20% of banned hate sites put up by Hindu groups

[email protected] (Deeptiman Tiwary, TNN)
August 23, 2012

asamNew Delhi, August 23: The clamour over Pakistan fanning communal passions in India through social networking sites has missed a crucial detail. Around 20% of the web pages - blocked by government agencies - were uploaded by right-wing Hindu fundamentalists seeking to polarize the country on communal lines.

In these posts doctored images or videos showing alleged atrocities against tribal Bodos by Muslims have been tagged with provocative captions and point to extremist Hindu groups trying to fish in troubled waters to target minorities and fan tensions.

Sources in agencies involved in scanning internet and blocking inflammatory web pages say several posts had pictures or videos of Tibetans self-immolations in protest against Chinese occupation. These posts were, however, captioned as atrocities against "Assamese Hindus" by "illegal" migrant Muslims.

"Several images had been cropped in a way to obliterate the background that could have revealed the actual context of the pictures," said an official.

Agencies have also found clues indicating a large number of SMSs that spread panic among the northeast Indians living across the country were also generated by fringe Hindu groups. The panic led to a mass exodus of people from the north-east from several cities, including Pune, Bangalore and Chennai.

"Everyone is trying to ride the Assam conflict bandwagon for their own parochial and political gains. Right-wing Hindu groups have played a major role in spreading panic among the north-easterners," said the official. Their portrayal of all Bodos as Hindus is also inaccurate as some are Christians.

Sources said days before the exodus from Bangalore began, rabid SMSs about killing of four persons from the north-east and a fatwa being issued against people from the region started doing the rounds. These messages are suspected to have been spread by right-wing groups too.

A recent input from Bangalore about three women planning to bomb a train turned out to be a red herring. Later, the input was traced to an activist of Bajrang Dal.

Videos allegedly showing unfurling of a Pakistani flag on August 15 in Hyderabad were uploaded questioning the integrity and patriotism of Muslims in the Indian city. The video was found to be that of Pakistan's Hyderabad.

Another right-wing group, inspired by Dara Singh, the killer of Australian missionary Graham Steins, called the Assam conflict a handiwork of Christian missionaries who have allegedly armed Bodos.

"Several right-wing groups are trying to increase their influence in the north-east. Some mainstream groups too have been trying to woo tribals across the nation and so have openly pledged support to Bodo struggle. They see the present conflict as the best situation to make inroads in the north-east. The attempt is also at polarizing the entire nation as Indians versus immigrant Muslims to gain political ground," said the official.

Several Hindu groups have also come forward to help fleeing north-easterners. RSS and certain other Hindu outfits arranged for food and other services for north-easterners fleeing Bangalore. They even exhorted them to not to flee as the group would protect them.

The ABVP even set up 24-hour helplines in 20 cities across India for students from the north-east. Bajrang Dal too called bandhs in riot-affected districts in Assam.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 11,2020

Udupi, Jan 11: A case has been registered against Pune Billava president on the charges of issuing life threats to former Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake and Dinesh Amin Mattu at the Udupi Town Police station, police sources said on Saturday.

Former Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake along with like-minded Billawa organisations and the Udupi Muslim Federation jointly scheduled an inter-religious Billawa – Muslims Harmony meet on January 11, at the Town Hall.

Journalist Dinesh Amin Mattu was the speaker and Vinay Kumar Sorake was to preside over the programme.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 26,2020

Mysuru, Feb 26: Twenty-nine students of the Government Primary School fell sick after consuming milk supplied at the school on Wednesday morning at Kiranguru village, in Hanagodu hobli, in the hunsur taluk in the district.

Police said the students were immediately rushed to the primary health centre in Hanagodu and provided first aid.

Tahsildar and Police personnel visited the health centre and inquired about the health of the students. "All the students are responding to the treatment," sources said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 12,2020

Bosnia, Jul 12: Bosnians commemorated on Saturday the massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, marking the 25th anniversary of killings that shocked the world and have stood out as Europe's only atrocity since World War Two constituting genocide.

Nine newly identified victims were buried at a flower-shaped cemetery near the town, where tall white tombstones mark the graves of 6,643 other victims.

"After 25 years we succeeded in finding his mortal remains, so they can be laid to their final rest," said Fikret Pezic, who buried his father Hasan.

The remains of some 1,000 victims of the massacre in the eastern town during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war are still missing.

Ifeta Hasanovic decided to bury incomplete remains of her husband, saying: "We were aware they cannot be complete after 25 years, at least there are some, I did not want to make any new delays."

World leaders addressed the ceremony by video link, unable to attend because of coronavirus epidemic. Instead of the tens of thousands visitors who typically attend the commemoration each year, only a few thousand came after organisers banned organised visits.

During the Bosnian war, Bosnian Serb forces pushed non-Serbs out of territories they sought for their Serb statelet. Fleeing Muslims took shelter in several eastern towns, including Srebrenica, that were designated as United Nations "safe zones".

On July 11, 1995, the Serb forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic overran Srebrenica, which was protected by lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers.

They sent women and children away and captured and executed the men and boys they found. The bodies were dumped into mass graves and later exhumed by U.N. investigators and used as evidence in war crimes trials of Bosnian Serb leaders.

"We grieve with the families that tirelessly seek justice for the 8,000 innocent lives lost, all these years later," said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Washington brokered Bosnia's peace deal months after the massacre.

Most people at the commemoration were Muslim Bosniaks, reflecting conflicting narratives about the bloodshed - which hinders reconciliation nearly 25 years after the end of war in which about 100,000 people were killed.

The U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted Mladic and his political chief Radovan Karadzic over Srebrenica genocide but they remained heroes for Serbs, many of whom deny that genocide happened.

On Saturday, the Serbs in the nearby town of Bratunac organised an event marking July 11 as the "Srebrenica Liberation Day".

Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, called for legislation that would ban denial of genocide.

"There can be no trust as long as we witness attacks on the truth, denial of genocide and glorification and celebration of executors," Dzaferovic told the commemoration gathering.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.