Facebook list threatening violence against Hindu-Muslim couples taken down
As communal tensions over Ankit Saxena's murder refuse to dissipate, a Facebook page furthering hate against inter-faith couples was taken down after social media uproar. Called Hindutva Varta, the page shared a list of 102 Muslim men who were allegedly involved with Hindu women. Providing links to the Facebook profiles of these men, it urged Hindus to "track and hunt the boys". Here's more.
The page aimed to incite communal violence
The list was compiled after scanning through users' FB relationship statuses. Calling them instances of love jihad, the page urged violence against Muslim men. In one post, it asked Hindu parents to teach their daughters to use guns to fight Muslim lovers. In another, it posted a video of man being beaten up and wrote: "If a cow gets killed, so will the slaughterer."
The hitlist has been previously shared on FB
However, no Hindu right-wing group has claimed authority of the page yet. Interestingly, this isn't the first time that the list has made it to FB. In November last year, a page called Justice for Hindus had shared it. But unlike Hindutva Varta, it used the list as a wake-up call, to highlight the prevalence of love jihad, and not incite violence.
Hadiya, Ankit Saxena: Cases of Hindu-Muslim hate that rocked India
This comes closely after Ankit Saxena's cold-blooded murder in west Delhi by his Muslim girlfriend's family. Several cases of Hindu-Muslim love and ensuing violence have colored India's public debate recently. Last month, a Hindu woman in Karnataka committed suicide after being harassed for her friendship with a Muslim man. In November 2017, Hadiya's became the first love jihad case to reach the Supreme Court.
