From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 22, Dated June 07, 2008
Online message boards are rife with unabashed bigotry. ANASTASIA GUHA reports
THEY HAVE WRATH, and it is growing ever more fierce. Their comments are vitriolic, often profane, frequently bordering on diabolical and their punch bag of choice is the Muslim community in India.
The day after the BJP has by all accounts won decisively in Karnataka, reader response sections on the Rediff.com message boards are clocking comments in impressive numbers. And they are frothing at the mouth. At the time of going to press, an article analysing the weekend results has already 156 comments.
“Now why do you hesitate, come and join BJP. Your commies and will be wipe away by next two to three years along with Muslims (sic)” says one. Another proclaims “United we can rule the world. If all Hindus get united in India we can easily become a super power and the world’s policemen by 2012.” “Hinduism means superiority, patriotism and equality. Hinduism means live and let other live.” We are reliably informed that all “educated, patriotic, prosperous people choose the BJP.” Someone declares India a Hindu country and demands “saffron colour in every state of India. And make our flag only saffron and white”. And in case you are interested the saffron stands for purity and the white for peace. “Jai Hind. Jai Sri Ram, Jai Hanuman bring back Ram Rajya, throw these traitors out,” writes someone and you can almost hear the anthemic, chanting voice he would use to yell that sentiment at a political rally.
The Internet was meant to herald the liberating power of anonymity. It hid race, gender, age, nationality, disabilities — phy sical and otherwise. It was supposed to go a long way in terminating prejudice in public discourse. Yet even a casual perusal of these comment boards reveals how crushingly, self-evidently, dangerously false — that original vision has been rendered.
Who are these people? How do they get away with expressing opinions that are not as much irrational diktats as they are prejudices sprayed with pure unadulterated hatred? The kind that would never be publicly expressed, save perhaps, at the most vocally saffronised gathering. Is there anything but the most perfunctory policing of these virtual spaces? Unlike a lot of other sites, which can be a free for all, Rediff scrupulously removes all abusive text yet, there seems little censorship of content. TEHELKA went to the offices of a leading national television channel and found a 22-year-old in charge of monitoring comments on their news casts, she had been told to remove posts with specific cuss words like f**k and its variations.
Narendra Modi’s victory speech after his party retained power in Gujrat has over 52 thousand views on Youtube and even 6 months and 381 comments later, people are continuing to engage with the clip. “Why are Muslims terrorists, criminals, and burden to any society they live in — we should throw then out of India?” demands one. “Islam and Muslim backwardness is the main cause of poverty, crime, and drag in India, also Muslim countries are the most backward and poor such as gutter countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan,” says another. These are the sorts of comments that would make liberals shudder and rummage around frantically for their passports.
The blankness of the Internet, the apparent distance between conversants, their shifting personas, the dizzying succession of far-flung connections, perhaps even the hypnotic qualities of the computer screen itself, all powerfully invite us to project ourselves into the electronic ether under the illusion that we are in a valid discourse. The next time you are online, take a good look around; we may be labouring under a dangerous illusion.
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