COVID POLITICS

As always, clerics of Pakistan are busy misguiding people about everything including COVID vaccine. Some examples of their bizarre claims are  – ‘COVID vaccine will turn people into animals’, ‘COVID vaccine will lead to impotency’, ‘the pandemic was caused by immodesty of some women’, ‘a nano-chip has been embedded in the vaccine that will enter the body, enabling global surveillance of people through 5G towers’. If you have stopped laughing then hear what the winner had to say. One Maulana claims that the COVID vaccine will have a small chip that will control your ‘thinking and actions’. He claims that “it will take out the divine soul from the hearts of Muslims, the ‘God’s Gene’ ….and Islamiyat will finish”. While the hilarious side is one aspect, what is worrisome is the fact that these clerics have a strong following in Pakistan. In past, due to the intervention of clerics, the polio vaccine program in Pakistan had faced stiff resistance as it was alleged that it was part of a “conspiracy of Jews and Christians to make Muslims impotent and stunt their growth”. The situation of Tehreek-e-Labbaik bringing the Pakistan Government on its knees in recent protests against French ambassador stands out as a perfect example of how much power clerics yield in Pakistan.

The pandemic is similarly being used by inimical elements to spread misinformation in Kashmir.  It is being rumoured that COVID treatment is being ‘denied’ to people of Kashmir to facilitate ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘demographic change’ in Kashmir. The allegations came from the top leadership of Pakistan and some of its ‘motor-mouth’ politicians…and their stooges in Kashmir were quick to tow the line. The general reaction to such absurd allegations is ‘Kuch bhi?’ However, the rumour loving people and social media warriors have been working overtime to ensure spread of this false narrative. The rumour lost steam because it was plainly absurd and on top of it, the response of the administration against the pandemic was highly effective in the State. Farooq Bhat, a businessman from Kupwara says – “In Kashmir, every rumour is taken at face value….and a fresh one surfaces just before the previous one is about to die. These rumours are always based on some imagined ‘sinister plan’ of the Government to kill Kashmiris or marginalize them.”

Another hilarious rumour doing rounds is that since Kashmir was put under lockdown in 2019, God has spread the lockdown in the whole world as a punishment.  Then there are rumours of planned forcible conversion of Valley people and of alleged hate crimes against Kashmiris in other parts of the Country. One rumour on the social media claiming that lakhs of outsiders were being ‘brought’ into Kashmir to ‘change the demography’ was interestingly supported by a video of such an alleged ‘settlement’. It turned out that it was an existing colony of Pandits, that had came up some years back. While the rumour gained some traction, there was hardly any sympathy generated by cavaliers of social media on the plight of Pandits who are living in this manner in their own homeland. Interestingly, in popular ghost stories of Kashmir also, the recent being of a female ghost called ‘Rantas’, no ghosts of the massacred Pandits have ever been reported. So, the rumours are selected carefully.

While most rumours are malicious in intent and aimed at creating panic and disgruntlement against the Government, in many cases these are also aimed at defaming someone or to settle personal scores. Tariq Dar, resident of a small village in Bandipora was rumoured to be a terrorist supporter because of his personal enmity with some people in his village. Another person in the same village was rumoured to be a ‘mukhbir’, due to his higher financial status and the resultant envy of his foes. There is also a trend wherein, whenever a young boy goes missing; malicious rumours are spread of his having been ‘picked up’ by the security forces. By the time the boy returns home, the social media warriors are busy spreading more rumours and of course, there is no clarification given by these stalwarts on their previous allegations. They ride on the waves of emotions, fears, anger and other negative emotions. The surprising thing is that even many educated people believe in these rumours. Even if they don’t believe in rumours, they do nothing to bring out this fact. Perhaps peer pressure is so strong in the society that no one takes a chance to annoy others. This is not responsible behavior. Dispelling falsehood that can jeopardize societal harmony is an important responsibility of citizens. Rumours and propaganda can lead to radicalization, violence, communal clashes and law and order problems and fan the fires of terrorism. Hence even authorities are fully entitled and justified in taking action as per law against rumour mongers. The culprits cannot shield themselves behind the walls of freedom of speech to carry out illegal activities. Next time you see or hear a thing, veracity of which is not clear, think twice before forwarding it on social media or by word of mouth. Be responsible

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