Discourses of change

Not a single day has passed in 2017, without people debating over various issues on social media. Attacks, insults, individual choices, opinions and slip of tongue kicked up controversies as netizens engaged in verbal duels, analysing the rights and wrongs of the hot topics. At times, the discussions went out of hand with people crossing limits of decency, but quite a few times, healthy and constructive criticism helped bring clarity to the situation.

Incidents like the Union government going ahead with Budget presentation when sitting Parliament member E. Ahamed passed away, the attack of an Uber driver by three women passengers, a sleaze audio clip released by a TV channel forcing a minister to quit, the death of engineering student Jishnu Pranoy after being harassed by college authorities followed by another incident where cops allegedly dragged his mother along the streets, the conversion and marriage of Hadiya, male and female medical students asked to sit in separate spots during a gender sensitisation seminar, a male medical officer holding an awareness class for women with a screen in between, college magazines banned for their ‘overpoliticised’ content and the expulsion of two school children over a congratulatory hug triggered widespread discussions on online platforms.

The two most-discussed topics last year were the religious conversion of 25-year-old medical student Hadiya and the expulsion of two teens from St Thomas Central School. As online warriors spit blood and venom fighting over the incidents, those directly involved in the issues moved the court and are awaiting proper legal solution.

The Hadiya conundrum

An adult woman, Hadiya choosing her religion and life partner and her heartbroken father moving the court seeking custody of his ‘brainwashed’ daughter became a hot discussion for months. When she got married to a man of her choice, the incident was suddenly termed a ‘love jihad’ case.

“Not just Kerala, all over the country, this was a widely discussed topic. Social media, particularly Facebook, played a great role in keeping the issue alive,” feels human rights activist and veteran journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar

“There were a lot of people offering solidarity and support to Hadiya; by and large, it was a positive response. But if you analyse the discussions, you can find that the supporters belong to two streams – one, those concerned about Hadiya’s human rights, and another, with a narrow religious perspective. There’s no doubt that Hadiya’s right to choose her religion and partner needs to be protected. But when another woman married a person from another religion, the reaction of the latter group of Hadiya supporters was not at all like this,” he says.
Though there were different views, the public discourse on social media played a vital role in garnering support for the woman. “I am sure that the court, which wasn’t consistent on the issue, was greatly influenced by social media discussions in fine tuning its position.

The Kerala High Court certified the marriage and Supreme Court virtually made it clear that the HC order was not sustainable. The marriage now stands dissolved according to the HC, and the matter is still subjudice. However, there has been a change in the attitude of judiciary, which I think, has something to do with the support she got through public medium,” he opines.

A hug that triggered a war

The recent incident of St Thomas School, Thiruvananthapuram, initiating ‘disciplinary action’ against a boy and a girl for hugging in full public glare had set off a bomb on online platforms. Though the teens maintained that it was a congratulatory hug after a music concert, the management found the ‘prolonged’ hug scandalous and indecent. They even reportedly humiliated the children by hacking into their Instagram account and producing their photos to portray them in a bad light. The news spread like wildfire and broke the Internet to such an extent that the school’s reputation was at stake. After numerous discussions and interventions, the school was forced to take back the students.

Bhaskar is glad that social media could play a constructive role in shaping the attitude of people who do not look at matters from a human rights perspective. He says, “A lot of people rallying behind the expelled boy forced the school management to soften their stance. I personally believe that them calling a meeting with the parents of the children and softening their stance is the result of the wide support from social media. People who came out openly against the expulsion included the alumni of the school and the Church. So they had no other option but to soften up.”