I just want to say that this looks like bullying, and the language and RT quotes have disturbed me.

These are respected and senior professionals. And yet, instead of dialogue and discourse with a young activist, they chose ad hominem to RT quote and call him a "terrible person".

Here, I am not commenting on what Sharjeel said. What genuinely scared me here, is that someday I may lose my cool and say something haphazard on Twitter, and I will be pulled down by respected senior progressives of the majority—who have more social and financial capital too.

That no one will initiate a dialogue or discourse with me and simply attack as a "terrible person", means that my life's work, credibility and demeanour as a well-meaning person will come crashing in a day. That if I have a strong "disagreeable opinion", I may simply be quashed.

And quashed by people whose opinions most other progressives would usually look up to. From whom one may learn aspects of the craft of political discourse, well-reasoned arguments, and factual rebuttals.

I see none of that here.

Instead, I see brickbats thrown with might.

I am not saying that “age” is the reason why one must be excused. I am saying that the moral standards (language, empathy, ill-feeling, humanity, etc.) for which these seniors are condemning the activist, are being breached by themselves too as they fling their words at him.

Sharjeel is not a troll. He is someone you could argue with on facts, reasoning, and arguments. He is an educated person. One could agree to disagree after discourse. But the route chosen was derogatory attacks.

In fact, his education doesn’t matter too. Being senior professionals with more social and financial capital, your standards of conduct still stand higher—and hence, breached with such tweets.

This sets a dangerous precedent.

I beg to ask:

—As an Indian Muslim progressive, how do I feel safe to truly speak my mind among progressives of the majority now?

—Will I ever be an equal?

—Will I always have to toe my opinions and agree with them so as to not be quashed?

P.S. I just took the first 4 screenshots out of the many in my phone to avoid selection. These are not the specific people I am holding this argument against; there were many more. I am questioning this phenomenon. This is not a personal attack, kindly do not treat it as one.