Eerie silence prevails on WhatsApp groups
For a large portion of Hyderabad’s youth, Saturday marked the beginning of a normal, uneventful weekend. While crores of people across the country stayed glued to their TV sets and mobile phones to learn about the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya judgment, many seemed disconnected.
The youngsters felt they had little at stake.
Ahmed (name changed), 27, with roots in Godavarikhani and a resident of Kondapur, said, “I am neither happy nor unhappy with the verdict. I have become tired of hearing about Babri Masjid in family get-togethers. Ayodhya is thousands of kilometres away. Why should a temple or a mosque in Uttar Pradesh affect me here?”
He requested that his name not be reported. “I don’t want any trouble tomorrow,” he said nervously.
Many others said the Supreme Court’s verdict “needs to be respected”. Echoing anchors on news channels, they said the verdict was a “balanced”. None of them could describe exactly what the verdict was.
Praneeth, an IT employee travelling on a Metro Rail train, said his friend
WhatsApp groups were eerily silent in the city on Saturday; even the ubiquitous ‘good morning’ messages were missing. In light of the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, people did not want to risk forwarding something that might invite action.
On Friday, many WhatsApp users received messages that said group admins would face legal action if a member sent inflammatory messages. Some forms of this message were apparently from WhatsApp’s “admin team”.
These messages also said the group admin would be forced to share details of an erring member. Many group admins even changed the settings, allowing only themselves to send messages.
had briefed him about the verdict. “From what I hear, both Hindu and Muslim parties are satisfied with the SC judgment.
Their fears were vindicated when early in the day, Hyderabad City police tweeted a picture that asked citizens to not share morphed pictures or inflammatory material on any social media platform. It read: “Legal action will be initiated on admins of groups and pages of social media (sic).”
Telangana DGP M Mahender Reddy’s official Twitter account too shared a picture asking people to not share messages
It is definitely good thing,” he said.
His friend who was travelling with him nodded in agreement. Asked what
a if they were sure of the facts.
The silence prevailed until the afternoon. Eventually, people couldn’t stay silent started sharing their status on WhatsApp. Many of them hailed it. One of them read: “Thanks to SC [...] With blessings of Lord Rama, it brings cheers for millions and should be accepted by everyone and thus building harmony (sic)”. Similar to this one, most people tread lightly in their messages and status and kept their enthusiasm in check.
A WhatsApp video that made the rounds in some circles called the verdict a “dream come true”. One cartoon was shared by many showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi prostrating before a smiling god Ram. The Hindi text read: “Lord Ram has a Hanuman in every yug (era)”. not
he and his friend felt about the Sunni Wakf Board’s claim to the land being dismissed, Praneeth said, “I am not so sure about that. I am sure the judges are right.”
People like Praneeth and his friend were in the minority. Most youngsters who Deccan Chronicle spoke with were unaware of the verdict.
Lipika, an IT employee living in Kukatpally, wore a sheepish grin when asked about her views on the verdict. She apologised and said she actually didn’t “really read newspapers”.
Muslim youth, all whom wanted to anonymous, shrugged the verdict.
A resident of Tolichowki said, “The people of my community have not had a say in many things for several years. We weren’t expecting the verdict to be in favour of the Muslim parties. So today was not exactly disappointing.”
Another youngster, a 25year-old resident of Jubilee Hills, said, “Most of my friends do not know the significance of the Babri Masjid demolition. For them it is only something their parents talk about. They are not invested in the dispute.”
Insulated from political developments and unaware of social upheavals, the youngsters seem like they have moved on from a dispute they barely wanted a stake in.
ON FRIDAY, MANY WHATSAPP USERS HAD RECEIVED MESSAGES THAT WARNED GROUP ADMINS THAT THEY WOULD FACE LEGAL ACTION IF A MEMBER SENT INFLAMMATORY MESSAGES.
of be off