India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 30— In a big move against the fast-growing menace of communal hate speech, the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students wing of the Congress party, has decided to deploy its cadres to monitor hate contents on media and social media and file FIR against the culprits.
“NSUI will collaborate and our volunteers across the country will file FIRs against hate speech propagators. @nsui will also create a handle which concerned citizens can tag to alert us about hate speech,” tweeted Ruchi Gupta, National in-charge of NSUI and joint secretary of Congress party.
She said that “NSUI will ensure that those who spread hate will be forced to fight legal battles around the country. We will also create a handle to allow people to alert us to instances of hate speech. Our handle to tag instances of hate speech is @FightAgnstHate and email add is [email protected].”
She also called upon people to volunteer the project for monitoring social media & news reports for hate speech, drafting complaint and then filing FIR.
Talking to India Tomorrow over phone, Ruchi said: “We are activating our cadres in states and districts. They will send inputs about hate speeches and a team of dedicated workers including lawyers at the headquarters in Delhi will go ahead with initiating legal action against hate mongers.”
Meanwhile, some concerned journalists and media outlets are also taking up initiative to check the menace of hate speech.
Journalist Saket Gokhale tweeted: “Call to action: I think it’s time we gave the legal battle against hate-speech a proper structure. Looking for volunteers from across India (literally every state, city, town, or village) to be a part of this. This will need no time – u just have to be on standby. I’ll draft the FIRs for you. All you need to do is go & submit them at your nearest police station wherever you are. I’ll need people that are reliable, have courage, & feel strong about ending hate speech & bringing culprits to legal justice.”
He also called upon people to volunteer the project.
“To be a part of this pan-India crusade against hate-speech, drop me an email on [email protected]. In ur email, mention: 1. Name 2. Twitter handle 3. Phone/WhatsApp no. 4. Name of state 5. Name of city/town/village 6. Name of nearest police station.”
“I’ll do all the work of drafting complaints happily. All you need to do is go & submit them to the police. The monster of hate speech can be defeated if we collectively & dedicatedly work on invoking the law. Time to say enough is enough,” he said.
Last week, esteemed news portal newslaundry.com started a series by the name of Bloodlust TV in the wake of the upcoming Ayodhya verdict.
“India’s news TV is out for blood. Primetime debates on TV channels are seeking to whip up a frenzy. By creating religious conflict disguised as political differences, by pitting one religious identity against another day in and day out, TV news channels are, in effect, gunning for a riot,” the portal said.
“We will call out programming that’s inciteful, and violates the News Broadcasting Standards Authority’s advisory for covering the lead-up to the Ayodhya verdict. Beyond the Ayodhya verdict, this series will keep documenting programming that goes against media ethics, thrives on inciting communal passions, targets minorities, and indulges in hate speech,” the portal said.
