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The man who almost single-handedly, due to his religious pizazz, shut down the country a few days ago, seems to be at a loss of tricks when it comes to reclaiming social space. The aware masses of Pakistan outwitted him and his hired and/or genuine resources.
Yes, we’re talking about Tehreek-e-Labaik’s Khadim Hussain Rizvi and his presence on social media platform Twitter. Khadim Rizvi, previously, had a verified Twitter account which catered to thousands of his followers. During the siege of October 30 and beyond, Rizvi’s Twitter account was extremely active with tweets against the State.
However, just as the liberal or centrist Pakistani cannot take much of anything that is right or at its far, they were not going to let Khadim Rizvi take over and annunciate on their ‘space’, which is Twitter. Thus, due to constant reports sent to Twitter by vigilant Pakistanis, Twitter suspended Khadim Rizvi’s account.
While Pakistanis celebrated and lauded Twitter for the suspension, Khadim Rizvi recreated an account, which too, won thousands of followers in a matter of hours. Thus began the second wave of a virtual purge by the public on Rizvi, and Twitter had to suspend his account once again. Strike two!
After Rizvi’s account was suspended, Pakistanis started enjoying the moment – congratulating each other for their emphatic achievement. This is what they said:
Humans of twitter please send us any tweets of Khadim Hussain Rizvi inciting violence and hate speech. Shukria!! Take screenshots also send URLs of certain tweets. DMs are open.
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) November 4, 2018
Social activist Nighat Dad was not kidding with this tweet and was extremely serious in getting Khadim Rizvi’s Twitter suspended. She wrote: «Humans of twitter please send us any tweets of Khadim Hussain Rizvi inciting violence and hate speech. Shukria!! Take screenshots also send URLs of certain tweets. DMs are open.»
Khadim Rizvi account suspended. Can't wait for his speech against Twitter.
— Emad Zafar (@EmadZafar) November 4, 2018
Some were extremely witty in their remarks. And yes, it is a huge possibility as well. Khadim Rizvi might even take to his Facebook page now, delivering hate speech against Twitter. «O D@&&*$!»
The new account has also been suspended.
Well done to everyone who reported it. Let's make whatever little contribution we can to securing a safer digital space for ourselves & others.
If any new accounts for Khadim Rizvi come up, let's get those taken down too! ??
— ایمان زینب (@ImaanZHazir) November 4, 2018
When the second account was suspended as well, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari’s daughter congratulated her fellow Twitterati on the achievement stating: «The new account has also been suspended. Well done to everyone who reported it. Let’s make whatever little contribution we can to securing a safer digital space for ourselves & others. If any new accounts for Khadim Rizvi come up, let’s get those taken down too!»
What's the use of suspending #KhadimRizvi Twitter account? His 3/4th of supporters are not on Twitter even.
Above all, phattu government has signed an agreement with him so what's the point of this fucking formality?
— Bano (@BanoBee) November 4, 2018
Some, rightly so, wanted stricter action against Rizvi and his agendas. A Twitter suspension will not halt his plans of turning Pakistan into a banana republic, where anarchy thrives at a single call of his.
Now that Twitter has BLOCKED Khadim Rizvi account, time for Govt to ACT … NOW !
BLOCK their websites and other platforms in use. Nation looks upto you, Sir @ImranKhanPTI ??
— Gharidah Farooqi (@GFarooqi) November 4, 2018
Even journalists like Gharidah Farooqi contributed their two cents to the cause, demanding a harsher crackdown on TLP and Khadim Rizvi, where they do not get any media attention, digital, print, or electronic. As for Twitter, Khadim Rizvi must be remembering it in his favorite words: «O Twitter, teri *&(^ di sirri!»
