If Junaid was killed for being Muslim, Amarnath yatris were targetted for being Hindu: Chetan Bhagat

A lot has been said about a tweet put out by author Chetan Bhagat where has drawn parallels between the attacks on the victims of the Amarnath Yatra and the attack on Junaid Khan, the 17-year-old boy who was lynched on board a Delhi-Mathura passenger train last month.

“When Junaid dies, media says he was killed for being Muslim. So why not say those killed in Amarnath Terror Attack were killed for being Hindu?” Bhagat tweeted. The tweet has since been retweeted over 10,000 times.

When Junaid dies,media says he was killed for being Muslim.So why not say those killed in #AmarnathTerrorAttack were killed for being Hindu?

— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) July 11, 2017

Bhagat’s tweet evoked several reactions, including from a friend going by the username @anirbanblah. “Chetan, as a friend I must ask you, do you think that this tweet helps our country and makes the world better in any way? Spread peace, brother,” he tweeted.

Chetan as a friend I must ask you, do you think that this tweet helps our country and makes the world better in any way?Spread peace brother

— Anirban Blah (@anirbanblah) July 11, 2017

Bhagat for his part responded that the media needs to be consistent in its reportage. “Happy to discuss. Am not blaming anyone. Just asking for consistency in treatment. And being factual.” (sic)

Happy to discuss. Am not blaming anyone. Just asking for consistency in treatment. And being factual.

— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) July 11, 2017

From there, however, the thread went from a debate on Hindu terror versus Muslim terror to an all out Twitter spat, which is always the case in Twitter threads, with one user even asking the author to acknowledge Hindu terror in order for the media to acknowledge the fact that people at Amarnath were killed because they were Hindus.