When there is no new controversial topic to incite hatred, radical groups on social media try to recycle old instances for the same. There is one such page on Facebook that posts old inciteful and provocative speeches delivered by former Hindutva leaders such as Balasaheb Thackeray in a bid to dig out old wounds or to provoke anti-Muslim sentiments by reminding people of communal incidents of the past.
This Facebook page is called “Garv se kaho hum hindu hai – Hindu jago” (Say it with pride, I am a Hindu – Wake up Hindus!). This page keeps posting videos revering right wing leaders such as former Prime Minister, Late Atal Bihari Bihari Vajpayee and Shiv Sena Supremo Late Balasaheb Thackeray.
One such video of Balasaheb is where he is hoisting his Hindu identity and saying that he is a “mad” Hindu.
In the video he can be seen recounting some incidents around the chilling Hindu-Muslim riots of 1992-93. It has been widely reported that a government inquiry into these riots blamed Shiv Sena and its members of orchestrating attacks on Muslims.
Further, there is also a video clip from the film titled ‘Thackeray’ wherein Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the actor playing the role of Balasaheb is seen delivering an inciteful speech.
In this video he can be seen saying, “Aaj ke baad jo Hinduon ki baat karega wohi Hindustan pe raj karega” (From now on, only those who speak up for Hindus will rule India). Further there is also a scene from the movie which depicts a trial court hearing where a lawyer is questioning why Babri masjid was demolished. In this scene he can be seen justifying the same.
There are several such videos that can be found on this page which propagate Hindutva ideology while also projecting Hindus as victims and hence trying to incite the need for ‘awakening’ Hindus.
This page, with over 18,000 followers is one of the many such pages that starkly reflect prevalent fascism and the idea of a Hindu nation. Such Facebook pages are kept active by the several right wing organisations that have mushroomed throughout the country in the past 5 years and they keep propagating hatred and inciting Hindus by giving them a sense of being victimised at the hands of minorities such as the Muslim community in order to feed into their vote bank politics and communal agenda.
Facebook complicit with hate propaganda?
Facebook has always been criticised for its failure to remove hate content from its platform. Despite many complaints going to Facebook from many users about such pages that propagate hatred, they still continue to persist. The reason behind this may have been revealed in this Wall Street Journal report which states that Facebook has been turning a blind eye to controversial hate speech by few leaders of the ruling party to remain in the good books of the BJP. Clearly, it is all a part of the larger scheme of things.
The Wall Street Journal report says that Ankhi Das, who is Facebook’s top public policy executive in India, opposed applying hate speech rules to the BJP’s T. Raja Singh out of fear of ruining the company’s relationship with the ruling party. “Facebook deleted some of Mr. Singh’s postings after the Journal asked about them. It said Mr. Singh no longer is permitted to have an official, verified account, designated with a blue check mark badge,” the report notes.
The August 14 WSJ report headlined “How Facebook’s Hate Speech Rules Collide With Indian Politics” puts a name and a face—Ankhi Das, its chief lobbyist in Delhi, who works under the title of public-policy director–to some of the rumours, whispers and sharp practices surrounding Facebook’s India operations.
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