Hello Mumbai City Desk :
Recently Controversial Mahant Shri Ramgiri Maharaj along with Former Mumbai Police Commissioner & BJP leader Dr. Satypal Singh addressed a press Conference and revealed some important facts about the Controversy.
Demand for strict action against fanatical traitors and anti-national power-hungry politicians.
A study conducted by Bhopal-based Social Media Research Centre has revealed that there was a global conspiracy to target Mahant Shri Ramgiri Maharaj in the name of Jihad and create chaos in India. Certain political parties and leaders, who are close to some fanatical elements and foreign powers, are said to have been involved in this, with the only motive — instability in the country.
In the month of August, a small clip from a videotape of Mahant Shri Ramgiri Maharaj’s discourse, of about one-and-a-half hours duration, was circulated on social media, without the reference to any part of it. The remarks in the edited video clip sparked wide outrage in several districts of Maharashtra including Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nashik, Mumbai, and Pune with several Islamist leaders and organisations filing FIRs against Mahant Shri Ramgiri Maharaj for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims.
The protesters took to streets shouting slogans, such as “Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek hi saja, Sar tan se juda,” (“Whoever dares to speak against Prophet Mohammed deserves to be cut by his throat.”) in many places. Fanatics came out on roads and pelted stones at various places, creating a riot-like situation in the state.
Changing or missing contexts of certain statements, spreading wild communal messages through social media, deliberately targeting any individual, and then the politicians with vested interests playing politics on such issues is anything but an indication of failed individual conscience.
Some demanded the arrest of Mahant Shri Ramgiri Maharaj, while others directly threatened to kill him. This created an atmosphere of terror.
Taking cognizance of the complaints of some fanatics, a case was also registered against Mahant Shri Ramgiri Maharaj. But, with a view to take a political advantage of the situation, Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadun Muslim (AIMIM) party’s Maharashtra leader Imtiaz Jaleel, Waris Pathan and some religious leaders notorious for making inflammatory and anti-national statements took out the Tiranga Rally from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Mumbai.
The Social Media Research Centre has studied the reactions expressed by people on social media regarding this Yatra.
Some of the commentators demanded action against Mahant Shri Ramgiri Maharaj, Shri Nitesh Rane failing which they even warned that Muslims will not support Congress if the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi does not take a stand in this regard.
The study revealed that ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handles used from various states of India, as well as from many countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, America, Palestine, Qatar were used to react regarding the Rally. Of the total responses, 67.3% of responses were found to have originated outside Maharashtra, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Bihar.
It has been observed in this study report that the hashtags #ArrestRamgiriMaharaj, #ArrestNiteshRane, #ArrestRamgiri, #AllEyesOnIndianMuslims, #Musalman, #Sikandar, #ISLAM, #OurProphetOurHonour, #MaharashtraPolitics were used while reacting to this issue. The report also states that original tweets accounted for only 0.76 per cent of the tweetsum circulated on the topic, while 99.23% of tweets were retweeted and most of them were from outside the state and country.
A large number of retweets by were from fake identities outside the
[11/6, 3:00 PM] Aleem Shaikh: state and India showing how anti-India forces were active in spreading hatred and chaos thereby fomenting disharmony.
Some photographs were also circulated through social media claiming that a huge number of people had joined the rally. Several fact-checking websites have already clarified that many of these tweets and posts were fake news. To strengthen these claims they used pictures of events such as a rally in East Timor, the World Cup-winning Indian cricket team’s victory in Mumbai, etc., which were in no way related to the Rally.
Apart from this, the name ‘Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’, painted on the milestones and direction boards and gantries along all the highways and roads in Maharashtra, were defaced with black spray paint, by the people who participated in this Tiranga Rally. Police have also registered a case in this regard.
A false narrative has been constantly created about Hindu sages and leaders. Often parts of discourses and talks are clipped, edited and played out of context to create a fake news and then videos, messages and posters are circulated on social media, thereby fanning the flames of disorder, chaos, riots.
We demand that such elements be controlled immediately, in wake of distressing incidents such as the Tiranga Rally. The Government should act against any false news and posts; tampering with any material to make it out as hate speech, and spreading misinformation on social media, thereby endangering the lives of people.
