It’s a bitter ethnocultural scrimmage fought in, and fostered through social media. Some recent social media posts, primarily targeting actor Rhea Chakraborty for the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and broadly alleging that Bengali women use ‘black magic’ to control men, have helped intensify a battle of cultures between that of West Bengal and the states of the Hindi heartland that had been brewing in Bengal since 2017.
The trigger was a tweet by Barkha Trehan, a woman who claims to be a men’s rights activist with 31,500 ‘followers’, including Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh-based Bengal in-charge. Though Vijayvargiya didn’t ‘share’ or ‘like’ this post, many BJP supporters did, as became evident from the profiles of over 900 users who shared it. Trehan, who hails from UP and is presumably a BJP supporter, wrote on July 31, “STAY SAFE MEN / BOYS. Bengali girls are dominating, they know how to make guys fall for them. They catch big fish, good-looking highly-paid guys. If you want to be her servant and financer and are okay to leave your family and join her family, then go ahead.”
The resultant furor soon turned into an exchange of abuse between members of different communities. While several users criticized the gross generalization of communities, barbs like ‘Bengali Communist men’, ‘commie girls’, ‘North Indian cows’, and ‘illiterate Sanghis’ were flung around freely in heated exchanges.
Esta historia es de la edición August 17, 2020 de Outlook.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición August 17, 2020 de Outlook.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Occupy Ivy League
Students protesting in American universities are asking the US government to rethink its policy towards Israel
Left Side Story
Personal attacks, lower voter turnout and the BJP’s determined campaigning: how has Kerala voted this time?
Across the Pir Panjals
The newly carved-out constituency of Anantnag-Rajouri is set to witness a very close contest
Gashes in the Red Sand
Residents of the tribal district of Gadchiroli resist development models that destroy the environment
When Taps and Hope Run Dry
Peaking water scarcity and pervasive groundwater contamination have increased migration from many districts of Rajasthan.
Pilgrim's Politics
Two-time MP from Varanasi, Narendra Modi, is sculpting the eternal city in his image
Under The Model Town
Muslim ghettos in Ahmedabad are dilapidated and neglected
The Master Strategist
The Assam chief minister enjoys popularity both as an administrator and a politician despite his relentless anti-Muslim rhetoric
Missing in the Margins
The Katkari community in Raigad district has been facing issues like cyclic migration, no rights over forest land, and a dearth of basic facilities. But these concerns don’t find mention in the high-pitched political debates
A Vote for Water
Parched farmers will decide who will win in the Mysuru and Mandya regions of Karnataka