The photograph -- tweeted by a journalist -- showed Dorsey standing with six women and holding a poster with a message "smash Brahminical patriarchy".
Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey sparked a social media outrage after a tweet with a picture of him holding a purportedly 'anti-Brahmin' poster went viral, with netizens slamming him for "hate-mongering", a charge the company denied saying the poster did not reflect views of Twitter or its CEO.
The photograph -- tweeted by a journalist -- showed Dorsey standing with six women and holding a poster with a message "smash Brahminical patriarchy".
The class-specific poster seemed to have offended many Indians with the former chief financial officer of Infosys, TV Mohandas Pai, accusing Dorsey of "hate-mongering" against Brahmins and of institutionalising hatred.
"As an Indian, I am disappointed at Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's 'Smash Brahminical Patriarchy' placard - will Minister @Ra_THORe (Rajyavardhan Rathore) pl take action for this hate mongering against an Indian community, spreading hatred? @PMOIndia @rsprasad," Pai tweeted.
Twitter, in a statement, said it had hosted a closed-door discussion with a group of women journalists and change makers from India to better understand their experience about Twitter.
One of the participants shared her experience as a Dalit woman and at the conclusion of the session, gifted a poster to Jack, a Twitter spokesperson said.
"The sentiments expressed on the poster do not reflect the views of Twitter as a company or Jack as the CEO, and we regret that this picture has detracted from an otherwise insightful trip to India," the spokesperson added.
Late on Monday, Vijaya Gadde, legal, policy and trust and safety lead at Twitter, who accompanied Dorsey to India, apologised.
"I'm very sorry for this. It's not reflective of our views. We took a private photo with a gift just given to us - we should have been more thoughtful," she said in a tweet.
However, journalist Barkha Dutt, who was present at the event said it wasn’t a ‘private photo’, that it was mailed to the group by a member of Twitter India and were encouraged to tweet it. She said Vijaya was ‘untruthful in calling it a private photo’.
Read her full reply below:
Watching how poorly @TwitterIndia has handled its meeting with a group of women journalists & more so, because it has been so dishonest about it, I am taking the unusual step of sharing some details about what happened from my perspective, at the meeting w/ @jack @vijaya
We were invited to share our experience of abuse & trolling on @TwitterIndia & given few minutes each to make our points. I focused mine on organized bullying, rape threats etc. A Dalit activist spoke of how Caste Slurs were not part of Twitter's Report Abuse parameters
When the Dalit activist pointed out that Caste was to India what Race is to America & asked why Twitter did not see caste slurs as abuse @vijaya broke into tears and apologized to this invitee. We were all a bit taken aback but reassured that Twitter was sincere
I did not see any poster at the group conversation either before the meeting, during it or after. As we were walking out some folks mentioned a photo. Some of the invitees did not want to be photographed, others like myself didnt care. I did not notice any poster in @jack hand
It is important to note that the photo itself was both taken by and mailed to the group by a staff member of @TwitterIndia & we were specifically encouraged to tweet it. I did not but want to underline that @vijaya is untruthful in calling it a "private photo" given who sent it
Since @TwitterIndia reps cried & apologized to the Dalit activist for its platform enabling caste bias, I assume she gifted @jack the poster. But from everything I know now she never asked @jack to pose with it. That decision was his & his alone.
While I had no knowledge of the poster, Brahminical Patriarchy is a fair & entirely mainstream phrase in the way that we now know the intersectionality of Feminism & the critique of upper caste hegemony. It is NOT an attack on Brahmins but on hierarchy much like White Privilege
The wilful distortion of the phrase Brahminical Patriarchy is unfair & untruthful. As a woman of privilege I am not in a position to tell a Dalit woman that her experience of gender & caste bias is not legitimate.
While Brahminical Patriarchy is a phrase about bias of caste & misogny combining, personally I would not have knowingly posed with @jack holding that poster because he clearly does not know India, caste fault lines & above all he is an outsider to our country & internal issues
So while I am happy to debate Brahminical Patriarchy I do not think @jack or @twitter had any basis to get into it with the poster. That said, it reflects on Twitters poor handling of the interaction, lack of briefing to @jack @vijaya, mailing us the photo, urging us to tweet it
What angers me is lies by @Twitter : @vijaya apologised & cried for being tone deaf on caste bias; in public her apology exact opposite. She says photo private. Photo taken & mailed to us by Twitter. Twitter fails to brief @jack; then transfers blame to women invited. SHOCKING
Upper Caste bias & sexism not separate for millions of Dalit women. That is Brahminical Patriarchy for them. Yet I would not have posed with @jack holding poster. He chose to hold it himself. Photo was mailed by Twitter Staff. @vijaya said one thing in private, another in public
Finally @jack @vijaya - you got a taste of what many, strong, opinionated women go through everyday. Unlike some of us who stand up to bullying and hold our own, you guys played all sides & were truthful to none, So I broke my silence. But nice you got a taste of your own meds :)
Here’s Twitter’s official explanation:
"Recently Twitter hosted a closed door discussion with a group of women journalists and change makers from India to better understand their experience using Twitter. One of the participants shared her experience as a Dalit woman and at the conclusion of the session, gifted a poster to Jack. The sentiments expressed on the poster do not reflect the views of Twitter as a company or Jack as the CEO, and we regret that this picture has detracted from an otherwise insightful trip to India.
We are proud of the fact that Twitter is a platform where marginalised voices can be seen and heard, but we also have a public commitment to being apolitical. We realise that this photo may not accurately represent that commitment. Twitter is a global platform that serves a global, public conversation and elevates a diversity of views, ideas, and perspectives. When our executives travel, they meet with a range of public figures from around the world that represent the diversity of the conversation on our platform. This recent trip to India was no exception and Jack and Vijaya met with leaders across the political spectrum, and from a range of religious and cultural backgrounds."
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 "Jack Dorsey with a host of journalists including Barkha Dutt")
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