The threat of starvation threatens half the population Is America launching a starvation war against the Afghans?

From Bengal to Tripura, fake news gave communal color to big events of 2021

Be it the farmers' movement or the Tripura violence, in every incident there was a shadow of Muslim protest, how was the conspiracy hatched through fake news?

Farmers Movement (Farmers Protest) or West Bengal elections (West Bengal Election) , Israel-Palestine (Israel-Palestine) conflict or violence in Amravati, Fake News spreader with anti-Muslim narrative during all these false reports Failain.

Whatever the issue, the fake news spreader kept on spreading anti Muslim narrative by bringing Muslim angle. And kept trying to spoil the communal atmosphere. Let's take a look at the major news events of the year and their anti-Muslim or Islamophobic false claims. Also, know why this is done and what is the role of social media in this.

Fake news and Islamophobia related to Bengal elections

Many fake news spread in Bengal before the assembly elections held in March-April, during and after the elections. During this, The Quint investigated about 55 fake news related to Bengal. Of these, about 18 were fake claims that were shared from communal and Islamophobia angles. That is, about 33 percent of the claims were shared from the communal angle.

For example, by sharing a paper cutting, it was falsely claimed that Mamata Banerjee has said that she will make Hindus cry if she wins 42 seats . There was also a claim that Mamta Banerjee had gone to the mazar silently . According to the investigation, Mamta Banerjee never said anything like this and she sometimes went to the mazar silently. These fake claims were shared as a campaign to set an anti-Muslim narrative.

Anti-Muslim Violence and Fake News in Tripura

After some reports of attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh in the month of October, there were many reports related to violence in Tripura. These violence were related to damage to the properties of Muslim minorities including their homes and mosques. On the one hand, there were real incidents of anti-Muslim violence in Tripura. On the other hand, an attempt was made to exaggerate these incidents through fake news.

Although incidents related to violence took place in Tripura, old videos or photos or videos from elsewhere were shared to exaggerate the matter. Sometimes the fire in the camp of Rohingyas in Delhi was told of Tripura violence and sometimes the media was targeted by linking the old BBC video report on Delhi riots to Tripura violence.

There can be two motives behind this, the first is to present anti-Muslim violence as an achievement by exaggerating it. Second, through fake news in the virtual world, setting the narrative that the atmosphere in the society is not congenial.

The Quint also published a report on how after the Durga Pandal attacks in Bangladesh, attempts were made to disturb communal harmony in Tripura. After that some unfortunate incidents happened in Amravati, Maharashtra based on the rumors related to Tripura. That is, the effect of the incident in one place was also seen at another place.

Fake news related to Ayodhya and Ram temple

At the beginning of the year 2021, a newspaper cutting went viral on social media . In the cutting, it was written after quoting Amit Shah that Amit Shah has said that Ram temple will never be built. Apart from this, in the second headline, it was written quoting PM Modi that to win the trust of Hindus, Muslims farmers were killed. However, this claim turned out to be false in the investigation. No such news paper was published.

Apart from this, photos and videos of other places were shared in most of the fake news . A video showing the gathering of the crowd was shared saying that now the Hindu has woken up and has left for Ayodhya, so that the country can be made a Hindu Rashtra . Although all these reports did not contain false points related to violence or violence against minorities, but the spirit of these reports seemed to revolve around Islamophobia somewhere.

Because, some people tried to spread a concept in the country by setting a narrative related to making a Hindu nation.

Afghanistan:

In August 2021, the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced its government to retreat. In the meantime, fake news related to Afghanistan started spreading. Out of all the news related to Afghanistan that The Quint investigated, many were such, which were shared and targeted at Muslims living in India.

Through these claims, an attempt was also made to indirectly say that those who do not like India should go to Afghanistan . An old video of people being killed by ISIS was shared with the claim that people who are not Muslims are being killed in Afghanistan, linking them to the recent situation . Similarly, an old video from Colombia was shared with the false claim that the Taliban are killing Christians. Apart from this, more news was shared in which Islamophobia narrative can be seen.

Israel-Palestine:

The dispute between Israel and Palestine began when the Israeli police wounded about 300 Palestinians with rubber bullets. Although the matter was of a Jewish and Muslim country, but in our country, many fake news were shared with anti-Muslim narrative on this too. For example, a 2008 video of US military firing at a mosque in Iraq was shared with the false claim that Israelis blown up a mosque in Palestine, upset by the sound of the mosque's cries.

A video of a rally organized in support of Palestine in Qatar in Doha was shared as Kerala and this time also it was falsely claimed with anti-Muslim narrative that these people supporting Palestine are from Kerala . Muslims were also targeted by sharing an edited photo of Benjamin Netanyahu and Mark Zuckerberg together .

Of course, the matter was between those countries, but some fake news peddlers were seen supporting Israel through their false claims . Such a photo was also shared through Fake News without any context that the Palestinians are playing the victim card .

Fake news related to Bangladesh and India Connection:

Bangladesh also topped this year in false news. Many fake news related to Bangladesh were related to Rohingya Muslims . But, here the trend got a little different. Which linked Bangladesh fake photos and videos from Communal angle stock made, most of them were of Bangladesh but Shared tell India, adding Bengal state in India .

Many videos from Bangladesh were shared with the claim that Muslims in Bengal are atrocities on Hindus .

Peasant Movement:

This year the farmers' movement and 3 agricultural laws were one of the most talked about issues in the country. Where farmers were agitating against the government to withdraw three controversial laws. At the same time, fake news peddlers were also making a flurry of false claims related to this movement.

Among the various types of fake claims, false claims made from the communal angle were also a part of this event. Be it a 4 year old photo of a man offering Namaz wearing a turban or an incomplete video of the slogan of Allahu Akbar from the stage of Kisan Mahapanchayat . Be it the incomplete video related to Ajan in Priyanka Gandhi's farmers rally or the photo of a 4-year-old Christian cleric , all these claims were made from the communal angle and linked to the farmers' movement.

Fake communal news related to different parts of the country:

Mirzapur Vindhyachal temple interconnect dispute injured priest in the old photographs , vandalize temples in Andhra Pradesh youth video , police in Rajasthan and connected to a clash between locals video , the beating of a Brahmin, including Muslims false Video being shared with claim . All these were shared with claims that tried to set an anti-Muslim narrative.

Now let's try to understand what was in the fake news related to almost every major news event in the country and the world, which makes them similar to each other.

If you look at the different issues mentioned above, then one thing is common in all. That is an attempt to disturb communal harmony.

Be it the issue, false claims shared from communal angle, Target was made to only one community i.e. Muslims, Some people tried to set a narrative about Muslims that they are either violent or they are a threat to Hindus.

The assessment suggests that fake news spreaders make false communal claims about a place or issue, whether it is a claim related to that place or not.

Not only in India, there is talk about Islamophobia all over the world. But, what is this Islamophobia? Islamophobia is a combination of two words, Islam and Phobia. Which in Hindi means fear of Islam. It is exaggerated so as to spread hatred towards Islam.

Why are such false communal claims shared?

The motive behind sharing such false communal claims is to try to inculcate ideas against Muslims in the minds of people. Let us take as an example a Pakistani video being shared recently . In the video, a woman can be seen being beaten up. However, the matter was not communal. Still, it was claimed that Hindus are being treated in such a way that an anti-Muslim mentality can be developed.

For this, we can see the fake news being shared in the background of Afghanistan, in which it was said that those who feel bad in India should go to Afghanistan. In this false claim also an attempt can be seen to create an atmosphere against Muslims.

The Globe Post has written about this in its report headline 'Fake news in India increases communal polarization' , saying that 'Muslims are easy prey' for fake news spreaders.

What is the role of social media?

According to the report of the NPR website , according to the leaked documents found by the AP, Facebook has been insisting that it monitors the misinformation spreading in India, but despite that critics believe that the company has failed to do so. According to the report, many such videos and misleading posts were shared which were removed after going viral.

According to leaked documents, Facebook has been selective in removing misleading anti-Muslim content.

At the same time, The Globe Post report quoted Pankaj Jain, founder of fact-checking website SM Hoax Slayer, as saying that lies spread through platforms like WhatsApp have also led to violence many times.

Alt News founder Prateek Sinha was quoted as saying that the primary agenda of those spreading fake news is to malign the image of Muslims. You can read more such news here and here .

According to the report of The Wire , Frances Haugen had claimed that Facebook is aware that their services are used to spread hatred in India. But, due to political sensitivity, does not pay attention to it.

The motive behind this report by The Quint is not only to tell how attempts are being made to set an anti Muslim narrative in India, but also to tell that do not blindly believe any such claim or news, Due to which an atmosphere of hatred was created in the society.

Why are Maldives and Lakshadweep so important to India?

Maldives is about 700 km from the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India and 1200 km from the mainland of India.

At the same time, Lakshadweep is 496 km away from the mainland of India. Lakshadweep is a group of 36 small islands whereas Maldives is a group of more than a thousand islands.

In Lakshadweep, many controversies have come to the fore since Praful Patel was made the administrator, while in Maldives the India Out campaign is in full swing due to the former President Abdulla Yameen.

In December 2020, Patel was given the responsibility of administration of Lakshadweep. Since then, many such decisions have been taken, about which there has been a lot of controversy. Patel has banned beef and beef.

Last week, the weekly holiday on December 17 in Lakshadweep was changed from Friday to Sunday. For decades in Lakshadweep, Friday was a holiday for Friday prayers. According to the 2011 census, 96% of the population here is Muslims.

Nationalist Congress Party MP from Lakshadweep Mohammad Faizal PP has opposed this decision and called it one-sided.

Maldives will have to hand over the island to China under compulsion?

Lakshadweep dispute: Beef ban, on the serious allegation of spreading fear, the administrator said, everything is according to the rules

Maldives

He has said that Praful Patel is taking unilateral decisions without consulting the elected representative. Now the school timings here have also been changed from 10 to 5 pm in the day.

Both Lakshadweep and Maldives are considered very important for India's security. If India's presence in Maldives weakens, then China will come very close and if there is any security lapse in Lakshadweep, then the possibility of infiltration of extremists will deepen.

It is said that the strategic sensitivity of Lakshadweep can be understood from the terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26 November 2008. Lakshadweep is also considered very important in terms of the security of the coasts of Kerala. Keeping in view the sensitivity of Lakshadweep, the ICG post has been activated. Apart from this, INS Dweereakshak Naval Base has also been built.

India's protest in Maldives

It is being said that the government in Maldives is following the policy of 'India First' and the opposition there is running 'India Out' campaign. The anti-India campaign intensified when the Supreme Court of Maldives released former President Abdulla Yameen on 30 November.

India is watching the entire development but there is no solution in sight as to how to stop the anti-India campaign inside Maldives. Maldives is strategically very important for India in the Indian Ocean, but China's presence there is also very strong.

By the time Abdula Yameen was in jail, the anti-India 'India Out' campaign was under control, but the campaign got new energy when the Supreme Court acquitted him of all charges.

As long as Abdullah Yameen was president, he was accused of working for Chinese interests. Yameen had also imprisoned the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during his tenure. Yameen is said to have promoted Sunni bigotry in the Maldives.

In 2018, when Abdullah Yameen lost to Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, it was seen as a relief for India. Till the time Yameen was in jail, the India Out campaign was limited to social media but now people are taking to the streets too.

Ibrahim Solih, who runs the India Out campaign, accuses India of being pro-India.

The India Out campaign is also being opposed within the Maldives. Other political parties of Maldives say that Yameen is spreading hatred in Maldives about India. It is being said that Yameen is running an anti-India campaign to return to power.

Regarding Yameen's 'India Out' campaign, the government there had issued a statement on 19 December and said that small groups and some leaders are trying to spread hatred against India on the basis of lies.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, it was described as worrying. Almost all the parties involved in Ibrahim Solih's coalition government have rejected Yameen's India 'out campaign'.

In 2008, Maldives adopted a multi-party democratic system. But in 2016 and 17, the then President of Maldives Abdulla Yameen enacted many such laws which had shocked the fundamental rights and autonomy of institutions.

Prime Minister Modi had canceled his proposed visit to Maldives during Yameen's tenure. In 2016, Abdullah Yameen reached India on a two-day tour on 10 and 11 April.

During this visit, India signed a security agreement with Maldives. Then Abdullah tried to assure India that 'India First' would be prominent in his foreign policy.

Indian company kicked out

But India's relationship with Maldives had deteriorated even before Abdullah Yameen. In 2012, Mohd Waheed canceled the deal with Indian company GMR to develop Male International Airport at a cost of $511 million.

He also alleged that India was interfering in the internal affairs of Maldives. This is when Manmohan Singh gave recognition to Mohammad Waheed's government.

The most worrying thing for India was that it was announced by the Pakistani army that Pakistani warships would look after the Exclusive Economic Zone of Maldives.

On 25 October 2016, the Singapore Arbitration Tribunal had decided to pay the Indian company GMR about $250 million in compensation to the Maldivian government.

This decision was in the matter of canceling the agreement with GMR regarding the Male airport. After canceling the deal with the Indian company, Maldives gave it to the Chinese company Beijing Urban Construction Group. In 2016, Maldives gave a 50-year lease of an island to a Chinese company for just $4 million.

When Maldives became independent in 1965, India was one of the countries that recognized it immediately. India had good relations with President Abdul Gayoom, who was in power from 1978 to 2008.

In 1988, India stopped the coup by military intervention. India has also been at the forefront of countries helping Maldives in natural disasters. When democracy came to the Maldives in 2008, India supported Gayoom's successor Mohamed Nasheed.

India's help

In September last year, India had given financial assistance of $ 250 million to the Maldives to deal with the impact on the economy due to the Kovid-19 epidemic. Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help to deal with the economic crisis caused by Corona.

Thanking India for the assistance, President Solih wrote on Twitter, "Whenever Maldives needs a friend's help, India comes to the fore. Heartfelt condolences to PM Modi, the government and the people of India." Thank you, he has shown the spirit and generosity of being a neighbor by helping $250 million today."

One-third of Maldives' revenue comes from tourism. Therefore, due to covid-19, there has been a very bad effect on the economy there. It is estimated that if the epidemic has caused a loss of $ 700 million, then a third of it is due to tourism.

The threat of starvation threatens half the population Is America launching a starvation war against the Afghans?

Half of the Afghan people are facing the threat of starvation with the country's economy collapsing after the American withdrawal from it, 

Hunger threatens the lives of millions of Afghans with the middle of the harsh winter in most regions of the country, and the tragedy that several reports have warned of has materialized.

Children remain the ones who pay the biggest price for what is happening, as one million Afghan children under the age of five will need treatment for “acute malnutrition” that threatens their lives, while another 3.3 million will suffer from “severe malnutrition,” according to UNICEF statistics.

The responsibility falls on the shoulders of an economic crisis that the country is experiencing as a result of natural factors and the consequences of war that are still exhausting the new government, and US sanctions as a tool for a war of starvation being waged against the Afghans.

Afghanistan the hell of hunger

More than 22 million Afghans, equivalent to half of the country's population, are at risk of starvation, according to a previous report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which considered the figure a record.

David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Program, raised the alarm about the situation, saying, “Afghanistan is currently one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, if not the worst, with food security on the verge of collapsing. During this winter, millions of Afghans will be forced to choose between emigration and starvation. starvation unless we can increase our life-saving aid and the economy cannot recover.”

And according to the organization "Save the Children" British charity, it is until the end of November last, not 98% of Afghans are finding enough food, and half of them are likely to face famine. The organization also notes that 14 million Afghan children are facing potentially life-threatening levels of hunger this winter.

While the liquidity crisis that the country is going through has caused its employees not to receive their salaries for three months, with the spread of poverty among the people, and their inability to provide the basic materials for life such as food and heating equipment. On the other hand, the prices of these materials witnessed an increase of 63%, marking the infernal reality experienced by civilians there.

The matter reached the point of some families selling their children in exchange for food, as a previous report of the newspaper "The Independent" quoted a mother who justified what she had done, saying: "Our pocket is empty, so how can I take care of the two children? I lived through suffering because I had to separate one from the other, and the decision was It is very difficult, more than you can imagine, it is difficult to abandon a child because of poverty.”

Women are the hardest hit by this situation, as the economic crisis adds to the Taliban's ban on women from practicing most paid jobs, killing families in which women were the main breadwinners. Even in areas where women are still allowed to work, women may not be able to comply with the Taliban's special requirements as having a male family member accompany them to and from work.

American Hunger War

Afghanistan is going through the leanest year of the last decade, as drought has hit agricultural areas and seasonal floods have destroyed crops in other areas. This coincides with the war that the country has not yet recovered from its consequences, and the economic crisis caused by international sanctions on the country.

Since the American withdrawal and the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban, Western efforts have worked to isolate the new government economically, and a series of sanctions targeting even the private sector in the country have been applied to it.

The military invasion of Kabul and the overthrow of its government was one of the red lines of the American administration during the Doha negotiations, which, when it crossed, launched an international campaign to isolate the Taliban government for possible violations of women's rights.

“ Afghanistan’s economy and social services are collapsing, ” said John Sifton , Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Humanitarian aid is critical, but given the crisis, governments, the United Nations, international organizations, and financial institutions urgently need to amend the current restrictions and sanctions affecting the economy and banking sector in Afghanistan. country".

While the main responsibility lies with the United States to act to put an end to the tragedy, according to observers, Washington remains a major donor to Afghanistan, and maintains the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, which imposes the most severe sanctions, and can influence international financial institutions that have abandoned Afghanistan.