The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has taken note of the edited Wikipedia page linking cricketer Arshdeep Singh to Khalistan and MeitY is expected to initiate action on Wikipedia, said sources.
The Ministry of Electronics and Technology on Monday said that "no intermediary operating in India can permit this type of misinformation" after cricketer Arshdeep Singh's Wikipedia page was edited by an unregistered user, linking him to the separatist Khalistani movement.
"No intermediary operating in India can permit this type of misinformation and deliberate efforts to incitement and user harm - violates our govt's expectation of Safe & Trusted Internet," tweeted Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MoS Electronics and Technology.
Arshdeep became the target of vicious online trolling after he dropped a crucial catch in the death overs resulting in the defeat of his side against Pakistan in the Asia Cup game on Sunday night.
The word "India" was replaced with "Khalistan" on Singh's Wikipedia page by an anonymous user even as another editor shortly undid these changes.
Pictures were shared on social media, stating that "he was named in Khalistan squad for the 2018 under-19 World Cup."The edit history of Arshdeep's Wikipedia page revealed that the user who made those changes was unregistered and was using the internet protocol (IP) address 39.41.171.125.
The user also edited his name to "Major Arshdeep Singh Langra" and a minute later, to "Major Arshdeep Singh Bajwa". Many random changes were done to Singh's game statistics.
The address allocation records showed that the particular address was allocated to the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).
Following Sunday's match, Arshdeep Singh became the top trend on social media after he dropped a sitter in the Super 4 match of the Asia Cup 2022 at a very crucial juncture of the match.
But he redeemed himself in the final over. He came to deliver the final over and took the wicket of Asif Ali to keep Team India's hopes alive, with two runs needed in two deliveries.
However, he was brutely trolled by angry fans while many blamed him for the loss and even went on to abuse him and his family on various social media platforms.
But the Indian cricket fraternity came in support of the young pacer who had dropped a crucial catch in the 18th over of the match.
Indian batter Virat Kohli had some strong words in his support and said "Even when I played my first game against Pakistan in Champions Trophy, I played a bad shot and got out. Anyone can make mistakes under pressure. It is natural to feel bad. The team environment is great right now, credit for this goes to management and the captain. So one must accept his mistake, address it and look forward to being in that pressure situation once again," said Kohli in a post-match press conference on Sunday.
He was backed by the former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who stated that no one drops catches purposely and the young seamer should not be criticized.
"Stop criticising young @arshdeepsinghh. No one drops a catch purposely..we are proud of our boys .. Pakistan played better.. shame on such people who r putting our own guys down by saying cheap things on this platform bout Arsh and the team.. Arsh is GOLD," Harbhajan tweeted.
Chasing a target of 182, Pakistan got off to a shaky start after skipper Babar Azam (14) was dismissed in the fourth over of the innings by Ravi Bishnoi. Fakhar Zaman too failed to deliver big innings as he was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 15 by Yuzvendra Chahal.
Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz then stitched a vital partnership, gathering 84 runs for the third wicket. Both Rizwan and Nawaz (41) were dispatched in quick sequence by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya, respectively. With Pakistan needing 26 off the last two overs, senior pacer Bhuvneshwar conceded 19 runs in the penultimate over as India lost the match by five wickets.
( With inputs from ANI )
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