Rumour Rules
The Bakrid holiday was on the 6th of October, but the text from the Commissioner of Police, Pune, reached me on the 7th. ‘An imaginary & malicious SMS about cow slaughtering at Pimpri is in circulation to disturb peace & tranquility of the city. Don’t believe/Don’t forward – CP Pune’ it said.
This morning it was gratifying to see
Ok, so this time the culprits have been booked and may actually face some sort of punishment. But so many cases of murder, arson, rioting, destruction of public property and systematic displacement of entire communities have happened around us in the recent past, that it should make us pause and wonder – as we delight in an Indian winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, should we also be considering an award where we Indians will be the undoubted winners – an award for Hysteria and all it brings forth? All too often, rumours produce the ugliest of reactions on the street, with hapless victims having absolutely no idea of what provoked the violence against them and how they could have prevented it.
It is so ironical that while rumours and the communal rage or hysteria they produce bring us face to face with the most primitive of our instincts – the animal fear that provokes us to attack an imagined enemy, the means by which these primitive emotions are being evoked are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. Social media and Whatsapp messenger are the preferred vehicles for rumour-mongering in these times of smart phones and tablets.
If it takes only a few Facebook posts or Whatsapp messages to bring hordes baying for the blood of their fellow citizens on the streets, is it a reason to rejoice about the communication revolution and increased connectivity in India? Or should we spare ourselves the celebration and begin considering ways to stem the hysteria?
The coming days seem sure to bring us, in every neighbourhood, choices to decide whether we will let rumour and rumour-mongers rule us, or craft a collective counter to hysteria.
