Farmers Movement Archive

Communal spin to MLA assault on social media

JALANDHAR: The issue of thrashing and stripping of Abohar MLA Arun Narang in Malout may have been between farmers and BJP, with several local leaders and members of a farm union being named in the FIR, yet there appears a consistent attempt to give it a communal colour and make it a Sikhs versus Hindus issue. There have been hate messages against Sikhs on social media platforms after the incident, some even referring to the massacre of November 1984 and several branding farmers as terrorists and Khalistanis. Though farmers accused of assaulting Narang came from diverse communities and at least one prominent among them is a Brahmin, BKU (Sidhupur) block president Lakhanpal Sharma, yet nothing seems to be stopping a set of netizens from making it a Sikhs versus Hindus issue. “Make no mistake about it. The attack on BJP leader Arun Narang is another attack on Hindu minority in Punjab by Khalistan supremacists. Even before the so called ‘farmer protests’ emerged on the scene, Hindu leaders have been frequently targeted and assassinated in Punjab,” tweeted @BharadwajSpeaks, an influential handle followed by quite a few social media influencers. “It’s an attack on Hindus emanating from Khalistani supremacism. But most will go home laughing that’s it’s a BJP leader attacked, so funny,” tweeted Rahul Roushan from verified Twitter handle @rahulroushan, with thousands of retweets and likes. Replying to this @Hrishi83706699 tweeted, “RW Hindus should stop invoking 1984 riots as a mean to demean Congoons and showing solidaritywith sikhs as their own brethern. As a matter of fact Congress showed spine by dealing with Khalistanis in their own way when their main leader was assainated. Any party would do the same.” “#Khalistanis pretending as #Farmers. Seems like they have forgotten 1984,” tweeted ParulBhatnagar6. “Notaware of this pls share more details @FltLtAnoopverma @Gurdeep15087618 @AmitShahOffice @OfficeofJPNadda @capt_amarinder if this is true it shows how Khalistanis has (sic) taken over Punjab n u have lost it completely,” tweeted @Rajat_Hind, which is followed by BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Shazia Ilmi and BJP MP and Karnataka unit vice president Shobha Kranadlaje. “What Khalistani Sikhs did on #ArunNarang shows they are not human. As I was saying these Khalistani terrorists are not protesting against Bill but against existence of Hindus in the state. Terrorist (sic) are supported by Punjab Govt. Hindus of Punjab needs (sic) to stand up against Khalistanis,” tweeted @me_ganesh14. “These Khalistanis still have no shame for shameful act on Jan 26 or attacking anyone with different viewpoints. Instead they feel proud. Just like their fake or distorted history, they are fraud deskbhakht and religious bigot,” tweeted @avinashgoyal1984. “It’s attack on Hindus,” tweeted Ajit Asthana using twitter handle @shivtradingcoka. “BJP MLA stripped naked and attacked in Punjab by Khalistanis and still its not national news,” tweeted, Minty Sharma using twitter handle @MintOminty. In a widely shared video on Facebook a fellow identifying himself as Arvind Gautam of Shiv Sena (Hind) said, “Sikh terrorists are masquerading as farmers. Earlier, Hindus taught them a lesson and then they sat quiet. But now they are again raising their head… Punjabi Hindus are facing oppression and I request Hindus in the entire country to give them befitting reply. They did similar things in 1984 but when Hindus united they cried and settled down.” Reacting to the Hindu-Sikh binary being built on the issue and hate messages against Sikhs on social media, Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee senior vice-president Mukesh Chander Sharma, said, “Our farmers are opposing BJP only and not any community. There seems to be a deliberate attempt to vilify and target Sikhs to weaken the farm stir and there can also be political calculations behind it. The farm stir has rather showed united Punjab to the world and has brought different communities and castes even more closer.”In a widely shared video on Facebook a fellow identifying himself as Arvind Gautam of Shiv Sena (Hind) said, “Sikh terrorists are masquerading as farmers. Earlier, Hindus taught them a lesson and then they sat quiet. But now they are again raising their head… Punjabi Hindus are facing oppression and I request Hindus in the entire country to give them befitting reply. They did similar things in 1984 but when Hindus united they cried and settled down.” The Punjab BJP leaders have also been vouching for Hindu-Sikh unity and to protect it any cost. On Thursday, Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma said they would ensure and protect Hindu-Sikh unity in the state while general secretary Jiwan Gupta said that their party never defamed Sikhs or called farmers Khalistanis or terrorists.

The Times of India

2021-04-04

Ludhiana