Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut has been permanently suspended from Twitter following an incendiary post about the election results in West Bengal.
While the outspoken actress has been called out many times for her often vitriolic posts, her tweet on Tuesday, urging Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to show the strength he showed in “early 2000s” to “tame” incumbent West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, was the last straw for Twitter.
Ranaut seemed to reference the Gujarat riots of 2002 when, during Modi's rule as chief minister, a communal riot broke out between Hindus and Muslims. More than 1,044 people died in the three-day riots, a majority of them Muslims.
Violence broke out in West Bengal on Sunday after state election results revealed that Banerjee holds on to power for another term, defeating Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ranaut has been an ardent supporter of the prime minister.
"We've been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behaviour that has the potential to lead to offline harm. The referenced account has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter rules specifically our Hateful Conduct policy and Abusive Behaviour policy," a Twitter representative told NDTV.
"As explained in our abusive behaviour policy, you may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behaviour an attempt to harass, intimidate or silence someone else's voice.”
Ranaut on Tuesday also posted a video on Instagram, where she called for President's rule to be imposed in West Bengal, following the election violence.
Speaking in Hindi, a teary-eyed Ranaut suggested that there was a conspiracy by “liberals” and the international media not to report on the violence.
Her suspension is not the first time she's found herself in hot water with Twitter. Earlier this year, Ranaut's account was put on restricted mode after she said it was time to "take the heads off" the makers of Amazon Prime show Tandav.
Members of Modi’s BJP party had earlier alleged the show hurt sentiments of Hindus and called for its ban.
Ranaut made her Bollywood debut in 2006 with the film Gangster. She soon gained popularity for her intense roles in films such as Woh Lamhe (2006) and Fashion (2008). Her 2014 film Queen was a huge success, making her a top actress in Bollywood.
She also became known for speaking her mind and was, for some time, praised for her forthrightness. But Ranaut soon fell out of favour with many of Bollywood's big names, and she has often accused the industry of treating her as an outsider.
Ranaut’s social media posts have also become increasingly political in the past few years. Last year, she was honoured with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award.
"Fortunately I have many platforms I can use to raise my voice including my own art in the form of cinema, but my heart goes out to the people of this nation who have been tortured, enslaved and censored for thousands of years and still there is no end to the suffering," Ranaut told the Hindustan Times following her Twitter suspension.
