Twitter should stop gagging the voices of persecuted Hindus.
Hypocrisy and double standards used by Twitter to gag the voices of persecuted Hindus at the hands of right-wing Islamists raise serious concerns.
Aarti Tikoo is a native of Kashmir, a journalist, and founder and editor of “The new India”. Some of her family members live in Kashmir and one of them received death threats from right-wing Islamists on Twitter space. Aarti used her account to raise the issue and bring it to the attention of law enforcement. Guess what Twitter did. It blocked the account of Aarti while doing nothing to block the accounts of right-wing Islamists who were issuing death threats. It is noteworthy to know that the majority of half-million Sikhs and Hindus had to flee Kashmir in January 1990 when years of targeted killings were followed by open threats of Convert to Islam, leave or die. There are very few Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs left in Kashmir. Twitter refused to unlock her account despite an online appeal by human rights activists. She had to file a court case in Delhi high court to get her account restored. She could win, but a common man doesn’t have the time, resources, and energy to fight this oppression of twitter.
October 2021 saw massive anti-Hindu violence at the hands of right-wing Islamists all over Bangladesh. A right-wing Islamist placed the Holy book in a Hindu temple, took videos, and made allegations of blasphemy on Facebook. These were fabricated charges aimed to find an excuse to persecute Hindus. Many temples were destroyed, a few people killed, many houses burnt, and hundreds of people were pushed into deeper poverty by the loss of homes. Two devotees of the ISKCON temple were killed when the temple was attacked by a large mob. One Twitter account of ISKCON was blocked for tweeting about the violence. Sadhguru, a world-famous yoga, and meditation guru criticized the twitter for protecting the perpetrators and punishing the victims. The minority population (Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Chakma tribal) have faced multiple episodes of violence and the Hindu population has declined from 28 to 9% in the last few decades. Such censorship of the voice of Hindu victims is a severe violation of human rights. There is minimal media coverage of violence and hatred against Hindus in Bangladesh. Atrocities, discrimination, and forced conversion are common occurrences, but rarely reported and sporadic coverage by international media happens only when there are episodes of large-scale violence.
How many articles in western media have discussed the issue of the drastic decline of the Hindu population in Bangladesh? Why is news about atrocities on Hindus suppressed?
Another Twitter account of a joint society of Hindus (Bangladesh Hindu Unity Council) was blocked by Twitter for raising voices against violence. You should read about the human rights violation in Bangladesh in the statement from the International Commission for Human rights and religious freedom (ICHRRF) and other resources.
Twitter didn’t block the Twitter account of senior Taliban leaders who glorified the destruction of the Statue of Hindu God Shiva in the revered Somnath temple by Afghan fighter Ghaznavi. This temple is one of the most visited temples in India and was destroyed multiple times by Afghan invaders. Most people would take that as hate speech and condemn it vehemently. However, acts of violence and hate speeches against Hindus don’t receive widespread condemnation. Ghaznavi was an invader from Afghanistan to India who destroyed multiple temples, killed many, and indulged in forced conversion.
There are multiple other examples where Twitter would block the account of people who raise concerns about human rights violations of Hindus and hate speech against Hindus. Hindus are a global minority and minority in 7 states even in India. They need equality, protection, and support. Twitter should not discriminate against Hindu victims and mustn’t equate criticism of right-wing Islamist violence with Islamophobia. Is twitter under the control of Islamists?
References:
https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-official-report-on-bangladesh-attacks/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58999047
https://www.opindia.com/2021/10/bangladesh-iskcon-twitter-account-removed/
https://www.ichrrf.org/home/publications-media/pr_10-15-2021
