Barely a fortnight after the tragic Balasore accident that claimed close to 300 lives, the occasion to hate generate has not stopped. On Tuesday, June 20, yesterday, the news of a junior engineer of Indian Railways beinv interrogated in the ongoing CBI inquiry (reported by India Today) was picked up
And twisted to target junior engineer, Amir Khan. Perpetrators were the well oiled hate eco-system, Sudarshan news (run repeat hate offender, by Suresh Chavhanke) and amplified by the BJP IT Cell chief, Amit Malviya. Indian Railways was quick to deny the fake news. “This is factually incorrect. The entire staff is present & a part of inquiry. They are appearing before agency,” Chief Public Relations Officer of South Eastern Railway, Aditya Kumar Chaudhary clearly said. The false media reports even spoke railway staff “absconding” after the train accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station.
How Hate becomes currency
Within days of the accident on June 4/5, hate mongers had first tried to blame the tragedy that claimed dozens of lives of poor migrant labour on a neighbourIng religious place of worship, an ISKCON temple that was dubbed being a Mosque!
Background
On June 6, 2023, the CBI had begun with the investigation into allegations of criminal negligence leading to the Balasorerailway accident involving three trains in Odisha, with officials saying the agency may take views of rail safety experts to get to the bottom of the case. As per the official data provided by the government agencies, this said railway tragedy, one of the worst train tragedies in the country, had claimed 278 lives and left more than 1,100 people injured.
The entrusting of this severe case of technical lapse that ought to have been investigated by a well-equipped committee of experts had been widely criticised in the public sphere.
The very first rumour that was spread was that since the tragedy had occurred on a Friday, a link was set to the Muslims, who gather to offer Juma prayer in the afternoon. It was further alleged that a ‘mosque’ had existed near the site of the incident.
And now, after a few weeks have passed since the said accident, another attempt to communalise the tragedy had been made with the help of social media. Yesterday night, a news was being shared that the CBI has taken action by sealing the residence of the Junior Engineer responsible for the Soro section Signal.
A report by the India Today had first provided that the said engineer, who resided in a rented house in Balasore, was interrogated by the investigative agency, and he and his family were now reported missing. Soon after this news started doing rounds, Sudarshan TV, one of the major contributors to spreading anti-Muslim sentiments amongst Hindus by propagating misinformation, jumped on its islamophobic band wagon and started claiming that the absconding junior engineer is a Muslim man named Amir Khan.
The tweet are as follws
Predictably, the right-wing media, extremist Hindu outfits, BJP IT cell and the far-right twitter trolls and bots started floating this whole idea on twitter, which set the whole ball rolling and the Hindus started bashing the whole Muslim community. It reached such a level that the Hindu trolls and Hindu community started making offensive and derogatory statements against Muslims, seeking justice, spreading more misinformation and disinformation.
On Tuesday, the Chief Public Relations Officer of South Eastern Railway, Aditya Kumar Chaudhary reacted to the said false media reports about railway staff absconding after the train accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station. He said, “This is factually incorrect. The entire staff is present & a part of inquiry. They are appearing before agency.”
The video can be viewed here:
#WATCH | Balasore train accident | “A few media reports are coming in that a Bahanaga staff is absconding and missing. This is factually incorrect. The entire staff is present & a part of inquiry. They are appearing before agency,” says Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, CPRO South Eastern… pic.twitter.com/Htc538cIFp
— ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2023
It is essential to note that after the said clarification was given by the South Eastern Railway officer, the tweet by Suresh Chavhanke, the editor-in-chief of Sudarshan TV, was deleted by him!
The efforts of the officers working on the train accident, the Odisha government and the Odisha police have been commendable, pro-actively ensuring that no communal colour is given to any issue incidental to this tradegy, especially as the investigation is ongoing.
Previously too, the Odisha Police had said some social media handles have been circulating “ill-motivated” posts on the Balasore accident and that legal action would be taken against them. “We appeal to all concerned to desist from circulating such false and ill-motivated posts. Severe legal action will be initiated against those who are trying to create communal disharmony by spreading rumours,” they had said, as reported by the OutlookIndia.
Related:
Tragic Odisha train crash claims lives of Bengal migrant workers
Kharge slams union govt for asking CBI to probe Odisha train accident: Letter to Modi