Block accounts of those trolling Himanshi Narwal: TMC MP

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale on Monday urged Union minister for electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw to take action against social media accounts posting hateful comments against Himanshi Narwal, wife of Indian Navy lieutenant Vinay Narwal of Haryana, who was among the 26 Indians killed in the Pahalgam terror attack.

In a post on X, Gokhale questioned why the accounts trolling her were not being blocked. "It is shocking to see the obscene and hateful comments being directed towards the widow of the Navy officer who was killed in Pahalgam. Most accounts spreading venom are BJP-affiliated. Why? Only because she appealed for communal harmony," Gokhale alleged.

In a later post, he added, "Make no mistake: the obscene harassment of Ms Narwal is STATE-SPONSORED with active backing & support of the Modi Govt."

Speaking to reporters in Haryana's Karnal on Thursday, 1 May, Himanshi had said: “I do not want any hatred for anybody…. People going against Muslims or Kashmiris, we don’t want this. We want peace and only peace…. Of course, we want justice. Of course, the people who have done wrong to him should be punished.”

This led to an open letter to Himanshi by Lalita Ramdas — daughter of the first Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R.D. Katari and widow of former Navy chief Admiral L. Ramdas — praising her strength and stoicism while appealing for peace.

“You are the perfect Fauji wife Himanshi, true to the spirit of the service, the Constitution and to our secular values. You are clearly a woman who knows her mind, and there could not have been a more courageous partner of a Navy man like Vinay. You have echoed the thoughts and feelings of every thinking citizen of this country,” Lalita Ramdas said in her letter.

However, Himanshi's contention that only the guilty should be punished for the crime — instead of all Muslims and Kashmiris — has led to a vicious right-wing backlash, with many who earlier sympathised with the young widow now turning on her in vitriolic fashion, some going so far as to wonder how long it will taker to 'replace' her husband.

"IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw should answer — why aren’t these accounts being taken down or blocked? Are trolls from your party immune from the ambit of the law even when they target a victim and a widow of a slain armed forces officer? Is this your “nationalism”?" Gokhale asked, condemning the ruling BJP.

Himanshi Narwal's crime appears to be solely that she had asked people not to target Muslims and Kashmiris following the 22 April terror attack in the south Kashmir resort town, in which 25 tourists and a local pony operator were killed. Survivors have reported that the attackers targeted only Hindu tourists, lending an apparently communal colour to the tragedy. The pony operator Adil Hussain Shah, according to multiple accounts, lost his life trying to stop the attackers.

The image of the naval officer's body lying on the ground in the Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam, with his newlywed wife sitting slumped beside him, empty-eyed and clearly in shock, has become the haunting symbol of the deadly massacre.

In a tepid response, the National Commission for Women wrote in an X post, "After the death of Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, the way his wife Himanshi Narwal is being criticised on social media in relation to one of her statements is unfortunate."

With PTI inputs