When it comes to disagreements, Indians really don’t know where to draw the line. Be it personal attacks or brutal internet trolling, we go all out to make a point, often negating what it can put individuals through. With the country currently divided between those who support the CAA-NRC-NPR and those who are out on the streets voicing against it, similar such problems came up. Some of the pro-CAA posts, however, went too far.
On Humiliating Students Fighting for Their Lives:
Cool, let’s pretend like we didn’t see a group of policemen beat up one lone man, like we didn’t see them chase him inside a building.
On Belittling the Shaheen Bagh Sit-In:
“If people were doing this for money, they would go to the party that has some, right?” Also, how is it okay to ridicule thousands of women without any proof, without any evidence? Does respect for fellow citizens mean nothing in the fight to make a certain narrative win?
Things, However, Hit the Roof When Posts Like These Became Straight-Up Communal:
Like a Twitter user pointed out, it isn’t just problematic that the official handle of our leading government’s party posted this blatantly communal post, it is also truly scary how normalised this has become in today’s political climate:
On Trying to Make a University Student Look Like a Liar, After She Was Brutally Beaten Up
If this isn’t sad, what is? Did not all of us see Aishe bleeding through a big cut on her forehead? Must we really stoop to this level to put a point across? Shefali Vaidya went on to delete her tweet after it was fact-checked and proven that the original images had been mirrored to look fake, but the posts continue to be used by CAA supporters, humiliating a student who has already suffered enough. And then it got worse:
To drag a problem as horrifying as domestic violence to build a joke around anti-CAA protestors isn’t just in poor taste, but completely insensitive. Thousands of women in India suffer because of domestic violence, and posts like these belittle their pain to the point of mocking it.
The point to make here isn’t that as people we aren’t allowed to have different opinions. But to forget all boundaries and negate human pain to push forward a narrative is entirely unacceptable. With all said and done, we must work to become a more progressive society, and disregarding the pain of others surely isn’t a prudent step to take. All Indians deserve to be treated with respect, whether you support CAA-NRC-NPR...or not.
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