Narendra Modi’s UK visit has reached its final day, and it has received overwhelming support as well as protests.
Trends such #ModiAtWembley and the in-your-face #KeepModiGiveKohinoor have been taking Twitter by storm. It is the latter, however, that directly mocks the Prime Minister, and has become a certain ‘label’ to attack Modi – whether it’s to do with his UK visit or not. Also, some have opposed it. Users continue to use the trend for attacking Modi online.
The trend itself mocks Modi by asking the Queen to give back the Koh-i-Noor, a 105-carat diamond originally mined in India and under Indian rulers for centuries, that the British had taken during their colonial rule. The Crown Jewels, the crown worn by the British Queen, is embellished with the diamond.
According to Aljazeera’s The Stream, the trend was started by Congress Jammu & Kashmir Spokesperson Salman Nizami. Some of his earliest tweets popularising the trend as follows:
Modi lelo ; Kohinoor dedo ! #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Salman Nizami (@Salmannizami_) November 12, 2015
Delhi is my second home, Haryana is my second home, Bihar is my second home & now Buckingham is my second home. MODI #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Salman Nizami (@Salmannizami_) November 12, 2015Immediately, the trend caught on with over 1000 tweets within minutes. Here are some of the better ones
Now Britain has 2 Modis, they can keep both of them and return the Kohinoor to us. #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Youth Congress (@IYC) November 12, 2015
No red carpet No female to welcome our PM. This is the cheating with Namo #KeepModiGiveKohinoor pic.twitter.com/i5n74JzSUy
— Barkha Shukla Singh (@BarkhaShukla45) November 13, 2015
70 years ago india shouted "simon go back" today entire india shouts in corus : #modidontcomeback #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Vinay Dokania #INC (@vinaydokania) November 12, 2015
#KeepModiGiveKohinoor sounds like a transfer season in premiere league
— Nivedith.G (@nivedithg) November 12, 2015
@INCMalika @vidya7281 #KeepModiGiveKohinoor Tell Britain, keep Modi and we will not ask for Kohinoor
— Sudhir Buch (@BuchSudhir) November 13, 2015
UK, why cling to a stone when you can have the real gem. Trust me, you won't regret it. Neither will we. ;) #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Zainab Ahmed (@ZainabAhm) November 13, 2015The trend soon became a kind of weapon against Modi. People began attacking him left, right and centre, irrespective of the context:
HiHi.... Modi met the Queen short while ago and the first thing he did was touched her hat. ROFL..... #KeepModiGiveKohinoor #ModiInUK
— Vinod Mehta (@DrunkVinodMehta) November 13, 2015
Now bcs of #modicircus in all countries he visits, foreigners may think, still India is the land of "Modi" charmers #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Indie DNA Jo (@Indie_jo) November 13, 2015
This is how @David_Cameron met our PM #KeepModiGiveKohinoor pic.twitter.com/xv4jaAW1kH
— Amar #WithRG (@vistadreamz) November 12, 2015
Shamelessly he nw wnts 2 implement those ideas of UPA that he opposed! @BJPScams @RealGJModel #KeepModiGiveKohinoor https://t.co/weHGOVObVJ
— Freya Javeri (@DrFreya) November 14, 2015
#KeepSoniaGivePizza #KeepSoniaGivePasta Trend this when sonia gandhi goes to Italy !! #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Ayush Jain (@ayushjain1140) November 13, 2015Later, the trend seemed to have gone off the radar, possibly after a backlash at a leader holding a constitutional post being targeted during a state visit. Not many were happy with that.
#KeepModiGiveKohinoor trend removed from twitter, soon #ModiCantHideGenocide will be removed too, just watch
— Munnabai (@munnnabai) November 13, 2015
Twitter has deleted the hastag from trends list. Is this how twitter functions like paid media ?? #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Salman Nizami (@Salmannizami_) November 12, 2015But the trend bounced back, with far more tweets this time. Salman Nizami was quick to highlight this.
@Salmannizami_ #women's crisis centre in Kashmir needs UR small donations.Donate if u care Or RT. https://t.co/fLLf1UOox0
— Arif Maghribi (@DrKashmirM) November 12, 2015
25000 tweets in 4 hours ! Love u guys.. #KeepModiGiveKohinoor ! #trending world wide.
— Salman Nizami (@Salmannizami_) November 12, 2015But not everyone agreed with him.
RT @PreetParteet: Who is creating these crass trends ? yesterday #KeepModiGiveKohinoor today #QueenMeetsDramaQueen. Hats off to stupidity
— Intolerant Indian (@amitagra21) November 13, 2015
Secularist rant as always. Tweeting crap first before thinking. #KeepModiGiveKohinoor
— Utkarsh Suryavanshi (@Saffronwing1) November 13, 2015
#crapadvices = #keepmodigivekohinoor. aaptards n khangressis don't quite understand the dignity n value of a PM who actually has a spine.
— लोटिया पठान™ (@LotiyaPathaan) November 13, 2015