Sunday, August 26, 2012

INDIA GOVT’S REPORTED MOVE TO BAN TWITTER


I had written about the authoritarian streak prevailing among the rulers of our nation especially about one individual Ms. Mamata Banerji, Chief Minister of West Bengal. But there are more leaders even at the Central level as well as State level moving more or less on the same lines not only in India but there are such leaders in other nations also.
Recently a riot broke out in Assam between Bodo tribals and Muslims which claimed lives of certain innocents. When the riot entered a critical juncture, Assam government led by Congress leader Tarun Gogoi rose to the occasion and requisitioned the intervention of army from Central govt to end the chain of violence which broke out in certain districts mainly Kokrajhar, Chirang, Dhubri and Bongaigon. With the Central govt delaying the sending of army, the riots spread like wild-fire affecting lakhs who fled from their districts and set up refugee camps elsewhere and spent those crucial days in these camps. There were about 400000 refugees huddled in those camps, undergoing hardships and sufferings. Tarun Gogoi reportedly got angry over the Centre keeping a low profile in the beginning even after he got in touch with the concerned Ministries at the Centre, mainly Defence and Home Ministries. Only when the situation went beyond control the army was dispatched by the Centre to quell the violence and bring the situation under control. The Assam police and Army men jointly moved against the anti-social elements who tried to cash in on the riots between the inhabitants of Bodos and Muslims who were accused of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh who had settled there by sneaking into India thru the porous borders which separate both countries since the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Exaggerated versions of the violence were allegedly posted in many social networking sites based in Pakistan which caused a flutter among the Muslims elsewhere in the country.
Soon after Assam situation was brought under control and returned to normality, one or two Muslim organizations of Mumbai got angered and went on the rampage and wreaked maximum destruction of properties, buses and cars burnt, OB vans set ablaze, attacked even policemen injuring many of them grievously, transport services brought to an abrupt halt resulting in thousands of commuters getting stranded at various places as there were no transportation facilities left to take them homes. Two Muslim youths were also killed in the melee. In short Mumbai, especially South Mumbai came to a standstill for hours. With the situation reaching a flash point the law and order machinery went on a full swing under the then Police Commissioner (now Managing Director of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation) Arup Patnaik and gradually brought the situation under control. It was alleged that though the Intelligence Agencies had passed on a warning about the possibility and probability of a communal uprising in the city, Police didn’t take it seriously and if the police were prepared to counter the violence in time to prevent any untoward incidents such a calamity would not have been happened.
Later it was learned that social networking sites based in Pakistan by posting morphed images and exaggerated reports of violence which spread in Assam with the ulterior motives of creating communal tension and violence across India played the role of a catalyst which brought about the violence in Mumbai. Raza Academy, an organization formed for propagating Islamic tenets and culture along with the two other Muslim organizations were allegedly behind the violence in Mumbai though they denied the charges later. Central govt which was keeping a close watch on these sites propagating lies after lies banned these websites in India, there were almost 250 of them.

Later govt reportedly went on pondering about banning international micro-blogging social networking site Twitter, which has its network in India. The reported move of the govt made countless numbers of netizens angry who argued that mere banning of a popular social networking site would not solve the problem. Instead of banning Twitter in India and for that matter any other popular websites the problem won’t serve the purpose. Instead govt must come to the fore to expand its foot print in cyberspace and whenever somebody post misleading information the concerned authority consisting of cyber-experts must present the truths with all evidences at its disposal through the same website. Those who are against the banning argue that whether the banning of a social networking site will help rooting out the violence or riots, be it ethnic, communal or any such types from our country while mobile phones and other social media like newspapers are prevalent and popular in modern times. Going by the govt’s logic they are also liable for banning. According to them India still has not come of age in cyberspace compared to America where news related to Presidential elections and the winnability of a candidate and progress of election campaigns can be posted in social networking sites well in advance. The govt banning websites which propagate lies, like the websites based in Pakistan which try to fish in troubled waters is understandable , the banning of international social networking sites like Twitter smacks of curbing freedom of speech and expression. In a country like India, such steps will certainly result in tarnishing its image as a democratic country.



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