If you've been following the news, and social media trends lately, you might be aware that PETA India has been facing flak from some quarters over a now modified Raksha Bandhan campaign that had encouraged people to go "leather free". Soon after, many on social media platforms began calling the organisation out for what they termed "selective activism".
With PETA taking it upon themselves to respond to critics, then ensued a lengthy Twitter war of sorts with columnist Shefali Vaidya. As the debate intensified the social media platforrm saw a few strange trends such as "#BakraLivesMatter" and "#SnakesLivesMatter". The two had exchanged a flurry of tweets, before Vaidya took it upon herself to pose five questions to the organisation.
"Going to ask @PetaIndia 5 specific questions. I know they follow my TL even though they are pretending I do not exist, after trolling me 24/7 for 2 days. My questions will prove that not only is @PetaIndia #AntiHinduPeta, it is also a fraud organisation," she had said on July 22.
Now, two days later, PETA India has responded. "We cannot reply to all of your tweets, because we have other work to do. You want us to focus only on Eid, we challenged you to go vegan, and we engaged with you in jest too. That’s the culture of Twitter," begins the lengthy thread.
And while PETA India emphasises that they have "other work", this does not stop them from putting out 28 tweets in a thead -- something that many on the social media platform took a jibe at the animal rights organisation for. Incidentally, this has sparked a second flurry of tweets, with Vaidya soon responding to the posts with her own comments. In some of her tweets Vaidya also attached "proof" in the form of screengrabs.
Below, we've put PETA's tweet thread down simultaneously with Vaidya's rebuttals for the sake of readability.
Take a look:
