NEW DELHI – Amid the raging global debate on misuse of social media, it hasemerged that Facebook was used as a mass weapon for propaganda and fuellingviolence during the recent Dalit demonstrations in 10 states, which claimed11 lives.

The Muzaffarnagar police are trying to connect the dots to figure out whythe violence spiralled out of control. Top cops admitted that theadministration failed to assess the scale of the protests even as they lookinto ‘conspiracy’ behind it. Preliminary investigation points out to howsocial media played a big role in galvanising protesters.

One video uploaded on Facebook shows a youth addressing a handful ofstudents at Ambedkar Hostel exhorting Muslims and Dalits to protestcollectively. Shot days before the Bharat Bandh, the youth talks about howto galvanise people for the Dalit protest. Leader of local Dalit outfitUddham Singh Sena is seen seated next to him. This and similar videomessages spread like wild fire not only in western Uttar Pradesh but acrossto Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.

Just when the district administration thought that protests were windingup, there was a sudden spurt in violence that resulted in one death inMuzaffarnagar. Cops suspect that this was in response to the Meerutincident in which one person and it was conveyed to protestors throughsocial media.

Muzaffarnagar SSP Anant Dev Tiwari told India Today that social media”definitely played a role in spreading violence”. “We are investigating howviolence spread from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar. People in large numbers gotconnected possible via social media,” he added.

The police are investigating almost 35 WhatsApp groups of differentcommunities, political parties and even non-Dalit groups. Cops are surfingvideos and pictures that went viral on social media, but the challenge ishuge.

Every youth in this region is connected either on Facebook or WhatsApp,which ensures deep reach and impact. A typical example is the message Johnyand his friends got on Facebook. The abusive video, which targets Dalitsfor protesting, was posted after their candlelight march on April 2 by alocal youth from the Thakur community.

As the news of protestors burning a police station in Meerut poured in onWhatsApp, the message went viral on various groups reaching Hapur, Mathura,Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and other districts.

The administration had clearly underestimated the gravity of the protestsand was taken by surprise to see the strength of protestors. “We hadinformation that it would be a usual demonstration, but it turned violent.It was a conspiracy in which protesters attacked police station, cops, setproperty ablaze and targeted traders. Even after the stir was over, theydid not disperse,” Tiwari said. – India TodayBy: Mausami Singh