[The era in which we
live is extremely complex in nature. The problems are extraordinary and of varied
forms which certainly require extraordinary answers. We did not inherit a
peaceful society from the previous generation. The previous generation was also
not fortunate enough to inherit a perfect society from their predecessors. It
is less likely that we are going hand-down a better society to the future
generations. But this does not mean that we all must stop looking for better
answers to questions of the present era.]
By
Nihal Parashar
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A
Photo Shared By The Page ‘Karz Apna
Chukana Hai, Babri Masjid Wahin Banana Hai’
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I wrote a dissertation
titled ‘Building of a Communal State in a Virtual World: Hindu-Muslim relation
seen through the lens of YouTube and Facebook’. I was trying to interrogate the
role of Social Media platforms in the ongoing ‘hate war’ between the fascists of the
two world religions. While working on the dissertation I stumbled upon various
Facebook pages and YouTube videos which propagated violence. The question which
comes to mind is, should we ban these pages? But the bigger question is
how socially relevant these pages are? If there is a hate page on a certain
social media platform, it simply signifies that there is hate in the society as
well. The spill over of societal issues could be seen on these platforms. The
Facebook pages, with numerous ‘likes’, justify that they are only tip of the
iceberg. The problem lies somewhere else in between. This reminds me of a
couplet by renowned Urdu poet Josh Malihabadi which says, ‘Zeb ye deta nahin sarkaar ko, paaliye bimaariyon ko maariye bimaar ko’
(This does not suits government when it kills the people affected with a
disease but does nothing to eradicate the disease).
Today I came across
another of such pages. The title of the page is ‘Karz apna chukana hai, Babri
Masjid wahin banana hai’, loosely translates into English as ‘We need to pay back
by building Babri Mosque at the same place’. It is time to revisit my thesis
and add few more notes also.
The era in which we live is extremely complex in nature. The problems are extraordinary and of varied forms which certainly require extraordinary answers as well. We did not inherit a peaceful society from the previous generation. The previous generation was also not fortunate enough to inherit a perfect society from their predecessors. It is less likely that we are going to hand-down a better society to the future generations. But this should not mean that we all must stop looking for better answers to questions of the present era.
The Communal aspect of
the Social Media platforms is a result of the dissatisfaction in the society.
There are few similarities in the pages which claim to represent different
religions. The administrator of most of the pages lack sense of humour (they
make you laugh at times although for a different reason altogether) and fuel ange and discomfort. The posts are written to stimulate a feeling of hatred
against the ‘other’community. They use each and every possible mythological symbol
for the purpose. The admin and followers do not hesitate to turn most of the
current social and political developments into an occasion to revisit the
history and look for reasons to criticize the behaviour of the‘others’. They
take solace in the religious past to condemn the act of others.
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Screenshot
From The Page ‘India Is A Hindu Nation’ Which Is Stereotyping Islamic Countries
Through
This Image And Many Others On The Page
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Apart from these, the
most common similarities for such pages in India is Narendra Modi. You will find
posts related to him on all the Hindutva pages as well as Islamic fascists
pages, with obvious love and hatred against the respective pages.
The social media gives
a sense of pseudo-anonymity to the person on the front end. You are hero for
the moment. And fighting is an extremely honourable job, as per our social and
religious norms. Are we living in 10,000 B.C? What is the importance of
civilization if it is unble to generate the basic understanding that
fighting is not going to solve any problem. A soothing soul said that non-violence is older than the mountains and oceans. It seems as if the civilization itself has
taken wrong route and a peaceful world seems a distant dream.
The rise of communalism on the advent of different social media platforms is going to shape the worldview of many young individuals,
still in early teenage, that may come across certain posts which may plant the
seed of prejudice in their fertile minds. The human mind is amazing, especially
in the early years. It distinguishes right and wrong in a very young age and
for the entire life it only justifies the decision of the tender age. It needs
to be extremely elastic to re-evaluate its decision in a later year. If an
individual has a certain point of view on a certain issue it is totally related
to his personal journey. Social media may act as a tool for the same. But in no
circumstance it can be the culprit.
What must be done to
take care of the rise of communalism on the social media platforms? Shall we
agree with an Indian minister’s idea of asking Facebook and Google to screen
the content on the websites? This does not have a very simple answer as well.
Like all extraordinary questions it deserves an extraordinary answer.
‘We need an inclusive
society’- is this an accepted statement? We need to answer this. If it is an
accepted statement then we certainly need to look for a community of
peace-builders who believe in the humanitarian values. There will be the
fascist forces to ridicule this idea. But an inclusive society will also
accommodate them.
No, I am not talking about utopia. I am talking about my society, which rests its hope on you, the reader like yourself.
No, I am not talking about utopia. I am talking about my society, which rests its hope on you, the reader like yourself.
