On October29, we witnessed a blast in Kerala. One person died on the spot and another two succumbed to their injuries later. The mastermind confessed to the crime the very next day and surrendered. If we analyse, these few hours or these few days, from the time of the blast till the time the actual criminal is caught is very crucial, we witness a very disturbing trend, as if a narrative is being built. All work in coordination with each other, as if all have one common goal.
No sooner the attacks happen, the social media is abuzz with stories, theories, expert comments and start building a narrative. No direct blame on any particular group or community is laid, but they all speak about the past similar incidences revolving around this one specific community alone.
Let us take the Kerala blast for instance, the social media soldiers were very fast to react. In fact, fake news started even before the ambulances could reach the blast site. First they showed how Hamas is a violent organization and they have a history of doing bomb blasts, and ‘probably’ Hamas has come to India now. Then the Opposition leaders of the State have to seize this opportunity and retd Major Surendra Poonia, tried to explain the chronology and put the blame on a specific community. Another politician connected the bomb blast to the movie ‘Kerala Story’ and said that Kerala is a hub of criminal activities, the leader of the Opposition there cannot be left behind, so he said that bomb blasts are a regular feature in Kerala and that it is the failure of the State government (Surprisingly the world is witnessing that the State government and the Central government has failed miserably in Manipur and no one dares to speak on it). To make this news more authentic a popular news channel of the country comes with an episode on how sleeper cells become active and of course the pictures used are of a specific community. It is saddening to see that all the agencies are doing this job of building a narrative and indirectly putting the blame on a specific community.
Fortunately for this targeted community, one Dominic Martin confessed to the crime and all the news agencies and the social media hunters had no choice but to immediately pull down their witch hunting programmes, their memes and tweets. Wonder why these news agencies never tried to link Dominic to an international conspiracy or link him to an international terrorist organization or go to the extent of defaming the entire community he belongs to.
If you analyse, the damage had already been done. Is there any kind of punishment for these politicians, the trolls, the news agencies and the broadcasters who played the role in tarnishing the image of this community. Will the government take action against them?
In the last few years, we have witnessed a surge in hate crimes and there has been no action against the perpetrators, it is time for us to understand as to who benefits from these hate and false propaganda. It is time for us to question everything what is being shown to us. It is time for us to ask our questions and discuss the issues prevailing in our society and no one should take this right away from us.
