End of Empathy: How deaths in lynchings evoke little reaction, response in India

Shams Ur Rehman Alavi

*Man lynched--hardly any reaction, neither celebrities nor ministers take note

*If he is Muslim, term him 'thief' or bring any other negative angle to make him appear a criminal, even before basic probe

*Once it is found that he is Bangladeshi, then predictable reactions

*However, latest report tells that the person's name was 'RANJIT'. So, now, blame WB govt! But sadness? No sadness, no tears because you are incapable of empathy.

*You are capable of just hate, if incident is in one district, find a nearby 'Muslim district' to create more confusion. *Not just loonies, papers too carry reports on these lines. Same pattern.

*There is never any genuine grief. Every incident, every death just part of the plan to target 'Muslims, seculars....' and whatever they've been fed for years now.

*This is the most unique species, its entire existence rests on falsehoods, hate and propaganda. They can always come up with something new--add a false name, bring up imaginary things. 

*With multiple portals, thousands of FB pages, Twitter handles, IT cell and top leaders ready to push it, they make people believe. Others can keep refuting, defending, explaining but how much!

[Photo is just for representational purpose]

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How to manage public opinion, create perception despite recession in India: BJP, Indian Economy and WhatsApp narrative

Shams Ur Rehman Alavi

It is interesting that how BJP successfully sets the social media narrative through WhatsApp and Facebook.

An example that would reveal how it works. I met this guy at the BSNL office.

He was worried over his personal issues, started talking to me on his own, about lay offs, privatization, future of LIC and a lot more.

Also, he said govt unable to control but later said, 'look at Pakistan, they've to mortgage all, even roads, we're much better'.

He was explaining to me that in India, we're yet to sell railways but in Pakistan even 'roads sold' to keep the country's economy afloat'. Must have picked up from channels.

So this comparison always makes people content, 'unse behtar hain', without stepping foot out of India. This is the super narrative--comparison has to be with Pakistan, look at how others have sunk & we are still not doing badly.

Even within locality it happens, people are sometimes more jealous about neighbour's accomplishment. So playing on these emotions. Truly amazing. 'Unke yahan to kuchh bacha hi nahi, sadak tak bech di, bhooke mar rahe hain, Chin ki khairat par pal rahe hain...'

These are just the kind of things that people want to believe & take pride in the fact that our enemy is starving, let's forget our pain, be happy. Pak obsession, Nationalism! With 400 million Indians on WhatsApp getting videos, posts about our achievements by such comparisons, you can well sense why BJP and its narrative works.

Add, communal polarization, anger against internal enemies--Urban Naxals, TT gang & see how it works. 300 seats again. It keeps citizens 'satisfied', there is the feeling of 'self-respect', gets sense of Hindu pride and that he elected a strong government. This is a model that has worked well. 

WhatsApp Wakes up: After lynching incidents, sets off ad campaign to 'spread happiness, not falsehoods'

WhatsApp has finally woken up from its slumber.

It has begun a campaign--Khushiyaan baantiye, Afwaahein nahin.

If translated from Urdu to English, it says--spread happiness, not falsehoods.

After rumours and false propaganda was spread on this platform for long, it has apparently bowed to pressure.

Government of India had also asked it to contain the spread of hate and rumours that resulted in incidents of lynchings.

The rumours about cow or gangs on the prowl to abduct kids, had led to attacks, lynchings and even deaths.

A techie was killed in Karnataka. In fact, many other such serious incidents of law-and-order failure took place because of WhatsApp and the rumours spread through the platform.

Inside WhatsApp groups, people share content with like minded people or friends-families. Apart from Facebook, it is another major platform that can let any content go viral within a few hours.

Hence, there is need for more responsibility on part of WhatsApp. It has taken it years for the social media giant to run such an advertisement campaign. Now it is on TV and is also visible at other places.

Quite late. Had they been vigilant earlier, it may have saved lives. If people are aware that they may be caught, they are more cautious. In fact, WhatsApp need to do even more and be strict with people who spread false messages and share fake news.

Concerns over false messages spreading hatred through WhatsApp in India: Worries over impact on society, law-and-order and communal harmony

Daily dose of false propaganda, communal messages, videos and hate can wreak havoc.

'The message is the medium' is an important article on this subject, which tells us how similar propaganda led to the genocide in Rwanda where 8 lakh people were killed in just 12 weeks.

Sushant Singh's powerful piece should wake us up about the situation that is arising because of such propaganda, false messages, unverified videos that are forwarded--incident of another country, termed as an incident here and blaming certain groups, even imaginary and absolutely false stories to spread communalism.

"From early 1990, anti-Tutsi articles and graphic cartoons had begun appearing in the Kangura newspaper. In June 1993, the RTLMC began broadcasting in Rwanda. The radio station was rowdy and used language of the street — like any other popular radio station, there were disc jockeys, pop music and phone-ins. It was designed to appeal to the unemployed, the delinquents and the gangs of thugs in the militia...", says the article.

READ: The Message Is The Medium

"The transcripts of RTLMC’s broadcasts are available in Duke University’s International Monitor Institute. A lot of attention has since been focused on the radio station’s efforts to direct the extermination — broadcasts told people to “go to work” and everyone knew that meant get your machete and kill Tutsis.

But what has escaped greater scrutiny is the manner — by demonising the Tutsis and encouraging hate and violence — in which the radio station prepared the ground among the people of Rwanda for genocide. The transcripts reveal RTLMC’s efforts to claim authority over the telling of Rwandan history whereby the hardline Hutu extremists exercised a monopoly over the truth".

"If radio was a powerful medium then, where you only needed a transistor and a few batteries, we have the smart phone and WhatsApp today. In the past few years, several instances have come to light where communal clashes are being planned or instigated through false videos circulating on WhatsApp."

"The police acknowledged that WhatsApp groups were used to incite the Muzaffarnagar riots in UP in the run-up to the 2014 elections. The gau rakshaks, the Jat agitators, and protestors in Kashmir also take advantage of WhatsApp groups to organise themselves."

"The government has responded by banning internet in such instances, making India the global leader in imposing internet blackouts. That is a tactical solution which prevents immediate violence. But the graver challenge of creating a fertile environment of hate, round-the-clock, by distorted story-telling continues unabated. It is not just the poor and semi-educated who are taken in by the alternative narrative of political propaganda on WhatsApp. The educated elite are equally guilty".

The complete article is available at the Indian Express website. 

Misusing social media to spread communalism in the society: Messages on WhatsApp, Facebook inflaming passions, causing riots

If the society is increasingly getting communalised and people belonging to different communities are turning into religious bigots, it should be a cause of alarm.

Across India, 'objectionable' posts on Facebook or circulation of messages on WhatsApp are leading to communal tension and riots.

In small towns, people come out on streets and mob resort to violence after seeing a post. We can no longer say that it is a transition phase for society and that people will get over it.

First, it was Facebook, which was being misused to spread false messages and propaganda. Now, it is Whatsapp that is being flooded with communal messages.

It seems that there are factories to manufacture hate-filled messages, on a regular basis. In fact, messages that are factually incorrect are floated, purposely, part of a conspiracy to turn Hindus and Muslims against each other.

Hate-mongering, morphed images

For example, a mischief maker just takes any photo, puts a few words along with it, using PhotoShop or Paintshop, and uploads it. Soon, the like-minded start liking or sharing it, as if it is a certified intellectual's quote.

Even educated persons who are supposed to be discernible and know the truth, are taken in, and believe it as truth. By consistently posting these messages, the aim is to paint the other group as absolute villain and enemy.

A photo of a person being lynched in neighbouring country is passed off as a scene from a particular place in India, and a particular group is blamed. These images go viral and even if one or two persons see the falsehood, the voices don't matter much.

The impact, reach of WhatsApp

Both fundamentalist Hindus and Muslims are involved in this act. Also, many ordinary people, without verifying or bothering to check the information, believe these messages and forward them. Sharing in WhatsApp, takes the messages to even more people.

The hate in many of these messages is chilling. No longer a person needs newspaper or TV channel to spread his message. He can simply write a few lines and in photo form if it is posted, many seem believe the message. Many might not believe these messages.

Daily propaganda turning people fanatic

However, when you see such messages on a daily basis, your degree of suspicion towards other group increased. So those who were liberal turn into fundamentalist, the slight communal into communal and the communal become ultra-communal, seeing the propaganda day in and day out.

Education should bring enlightenment but sadly a large number of people are getting affected by false propaganda on the social networking websites. While social media has its benefits and guarding freedom of expression is important, it is also imperative that those injecting hate in society, should be dealt with sternly.

How many around to spread message of communal harmony?

The reason is that messages on communal harmony aren't spread. There are no organisations flush with funds to do it with a missionary zeal. But those who are overcome by hate or have an agenda, act with a passion. Hence, communal messages flood the virtual world.

Till a few years ago, it was a small section that used Twitter. Facebook was used more often. However, with smartphones being used to check social media, the situation has turned extremely serious. Facebook is used by teenagers and elders in villages too.

Communalism reaches villages through smart phones

WhatsApp is being misused even more. People form their own groups and become 'admins'. There are people who run dozens of groups and spread hate, not just in cities, but in rural parts of the country.

Whatever happened in Muzaffarnagar earlier this year was a reflection of it. People in villages who were not afflicted by the communal bug also turned communal. The power of WhatsApp can be understood by the way it helped spread of the message of BJP.

The right-wing support ensured that the party got a huge success in Uttar Pradesh (UP). While BJP may term itself moderate, its sister organisations are known for their hardcore right-wing ideology. Members of these organisations are known for their communal diatribe.

It is not that other communities aren't involved in it. There are many Muslims who post objectionable messages and circulate them. Sadly, on both sides, there are less saner voices. We need statesmen, real leaders to tell the youths of nation, to get out of this hate business. It hurts the nation like nothing else.

READ POSTS ON SAME ISSUE ON THIS BLOG EARLIER

1. How to deal with communal messages, hate speech and misinformation on social media?

2. Rising Racism: Of online bigots, communal comments and casteist messages on internet

3. Playing flue to buffalow: How to deal with online trolls

4. Abusive messages, comments and this blog