"Look at Kerala" call by BJP backfires as Karnataka rejects propaganda, says Kerala social media
Bengaluru: The recent election results in Karnataka have sparked a wave of celebration in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promoted the film ‘The Kerala Story’ during the campaign, which is based on the ‘love jihad’ conspiracy theory and was criticized for being anti-Muslim and political propaganda by opposition parties. The BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, had warned the people of Karnataka to “look at Kerala” and suggested that if they did not vote for the BJP, their state would become like Kerala.
However, the election results in Karnataka showed that the people rejected this propaganda and looked for real issues. Congress emerged as the winner, which is being celebrated in Kerala as a victory over the BJP's hate campaign against the state. Kerala's social media is awash with trolls referring to the call by the BJP leaders to the voters of Karnataka to look at Kerala.
A report authored by KK Shahina for the Outlook sheds light upon how people in Kerala have been expressing their emotions over the development and how the Congress victory in Karnataka has become a subject of rejoicing in its neighboring state.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan commented on the victory of Congress, saying that "The entire South is liberated from BJP. This gives a clear indication of the future of the country. The Prime Minister camped for around 10 days for the campaign, yet the people of Karnataka rejected the hate campaign and gave a fitting reply."
The social media responses in Kerala suggest that an aggressive form of nationalism would cause the emergence of sub-nationalism as a form of resistance. The posts in Malayalam referring to the Dravidian identity of the South and the legacy of Basaveswara, the 12th-century Lingayat social reformer, and philosopher, gained wide popularity in the Facebook constituency of Kerala. A poster of ‘South India Story’ with the pictures of the Chief Minister of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana along with Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar went viral on social media.
Senior political leaders also joined the celebration on social media. Dr. Thomas Issac, CPI-M leader, and former Finance Minister, wrote on Facebook that the Karnataka results are a tight slap on the face of the BJP that spewed venom to win an election. He wrote, “In the last moment, they even tried their luck with a third-rate propaganda film ‘The Kerala Story’. The Home Minister Amit Shah took up the lead with a hate campaign against Kerala. Nothing worked in favor of them.”
Some other messages going around in Kerala’s social media circles are:
“Modi and Amit Shah reached Karnataka and asked the people to look at Kerala. They did and found no BJP there.”
“Amit Shah warned the people of Karnataka that Kerala is their neighboring State. If they don’t vote for BJP, Karnataka will become like Kerala. The people of Karnataka decided to be like Kerala.”
The social media responses in Kerala suggest that the mood set in these posts does not cater just to the cultural identity of Kerala but that of South India as a whole. The posts in Malayalam referring to the Dravidian identity of the South and the legacy of Basaveswara gained wide popularity in the Facebook constituency of Kerala. The victory of the Congress in Karnataka has been widely celebrated in Kerala as a moment of victory over the BJP's hate campaign against the state.
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Ex-Army officer assaulted, robbed at gunpoint by woman he met through matrimonial website
Mathura(UP), Apr 5 (PTI): A retired Army colonel from Haryana has filed a police complaint here, alleging that he was held hostage, assaulted, looted and forced to participate in an "obscene video" at gunpoint with a woman he met through a matrimonial website, police said on Saturday.
The woman from Mathura, who was allegedly in on the plan to rob him, was working with other accomplices, the ex-armyman said in his complaint filed on Thursday.
According to Barsana Station House Officer (SHO) Raj Kamal Singh, Colonel Rajneesh Soni (retired), a resident of Gurugram, reported that he was contacted by a woman from Barsana on a matrimonial website in January. The woman allegedly agreed to marry him, and they began communicating.
The woman allegedly persuaded the colonel to visit Barsana on January 25, requesting that he visit the Radharani temple. When he arrived, she arranged for his stay at a guest house and took him on a tour of the area, including a visit to the temple, the complainant said.
After returning to the guest house, the woman and her accomplices allegedly told the colonel that her brother had been involved in an accident and they needed to leave immediately. They then led him to a waiting car.
"Once outside the town limits, the colonel alleges that he was attacked by the occupants of the car. They seized his phone, physically assaulted him, and forced him to contact relatives and friends to transfer money," the SHO said.
"He was then taken back to the guest house, where he was allegedly forced to participate in obscene videos and photographs at gunpoint. He was threatened that the videos would be made public if he reported the incident," the officer said.
The colonel has alleged that his purse, bag, gold chain, debit card and Rs. 12,000 in cash were stolen from the guest house.
After an unsuccessful attempt at locating the perpetrators himself, the colonel finally reported the incident to the Barsana police two days ago, he said.
"A case has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS and all facts are being investigated. Further action will be taken as per facts found in the investigation," the SHO said.
