Need to liberate Kasganj from social media

Believe me, it is not mandatory to have an opinion on everything. Especially those things on which everybody you know has an opinion to air (or tweet). The Kasganj incident was a distressingly unfortunate one, more so because it took place on a day when we were rejoicing the birth of our Republic. What started on the streets took a far more diabolical shape online – with Twitter and Facebook turning into battlegrounds far more dangerous and divisive than the incident itself.

That, precisely, is where the real problem lies. Hatred leads to bloodshed, a tweet about that spreads more hatred and more hatred leads to more bloodshed. With a smartphone in hand and 4G connectivity, we immediately become a part of Kasganj, diving right into the communal cauldron as participant, advocate, juror and judge - all rolled into one. And that’s millions of us.

Nobody defends on Twitter. Every attack is met only by counter-attacks. And ensconced in every attack and counter-attack is hearsay, which passes off as ‘News.’ After doing a few rounds up and down the ‘trending’ scale, ‘News’ metamorphoses into ‘Truth’ – a convenient ‘Truth’ that supports and substantiates the original ‘attack/counter-attack’. At this stage, enters the Dragon! Politics calmly adds fire to the fuel, warms its hands and starts counting votes.

So, from a tense neighbourhood in a district in western Uttar Pradesh to TV studios in Noida to Twitter handles boasting of millions of followers to political strategy sessions at Lutyens' Delhi – Kasganj travels far and wide on the shoulder of connectivity and cacophony. By the end of the day, the nation is left divided, distraught and in despair.

Hence this plea: It is not mandatory to have an opinion on Kasganj. Just wish for peace, rule of law and justice. For all.

(The author is Editor-in-Chief of DNA)