Twitter Takes Down Hate Inciting Post By BJP
India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), is known for their controversial postings on social media. Twitter took down a hateful post made by BJP Gujarat handle, depicting Muslim men in white skull caps being hung after an uproar by netizens.
The post had a text which said “Satyameva Jayate” which means truth will prevail and captioned with “No mercy to the perpetrators of terror.”
Indian social media activists and opposition politicians called out the ruling party for the insensitive post which dehumanizes Muslims.
Many called it advocating genocide in light of the recent hijab ban issue in India.
While Twitter was swift in taking down the offensive post, it took Instagram a couple of days before doing so as the post did not violate any community guidelines.
Indian Twitterati were quick to call out the Meta owned platform for not being woke enough.
The caricature was made in reference to the 38 people who were executed in Ahmedabad, India, for the 2008 serial blasts case which killed 56 people and injured over 200 people. The ruling was made on 18 Feb 2022.
In July 2008, over 20 bombs were set off in Ahmedabad, in the space of an hour across public spaces, markets and hospitals.
Source: Independent UK
BJP Gujarat’s spokesperson, Rutvij Patel, said that the post was made based on facts and not targeted at any particular community.
“The sketch was based on real photographs of the convicts published by newspapers a day after the verdict. The Gujarat BJP or its social media team had no intention to target any particular religion or community through the sketch,” – Rutvij Patel for Press Trust of India.
He claims that their sketch was an artistic expression on social media, much like the cartoon of Osama Bin Laden which was published in the US after his execution.
“Our sketch was just an artistic expression shared on social media, nothing else,” – Rutvij Patel for Press Trust of India.
Hindu nationalism and anti-Muslim sentiment have been on the rise in India lately under Modi’s regime according to critics. The recent hijab ban that was imposed in Karnataka on Feb 5 sparked protests which forced authorities to close schools there.
Credits: Sukhomoy Sen / Future Publishing via Getty Images
Earlier in January this year, NBC news reported that muslim women were put up for sale on a fake app called “Bulli Bai” without their consent. The Hindi phrase is a derogatory slur against Muslim women.
Source: NBC News
The app was taken down but the damage was already done as hundreds of women who were put up for auction were harassed by men whose intention was to bully them for speaking up against the government.
Prime Minister Modi, however, said that his policies benefit all Indians even though the actions of his party says otherwise. Critics say that his Hindu nationalism is apparent and can affect his key state elections this year.
Reporter’s Opinions: iT iS jUsT a cArtOon.
Shut the fuck up. You know exactly what you’re doing with the offensive caricature. BJP has a history for instigating communal riots and pro-genocide propaganda.
Political scientists from Yale University also mentioned in their paper that “riots produce ethnic polarization that benefits ethno-religious parties at the expense of the Congress”
You have blood on your hands regardless of how hard you try to erase that part of your “glorious” history.
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