How Islamophobia Runs Riot on Indian Social Media

According to a report by Equality Labs, Islamophobia tops the list of issues of hate speech on Facebook in India.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

A two-and-half-year-old girl was kidnapped and murdered in Uttar Pradesh's Tappal. When the whole country was feeling disgusted at this horrific crime, one particular section on social media was busy trying to give the incident a communal colour.

This section started asking a pointless question: “Those raising their voice in the Kathua gang rape case – why are they silent in raising their voice against a Muslim rapist?”

Islamophobia on Facebook

I will explain why this is a pointless question. But first, let's try to understand how Muslims are being unfairly linked with crime on social media in India. How attempts are being made to create a kind of fear, hatred and prejudice against Islam, that is, Islamophobia.

According to a report by Equality Labs, if we look at issues of hate speech on Facebook in India, Islamophobia tops the list, at 37% of total hate speech.

Fake News

The situation is such that last year when the country was discussing rising fuel prices, one group on social media was still busy spreading Islamophobia. Sample this: sharing screenshots of a viral video one user wrote, “these are Rohingya Muslims. look at how they’re eating Hindus. And you Hindus are crying over petrol...”

Fact-checking website, BoomLive, later debunked this video against Rohingyas by using facts and arguments.

Tappal and Kathua

Now, let's come back to the Tappal case and the unwarranted question around it... Yes, the same question that those speaking up in the Kathua gang-rape case were not raising their voices against the Muslim rapist.

The first thing is that in the Tappal case, the post-mortem report of the girl didn’t show any signs of rape. Aligarh Police clarified this.

The second point is that in the Kathua case, a section of society and some politicians were openly supporting the accused. Whereas, in Tappal, no such thing happened. Nobody took out a rally for the accused in the Tappal case. From the prevailing law and order situation to the social situation in the country, people raised questions on a host of issues. However, those spreading Islamophobia were busy trying to communalise and cash in on the issue.

Watch the video for more.