The ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) have invited a lot of hate from self-confessed Hindutva followers and right wingers.
From giving a communal colour to the protests to using all the tricks in the book to delegitimize the many women-led protests in the country, a section of the society is working to quell the voices of freedom and patriotism that have risen against the fascist ruling government.
One such gem propagating hate is Prashant Singh Rajput.
A serial hate speech offender and a staunch proponent of the Hindu Rashtra, he has previously also been imprisoned for his abusive diatribe.
Continuously attacking the women of Shaheen Bagh, who have been protesting against the CAA-NPR-NRC, on his Facebook profile which has now been taken down, he had allegedly issued an open threat that he would shoot at the people there on February 9, in case they “fail to clear the roads for the Hindus.”
Eerily similar to the threat that the Jamia gunman had issued on his Facebook page and carried out too.
Not only that, Prashant has allegedly routinely targeted Muslims in his posts, engaging in racial slurs and dehumanizing the community altogether by comparing them to certain animals. He also refers to Shaheen Bagh as ‘Tauheen Bagh’ (tauheen – insult) with an aim to decrease the significance of the impact of the movement that has arisen there.
Giving a clarion call for “Jai Hindu Rashtra”, he has also abused the Father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi through his posts by using demeaning language against him, while praising the work of Gandhi’s assassinator Nathuram Godse, saying “Godse Amar Rahe” (Long Live Godse).
Currently, Prashant’s Facebook account has been suspended. However, there are many more like Prashant who are spreading hate on social media. With followers in the thousands, people like Prashant have the capability to influence youngsters who are already conditioned against minorities and see them as ‘others’ in their own country.
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