Manish Tewari faces onslaught on Twitter over comments on priest

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Manish Tewari today faced a barrage of attacks on Twitter after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asked netizens to "reply" to his accusation that Centre did nothing to save an Indian priest, who was allegedly crucified by the IS in Yemen.

"So ISIS allegedly crucified Father Thomas Uzhunnali & BJP Govt did nothing. Why because he was a Christian? Mr PM he was also a fellow Indian," Tewari tweeted.

Government sources had yesterday said there was "no verifiable information" about the fate of the priest who was allegedly abducted by terror group Islamic State in Yemen earlier this month.

Taking strong exception to Tewari's comments, Swaraj asked the twitterati to reply to Tewari.

"Friends - I have liked some tweets. Please see them and judge for yourself. Then reply to @ManishTewari," she said in a tweet.

Following her tweet, Tewari faced an onslaught on the micro-blogging platform.

"@SushmaSwaraj @ManishTewari He is the same man who denied taking ticket in 2014 election. Spreading Hatred and dividing is in his genes," said one Viswas.

A tweet by one Agney said "@ManishTewari Please do not communalise such matters. Don't you have common sense? It's people like you who are the real anti-nationals."

There were reports claiming that the IS had planned to execute the priest on Good Friday last week. However, there has been no official word on any harm to him so far.