NEW DELHI, Sept 23:
The misuse of social media to spread objectionable content and hatred among communities today came under attack from Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and a number of Chief Ministers who demanded some mechanism to check its uncontrolled use.
Participating in the day-long National Integration Council meeting, being held against the backdrop of recent communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, they demanded an oversight mechanism to prevent and control the social media from running riot in such situations.
The meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, expressed serious concern over growing incidents of communal violence and the need for parties to stop exploiting them for political gains, especially with elections round the corner.
Union Ministers, Leaders of the Opposition in Parliament, Chief Ministers, leaders of national and regional political parties, eminent people from media, business and public life attended the meeting of the 148-member body.
Summing up their mood, the Prime Minister said the recent communal violence in some cases have brought to notice circulation of fake videos aimed at inciting the feeling of hatred in one community towards the other.
He said before this, in 2012, people have fanned hatred against the people of the Northeast which resulted in their mass exodus.
“Social media helps youngsters to get new information and new thought. It should be used in ensuring brotherhood and communal harmony.
“It is necessary to maintain independence of giving opinion and views by people in social media. But at the same time, it is also important that we donot let miscreants and troublemakers to misuse social media. I feel today’s meeting will look into the issue of misuse of social media and deliberate on it,” he said.
The Prime Minister asked parties to refrain from taking advantage out of communal strife and said States should crackdown on elements fanning such violence irrespective of their political affiliations or influence.
Underlining that the onus for preventing communal violence lies with the States, he said effective steps should be taken by the administration to ensure that small issues don’t snowball into a big controversy.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who had experienced the misuse of Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) in which an attack on two youth in Pakistan a couple of years ago was circulated during the Muzaffarnagar riots, lamented that there was no mechanism to check objectionable content being transmitted through social media.
“It is necessary that Internet and mobile service providers have the capacity to restrict transmission of SMS, MMS and emails through these mediums,” he said.
These companies should have a technology to trace origin of such objectionable contents. “If they do not have such capacity then they must develop them. I request Government to take immediate step in this regard,” Yadav said.
Similar apprehensions were voiced by Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana and North Eastern States. CPM leader Prakash Karat demanded changes in the Information Technology Act to act against those spreading inflammatory and communal propaganda in social media.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda asked the centre to take immediate steps to control social networking sites which are used for disturbing communal harmony.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said there was an urgent need for an oversight mechanism to prevent and control such media in critical situations.
Voicing concerns over social media inciting tension in society, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that development of electronic media and information and networking technologies has turned out to be a double-edged sword.
He said there was a need to curb the vested interest of the trouble mongers by more effectively regulating the use of social networking technology, radio, TV and other such means of communication.
In his speech, the Prime Minister said State Governments should lose no time to control communal violence sternly. The local administration should prevent a small issue from snowballing into a huge controversy and arrest those responsible for spreading it, he said.
“The State should use all means at its disposal to punish those guilty for fanning communal violence and ensure a speedy crackdown on such elements irrespective of their political affiliations or influence,” the Prime Minister said.
“I appeal to parties and media that they should refrain from giving any political colour or taking any political mileage from such incidents,” Singh said.
The Prime Minister said the meeting assumes significance as it was being held in the aftermath of communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar which claimed nearly 50 lives and damaged property worth lakhs of crores of rupees.
He said the country had witnessed communal clashes recently in Kishtwar area of Jammu and Kashmir, Nawada area of Bihar, Hyderabad and most importantly Uttar Pradesh which has seen an increase in these incidents in the past few months.
“At times, the anti-national forces succeed in creating a communal divide between various sections of people and such forces are a big challenge for the democracy of this country,” the Prime Minister said and called for effective handling of such forces with an iron hand.
Without naming BJP, Akhilesh Yadav accused some political parties of trying to raise communal tension over some incidents that resulted in the Muzaffarnagar violence.
He said the demolition of Babri Masjid some years ago was a black chapter in the country’s history and was meant to harm communal harmony.
“At present, it seems that some of the main political parties are trying to dangerously harm the communal harmony of the state in view of 2014 general elections. Efforts are on (by them) to polarise people of the state,” Yadav said.
Voicing concern over rise in incidents of communal violence, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said frequency of riots has suggested that there is a sinister motive behind such clashes and attempts are being made to polarise the society.
He said statistics on the communal violence show an increasing trend in the last two years and minor incidents tend to get escalated into major incidents of violence leading to displacement of affected communities.
“The frequency of incidents, especially in the last few months, seems to suggest that there is a sinister motive behind them. It is noticed that the communal forces seem to have got emboldened and are trying to polarise the society,” he said.
The Home Minister said only a small group of people was responsible for creating divisions in the society and it was the duty of all concerned to resist these forces.
Shinde said the country was proud of its legacy of tolerance and respect for each other and it is a nation of diverse cultures, languages and religions.
“Ours is the land where diverse religions have flourished together and the people have lives harmoniously. Inspite of this diversity, the invisible but all pervasive thread of being ‘Indian’ keep us united,” he said.
The Home Minister said it was the duty of everyone to keep this ‘torch of unity’ shining bright under all circumstances as the tradition of communal harmony, tolerance and mutual respect has always been the distinguishing features of the country’s civilisation and polity.
“This tradition continues even today. Indeed, democracy can prosper and flourish only with strict adherence to secularism,” he said.
On safety and security of women, an issue which is part of the agenda of the day-long meeting, Shinde said women not only constitute fifty per cent of country’s population and have an equal role to play in the development of this country, but they also remain the main foundation of an egalitarian and dignified society.
“No country can progress unless they treat their women with respect. Unfortunately, we continue to read about heinous crimes committed on our women. The statistics on crimes against women reveal an increasing trend in the last three years,” he said.
Shinde said the brutal rape and attack on a young girl in Delhi last year shocked the conscience of the nation and the government of India took a major initiative to amend the criminal law to make the punishment for such offences more stringent.
“The judiciary also took steps to fast track the prosecution of the criminals and the judgement in the matter was pronounced recently. We hope that this example will serve as a deterrent,” he said.
Shinde said there was a need to discuss what further action was required to be taken by the society so that the root cause of discrimination and denigration of women could be dealt with.
“We will also need to change the attitude of the society. As more and more opportunities are seized by the young women of this country for their economic and social development in our growing economy, we will have to ensure that this does not lead to friction in the society,” he said.
Referring to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the Home Minister said SCs and STs in India have been subjected to indignity, marginalisation and neglect through the ages.
“Inspite of affirmative action provided for in the Constitution, the SCs and the STs have still not been integrated fully into the society. On the other hand, they continue to be subjected to atrocities,” he said.
Shinde said in the last three years, there has been increasing trend in cases of atrocities committed against SCs and STs and there was an attitude of indifference in even prosecuting the cases that have been registered under the stringent Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“The disturbing fact is that the rate of conviction in these cases is very poor. Various pretexts are taken recourse to and justice denied. Unless those committing the atrocities are punished, there will be no deterrence for the people who perpetrate such crimes,” he said.
The hurdles that still act as barriers for SCs and STs to catch up with the rest of the society, live in a dignified manner and become equal partners in national development should be discussed, he added. (PTI)
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