Image courtesy: First Draft Montage / Photography: Shutterstock
While social media, and especially Twitter, has been a toxic waste dump for over a decade, what is worrying now is just how many Islamophobic campaigns are being run on it by right-wing extremist groups, their supporters, influencers and trolls. Of late several communal hashtags have become popular with a new one trending every other day, peddling hate, spewing venom, and openly calling for violence against minorities.
For example, #Buldozer and its variations including #BulldozerBaba allude to Yogi Adityanath, praising him for his tough stand against “anti-nationals” and demolishing their properties. In wake of the outbreak of violence during Ram Navami processions across India, and the subsequent demolition of Muslim-owned properties in Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, these hashtags have regained popularity. Sample this: ((TRIGGER WARNING COMMUNALLY OFFENSIVE CONTENT))
You throw stones we reply with #Bulldozer
We’re not the same bro #HinduLivesMatters pic.twitter.com/Aqq7hDjDez— Nikhil Rao (@Ra001Nikhil) April 12, 2022
Power OF Bulldozer ??#Bulldozer pic.twitter.com/dGctK54TAG
— बुल्डोजर बाबा (2.O)??? (@BairwaBairw15) April 12, 2022
Bulldozer Sarkar rocks
MP govt is using JCB to demolish Miscreants ( Muzlim) houses in Khargone
The whole community will learn a lesson .More than 70 Muslim youths arrested so far.#bulldozer https://t.co/cN2LAbN1K4
— Roshni Yadav (@YouOnlyyou7) April 11, 2022
Then there are other communal hashtags, such as #Mulla #Gaddar (the word was made popular by the slogan – Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro s***on ko), #Namaz (often showcasing it as a public nuisance), #Gazwaehind (an allegation that Muslims want to take over India)
Wait islamic extremists and all mullas EId abhi baaki hai #mulla #gaddar #gaddar
— Suresh yari (@Sureshyari2) April 11, 2022
#Mulla का इस्लाम और कुरआन का इस्लाम अलग अलग है
कब्र तो इस्लाम का हिस्सा ही nhi हैं
मकबरे और मजार तो जमीन #जिहाद का एक #Toolkit है https://t.co/Zfr1G1XeY9— OmTomar ??☀️ (@OmkTomar) April 12, 2022
Hindus open their temples and Sikhs open their gurudwaras for them to offer #Namaz.
Can you imagine a day when they will open their #mosques for Puja-Path or Katha-Kirtan?
Bhaichara ka one-sided keeda?
— ???????? ???? ?? (@KaurageousDils) April 10, 2022
Do the feel road is the holiest place to offer #namaz? pic.twitter.com/b9YHCZWJd1
— Bitter Truth ?? (@amidblindness) April 5, 2022
Domestic & international media have been silent on Hindu genocide in the past and will remain so
We have to educate our kin on who muslims are
what have they done till now &what they intend to do to Hindu’s #gazwaehind— PanzerVI (@PanzerVI007) April 10, 2022
Such Islamic terrorists are no different from ones peddling soft jihad through media & other agencies including cinema. These jihadi cabal works only for the cause of #Sharia #GazwaEHind & #NizamEMustafa. @RanaAyyub @khanumarfa @_sayema #GorakhnathTempleAttack #IslamicTerrorism
— थेथर (@BoriaBistar) April 5, 2022
This tweet is nothing but hashtags and a video about how women are treated in Islam:
#pakistan #gazwaehind #madarsa #mulla #Hinduphobic #India #indian #Hindu #Hindutva #Hinduism #SanatanaDharma #Sanskrit #islamicextremism #jihad #Islam #Muslim #terrorist #terrorism #andh #namazi #andhnamazi #gazwa #hind #allah #muhammad #sikh #sikhism #kafir #populationcontrol pic.twitter.com/cEvgCOZbew
— काफिर (@kafir_indian) April 6, 2022
Indeed, a lot of the anti-Muslim conversation surrounds their treatment of women, but the trolls lump together all Muslims with extremist groups and regimes such as the Taliban government in Afghanistan in a bid to paint them with the same brush. The same trolls were the first to support the hijab ban in schools without bothering to delve deeper into nuances like identity politics, body policing and a woman’s agency.
A few activists and civil society groups started an online campaign to share their concerns and alert people about what they feel is an impending genocide of minorities. This led to #IndianMuslimGenocideAlert trending on Twitter
Retweet if you agree.#IndianMuslimGenocideAlert pic.twitter.com/TtCc01cQTv
— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) April 12, 2022
Just hundreds of young men brandishing swords and grinding away to trance music in front of a mosque.
What could go wrong?#IndianMuslimGenocideAlert
— Pieter Friedrich (@FriedrichPieter) April 12, 2022
More than 20 calls for an anti-Muslim genocide by influential Hindutva leaders in the last 24 months.
Boycott campaigns
Physical attacks on Muslim leaders
Online auction of women
Attack on food, clothes, religious places and culture
SPEAK UP!#IndianMuslimGenocideAlert
— Alishan Jafri (@alishan_jafri) April 12, 2022
Weaponizing Hindu festivals to unleash large scale violence #IndianMuslimGenocideAlert pic.twitter.com/KsbmDloJOC
— Indian American Muslim Council (@IAMCouncil) April 11, 2022
But trolls once again used this opportunity to gaslight people. Leading the way was OpIndia:
Days after Islamists attack Ram Navami celebrations, whitewashers plan to trend ‘Genocide of Muslims’ to vilify India #IndianMuslimsUnderAttack#IndianMuslimGenocideAlerthttps://t.co/sAzLXn9BpP
— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) April 12, 2022
And there’s more:
#IndianMuslimGenocideAlert #Bulldozer
Alert to all hindus that still they are minority then to we are unable to enjoy our festival peacefully… What will happen once they are majority pic.twitter.com/DTGOxyqMGt
— Hitesh Rajpurohit?? (@Rajpurohitjiblr) April 12, 2022
Planting saffron flag on mosques is Hindutva terror.
Building mosques over temples is Mughal architecture. #IndianMuslimGenocideAlert #MuslimLivesMatter #MuslimGenocideInIndia
— Vashi Sharma (Team) (@DharmaOfVedas) April 13, 2022
All of this only serves to further a divisive agenda laid down by the regime and now propelled by an increasing number of followers, as influencers and trolls try their best to capture the imagination of ordinary people in a bid to recruit them as pawns in their game. Question is, will ordinary Indians resist and reject this hateful agenda or help spread it further?
Related:
Hate meme touting questionable statistics – worrying or laughable?
Communal confrontations mar Ram Navami celebrations in five states
With calls for economic boycott of Muslims, are we at the precipice of a genocide?