“Love jihad” is now entrenched in the public landscape. The term is today wielded by an aggressive majoritarianism, woven into a dominant caste Hindu narrative of religious extremism, Islamophobia, and communal hatred that has crept into Indian courtroom discourse as well.”
– Teesta Setalvad, co-editor, Sabrangindia & Secretary, Citizens for Justice & Peace, 2020
The epithet “jihad” (in fact Jihad is an Islamic term that means “an obligation to lead a principled life” has been deliberately misinterpreted to become a slur). This slur has been devised by aggressive forces of bigoted majoritarianism and supremacy to slur and stigmatise all that is Islamic and Muslim.
From the Covid-19 Pandemic lockdown (2020) onwards when “respectable” television channels too telecast such slurs on their Hindi and even English language network telecasts, the term #CoronaJihad first gained ground.
Thereafter in the past three years, every couple of months, a well-oiled ecosystem of targeted hate speech that starts with BJP functionaries giving the “dog whistle” top-down in their public (read election) speeches is then picked up systematically by far rightwing speakers in their publicized diatribes. Then promptly comes the next level. What amplifies this systemic hate-mongering is the use these epithets that are then put to in several commercially driven “media” channels which –regardless of the first principles of independent and no-partisan content– create television debates constantly amplifying the term. Finally, these are morphed into easy to digest (sic) hate clips on WhatsApp groups and social media platforms!
Over past months the order can be reversed, with compliant media outlets actually generating the telecasts to provide fodder for the public diatribes!
The result? Open display of bigotry, Islamophobia and hate against Muslims is normalised.
The latest epithet to be added to a long, prejudicial terms is #Gaming Jihad.
Following its “success” in disseminating propaganda about the Covid-19 pandemic being spread because of one two day public gathering at Nizamuddin in mid-March 2020 (#CorononaJihad), it was “Hindu women being targeted by the Muslim men, terming it ‘Love Jihad’”.
Then came “Hindu majority being ‘out-populated’ by the Muslim community”= #‘Population Jihad;
Then it was “Muslims illegally capturing government land”=‘Land Jihad
Let’s not forget vicious propaganda unleashed against Islamic educational institutions #MadrassaJihad!
Now there is one more slur. Another different, yet similar, form of world manipulation and propaganda is being promoted systemically by the electronic media channels. Hysteric efforts are being made by media persons with clear allegiance to the Hindutva right to brainwash people into believing that another form of threat to Hindu children exists and this is #Gaming jihad.
What is this ‘#Gaming jihad’?
Reports on News Bharati (June 5, 2023), DNA (June 9, 2023) and Firstpost (June 8, 2023)were amongst the first to come out on this issue of “Gaming Jihad”. Here is how the propaganda on television channels works:
#Gaming Jihad: Muslim youth along with “Maulvis of Masjids (Mosques) use the medium of mobile games like ‘The fortnite’ to brainwash Hindu and Jain kids into converting to Islam by saying reading Aayats from Quran that can help them win games in. According to this narrative that feeds into the insidious “conversion to Islam” theory peddled even in movies like the Kerala Story, this phenomenon, #GamingJihad has come as a “shocking development” at a time when Hindu girls were just becoming aware of the Islamist concept of the ‘Love Jihad’ through movies and “news”. Thus, to fulfil their ultimate goal (which is to ensure a huge demographic shift!) , the “Islamic extremists” have now come up with new concepts to trap the Hindu girls and convert them to radical Islam.
The reports on these channels go further.
Propaganda Narrative behind #Gaming Jihad goes further Once kids do win the game by a set of tricks allowed by the app itself (The fortnite) they start believing that it is the power of these Quranic Aayats and would then be prepared and willing to even convert away from their religion.
Thereafter, says this narrative, these newly appointed Muslim youths in this network are then used to take Hindu and Jain kids onto another ‘Discord‘ chat app, show them Zakir Naik videos to brainwash them to the next level. The perpetrators, says this narrative, mainly use these games and chat apps to target teen-aged Hindu and Jain boys to convert to Islam.
The Citizens for Justice and Peace team has analysed these electronic media channels spawning the latest brand of slur.
The reports on #GamingJihad also say that though the concept of ‘#Gaming Jihad’ is new to India, its roots can be found in Pakistan.
Deconstruction of Propaganda Narrative:
There are no specific allegations that can be pin-pointed in these reports and programmes. It could be individual reports of a criminal complaint filed in some parts of the country, often where the BJP is in power. The television journalists (anchors) do little ground level homework to question or query the police version of the complaint or speak to the alleged “victim complainants.” Within hours that one incident becomes the basis for a new level of hate propaganda
The Ghaziabad case- the “racket of gaming jihad”
In early June 2023, reports of the Ghaziabad police catching a man, Abdul Rehman, who reportedly used to teach ‘verses from the Quran’ to minor children playing video games in the name of “winning” these games became public. A former member of the local mosque committee, Abdul Rehman was alleged to be “committing jihad by brainwashing these minor children to convert to Islam”, as was reported by the Firstpost on June 8, 2023. It was then alleged that Abdul Rahman used to tell minor children about the greatness of Islam, and the weaknesses of their religion, as provided by the First post.
If the report provided by the Firstpost right-wing media is to be believed, this type of “jihad” case came to light when the parents of a minor boy, hailing from Ghaziabad, were shocked by their son’s actions. Their minor son, for the past few days, used to leave home on the pretext of going to the gym five times a day, but in reality, he was offering prayers at a mosque. After this, the minor’s father lodged a complaint in the police station. On May 30, the police registered an FIR in the said case, in which the cleric of the mosque in Sanjay Nagar Sector 23 of Ghaziabad, Abdul Rehman, and the accused named Baddo was mentioned.
As provided by the DNAIndia newspaper just a day later on June 9, 2023, the police have named both of them as accused. Abdul Rehman has been arrested by the police, but Shanawaj Masud Khan of Sajia Apartment, P.S. Mumbra, Thane, Maharashtra, who is believed to be the mastermind of this Cyber Gaming Jihad, is still out of the grips of the police.
This whole story of the Ghaziabad police busting an online conversion racket seems to be somehow inspired by the controversial film ‘The Kerala Story’, as is indicated in in the DNAIndia report, which depicts a group of non-Muslims women converted to Islam “by brainwashing them” and thereafter they are recruited by the ISIS. Kerala story was released on May 5, 2023.
Media coverage of the said issue
As soon as these reports were released, Aaj tak and Times Now were one of the first channels that took up this opportunity to unleash extremely unprofessional content.
Aaj Tak released a one-hour Black & White with Sudhir Chaudhary over the same, with the following description ‘There has been a big disclosure on religious conversion in Ghaziabad. An online gaming conversion racket was busted in which it was found that 4 children were influenced and changed their religion. Is mobile converting your child’s religion?’
Sudhir Chaudhary, who was hosting the show, started the show by telling his audience about how at least four cases of minor boys falling prey to this new type of ‘Jihad’ have surfaced in India, and how they viewed can express their opinions on the same by tweeting with the hashtag of gaming jihad. It is clear that the motive behind urging the viewers of the show was to ensure that the said hashtag starts trending on Twitter, and the reach of their propaganda increases.
The anchor then starts peddling his own theory (unsubstantiated by any factual cases), alleging that it is possible that four lakh minor boys might have fallen victim to this ‘#Gaming Jihad’. We have attached a picture below depicting how Chaudhary has made this baseless exaggeration in his show, with the aim of instilling fear in the mind of its audience, convincing them that this is a conspiracy of the Muslim community.
Chaudhary called this form of #Gaming jihad a part of the Islamic conversion business model, something that all the Hindu parents must be wary of. He also called this the work of an international racket of conversion, aimed at converting Hindu young men into hardline Muslims. While Chaudhary was giving this report, videos showing Muslims walking on road, and offering prayers were also being shown. He also purported that this gaming jihad was made specifically for Hindu boys, as Hindu girls were anyway being targeted under Love Jihad.
The said video can be viewed here:
Times Now Navbharat and TV9 Bharatvarsh also dedicated news segments on the said issue, both of which used this term “online gaming jihad”, and spread hatred and instilled fear in the minds of the Hindu population. The anchor of the TNN said that “the most dangerous thing is that the accused Maulvi not only committed jihad and converted the minor boy, but also made him a 5 time namazi.” (someone who prays five times a day).
Right wing leaders and agencies were quick to act
The right-wing ecosystem stepped in. As reported in the Indian Express, Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, on May 6, said a committee will be set up to look into online games related to religious conversion. Lodha told media persons, “There are shocking things happening in the name of online games. Such games are targeting the youth and small children. They are being lured to change their religion.”
“To check this religious conversion menace under online games, the state government’s women and child development ministry will constitute a committee. It will look into the online games and related aspects. We will submit the report to home ministry,” Lodha had added.
Lodha also said that the home department will play a crucial role in this matter. After the matter came to light, he said, we got to know a person who was involved with it fled. The matter will have to be proved and those involved behind such gaming will have to be nabbed, he added.
Apart from this, on the same day, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), an agency of the central government, also wrote to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) to initiate an enquiry against online gaming platform “Fortnite” and instant messaging social platform “Discord” for their alleged involvement in religious conversion of a minor boy in Ghaziabad.
“The Commission has come across a news article, wherein it has been informed that two men including a Caretaker of a Mosque in Ghaziabad and a man from Mumbai were involved in religious conversion of a minor boy through an online gaming platform, Fortnite,” said NCPCR’s Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo in a letter to Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Meity., as reported by the Indian Express. The commission said, “The minor boy was lured into conversation through the said gaming platform, Fortnite and then brainwashed into religious conversion over another social platform, Discord.” The commission also requested for an enquiry to be initiated against Fortnite and Discord and an action-taken report submitted within 10 days.
It has become so easy for channels, such as Zee News, Aaj Tak, Times Now and Network18, to show up any single instance, act or crime as a “conspiracy of the Muslim community.” All they need to do is add the epithet ‘#Jihad’. As soon as some piece of news is reported, the pattern swiftly emerges. Political figures, elected representatives feed on such “news” panel discussions generated by an identifiable set of electronic media channels. Repeat offenders among news anchors are Sudhir Chaudhary, Arnab Goswami, Deepak Chaurasia, Amish Devgan, Anjana Om Kashyap and Rohit Sardana. They serve the perennial need of the regime in power to stigmatise and target one section of Indians, Muslims reducing their existence to a cornered lot, suffering physical and mental indignity and harm, always threatened by physical violence.
Was adding the epithet, “jihad” to this issue at all warranted?
The question Indian media needs to ask itself, and this is a serious professional challenge, is whether this level of unprofessional media conduct befits these electronic media outlets. Be it print media where tested principles laid down by the Press Council of India apply or broadcast and digital media, where guidelines of the News Broadcasting and Digital Statutory Authority (NBDSA) apply, each and all of these instances violate time-tested provisions. This is not to mention provisions of Indian criminal law, weak as they be in their application towards hate-driven inciteful speech and utterances. In the global world too, every standard known has been and continues to be breached with impunity lending voice to the argument made since 2020 that #GenocideJournalism is what is at play, cynically and systemically in India today.
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