep Singh Bajwa”. The changes were corrected and reversed later by Wikipedia editors.

Moreover, there were several tweets from multiple accounts attacking Mr. Singh. A lot of Twitter users as well as politicians and cricketers came out in support of Mr. Singh too.

Congress MP Manish Tiwari in a tweet said, “Beware of enemies of the nation who are maligning @arshdeepsinghh over a dropped catch. Pathetic is the word for them. Cricket between Indo-Pak is unfortunately more than just a match. We stand by him. He belongs to my parliamentary constituency, Sri Anandpur Sahib. #arshdeepsingh.”

Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, who is also an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP, tweeted, “Stop criticising young @arshdeepsinghh. No one drop the catch purposely. We are proud of our boys .. Pakistan played better.. shame on such people who r putting our own guys down by saying cheap things on this platform bout arsh and team.. Arsh is GOLD.”

Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer also came out in support of Mr. Singh. The AAP tweeted a short video of Mr. Hayer speaking to Mr. Singh’s mother on the phone. “The whole country is with Arshdeep. When he returns, I will go to receive him with you and welcome him with drums. He will come after winning the final," the tweet said.