Twitter chief Jack Dorsey promotes Myanmar tourism, faces criticisms online

In a series of tweets, Jack on Saturday described his visit to the Southeast Asian nation recently.

He visited Myanmar for a meditation retreat.

Urging people to visit the nation, Jack posted: "Myanmar is an absolutely beautiful country. The people are full of joy and the food is amazing. I visited the cities of Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan. We visited and meditated at many monasteries around the country."

In another tweet, he said: "And if you’re willing to travel a bit, go to Myanmar: https://www.dhamma.org/en/schedules/schmahimar ."

However, his tweets attracted criticisms from few netizens.

They accused the Twitter chief of ignoring the troubles faced by Rohingya minority in the country.

Mohammed Jamjoom, a correspondent for Al Jazeera who has interviewed Rohingya refugees, said Jack's posts left him 'speechless'.

"I’ve interviewed dozens of #Rohingya #refugees who shared horrific details of atrocities committed against them by #Myanmar’s military. It was only in Oct that the head of a UN fact finding mission said genocide was ongoing in #Rakhine. This thread left me utterly speechless," he tweeted.

Liam Stack, New York Times reporter, posted: " The CEO of Twitter went on vacation to a country that committed a genocide last year that was fueled by disinformation and hate spread by the government on social media."

One netizen posted: "Surprised that you said that Myanmar is beautiful , maybe you meant the monastery & nature because politically the place is controlled by bad military junta where people suffer under their regime."

Another Twitter user said: "But unfortunately all this doesn't seem to have any impact on the regime there, because the #rohingyas stories coming out from that country are terrible and perpetrators of crime are Buddhists themselves."

One Twitter user remarked: "I'm stunned you would visit & promote Myanmar given the atrocities the govt has perpetrated against the #Rohingya refugees. Nearly a million have run for their lives to Bangladesh.The room you call 'basic' is luxury compared to the squalor of the refugee camps.  @NickKristof."

Myanmar military had launched a violent crackdown in 2017 after Rohingya terrorists had attacked several police posts.

Thousands of people have been killed, and human rights organisations say the army has burned land and committed arbitrary killings and rape, reported all foreign media.

A  large number of Rohingyas have escaped from their nation to neighbouring Bangladesh follwoing the military crackdown last year.

Amid criticisms, Jack has not responded to the tweets so far.

Image: Jack Dorsey Twitter page