• By : Saiyed Zegham Murtaza
Forget the communal riots, the social conflicts and the hate crimes on the ground as social media is the real battle field now. The hatred sown by the IT cells and the religious warriors has started taking the toll as the trolls are diving India into various fragments.
History of religion-based conflicts dates back to the ancient times. During the regime of Ashoka, when a non-Buddhist in Pundravardhana drew a picture showing the Buddha bowing at the feet of Nirgrantha Jnatiputra (identified with Mahavira). Divyavadana (divine stories), an ancient Sanskrit analogy suggests that some 18,000 followers of the Ajivika sect were executed on the orders of the Emperor Ashoka for this crime. A Nirgrantha follower and his family in Pataliputra was executed for the same crime. Interestingly, Ashoka’s own brother Vitashoka, was mistaken for a heretic and killed by a cowherd. During the reign of Pushyamitra of Shung empire, hundreds of stupas and viharas were razed, suggests the history.
In the medieval times as the Muslims from Central Asia, Asia minor and the Arab territories began to dominate the Indian subcontinent, the religious battlefield had a new player. Although social alliances were knitted, the locals were inducted into religious and political hierarchy, the fault lines couldn’t be blurred. With the advent of British rule, these conflicts only grew in number. Britons found these conflicts favourable for their stability. Although the first religious conflict under British Raj dates back to 1832 when Parsi community in North Bombay (now Mumbai) protested against the government for killing the stray dogs. In 1851, Chitra Dayan Darpan, a magazine owned by a Parsi published a depiction of Prophet Mohammad. This led to protests, followed by the riots between Muslims and the Parsis.
After the failed effort to dislodge British rulers, the riots between Muslims and Hindus not only increased in numbers but also in magnitude. Interestingly, South India, which was safe from so called invaders or the religious wars was the initial battleground. In 1882, an effort to construct mosque by the Muslims on the path of a Hindu religious procession in Salem (Tamil Nadu) attracted the widespread ire from the majority. Between 1910 and 1930, entire North, East and the West had joined the hatred bandwagon. Undivided Bengal, United Province (Uttar Pradesh, undivided Punjab, Multan, Malabar coast, Delhi, Gujarat, Orrisa (Odisha) and Assam had witnessed one riot or the other in the name of religion.
Even after Independence, when Britons left the region with countries India and Pakistan, the religious tensions refused to die. Region and its people refused to learn lessons from the history and the religious conflicts continued to burn the cities, one after another. After the entry of market reforms and the advent of globalisation (open market economy) it was thought the lust for growth and the hunger for development will subdue the religious hatred among Indians. The idea seemed to work for some time but never materialised fully. Social media platforms that were originally meant to connect people together, came as the new weapons in the hands of hate mongers.
BJP was the first party to sense the potential of social media. Although on a small scale, it all started well before the well knitted Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp campaign of 2014. India against corruption campaign led by Anna Hazare may have been the testing ground. Fuelled by the success, the backend staff and the poll managers started feeding people with video clips, messages, memes and the infographics right into their heats via their mobiles. For sure we can say that It may not have started the way it is now.
Just go though the timeline/threads of political figures and social influences, check the comment boxes of popular news sites or just join any WhatsApp group. All you will find the religious crusaders yelling, beating the war drums, attacking the opposite faith and magnifying the already existing conflicts. Deterioration in the language has no limits here. Abuses are crafted, hurled and used as war cries. Character assassination and ruining the public image is more like a sport. Initially, it was thought that this is sort of venting frustrations and finally it will decrease the real conflicts, but this theory too proved wrong.
Riots in Muzaffarnagar, a district in Uttar Pradesh 2013 and in nearby district of Saharanpur in 2014 are credited to hatred sown on social media. 2016 clashes in Malda district of West Bengal province and 2020 riots in National Capital of Delhi got their communal fuel from platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. There have been so many instances where a Facebook post or a message forwarded on WhatsApp has led to disputes and clashes.
Although the law has put certain restrictions. Often booked under Section 66A of the IT Act(posting inappropriate content), Section 67 of the IT Act (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form), 67 A of the IT Act (transmission or publishing of sexually explicit material), 153 A of the Indian Penal Code or IPC (promoting enmity between different groups) 153 B IPC(assertions prejudicial to national integration), Section 292A IPC (putting into circulation a grossly indecent or scurrilous picture) 295 IPC (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), Section 505 IPC (public mischief) are few of the legal tools in the hand of law enforcement agencies.
But these tools have remained a tool to crush the dissent, to shut the opposing voices and the restrict the freedom of speech in the hand of ruling parties. Most of the cases registered under these sections are for criticism of the government of the day, the ruling coalition, the political leaders of the ruling party and posts that may hurt the sentiments of majority.
Minorities, the socially deprived groups and the poor have been the victim of these laws. It seems laws are to protect the ruling elite as the dissenting voices are often charged with 124A (sedition), draconian UAPA (Unlawful activities prevention Act) for their social media posts, whereas those from IT cells, the offensive religious groups and with the political affiliations remain out of the purview of the law of the land.
Solution still remains with the government and its will to curb the hate crimes. There should be a uniform action against all the offenders. Law should take its course and the offenders shall be booked of the nation’s sake. After all it’s the unity and peace that matters not the political or religious affiliations. For the sake of unity, national integrity, peace and development, the divisive thoughts should be curbed.
Author is an Independent journalist based in Delhi. He has worked for various news organisations including Rajya Sabha Television (official broadcaster of the upper house of the Indian Parliament)
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