Watching how poorly @TwitterIndia has handled its meeting with a group of women journalists & more so, because it has been so dishonest about it, I am taking the unusual step of sharing some details about what happened from my perspective, at the meeting w/ @jack @vijaya
We were invited to share our experience of abuse & trolling on @TwitterIndia & given few minutes each to make our points. I focused mine on organized bullying, rape threats etc. A Dalit activist spoke of how Caste Slurs were not part of Twitter's Report Abuse parameters
When the Dalit activist pointed out that Caste was to India what Race is to America & asked why Twitter did not see caste slurs as abuse @vijaya broke into tears and apologized to this invitee. We were all a bit taken aback but reassured that Twitter was sincere
I did not see any poster at the group conversation either before the meeting, during it or after. As we were walking out some folks mentioned a photo. Some of the invitees did not want to be photographed, others like myself didnt care. I did not notice any poster in @jack hand
It is important to note that the photo itself was both taken by and mailed to the group by a staff member of @TwitterIndia & we were specifically encouraged to tweet it. I did not but want to underline that @vijaya is untruthful in calling it a "private photo" given who sent it
Since @TwitterIndia reps cried & apologized to the Dalit activist for its platform enabling caste bias, I assume she gifted @jack the poster. But from everything I know now she never asked @jack to pose with it. That decision was his & his alone.
While I had no knowledge of the poster, Brahminical Patriarchy is a fair & entirely mainstream phrase in the way that we now know the intersectionality of Feminism & the critique of upper caste hegemony. It is NOT an attack on Brahmins but on hierarchy much like White Privilege
The wilful distortion of the phrase Brahminical Patriarchy is unfair & untruthful. As a woman of privilege I am not in a position to tell a Dalit woman that her experience of gender & caste bias is not legitimate.
While Brahminical Patriarchy is a phrase about bias of caste & misogny combining, personally I would not have knowingly posed with @jack holding that poster because he clearly does not know India, caste fault lines & above all he is an outsider to our country & internal issues
