RSS-affiliated portals publish problematic headlines targeting Muslims

Maha Kumbh: There were multiple unfortunate incidents that happened in the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prahagraj where people were hurt, damages incurred or even deaths. There were incidents of fire and a recent incident of a stampede that took 30 lives and injured 60 others

After the incident caught headlines, right-wing news outlets with RSS affiliations published stories on social media reactions to it.

One of the outlets reported that “Muslims are celebrating” the mishap that happened at Maha Kumbh, and as proof, it provided some screenshots from Facebook which showed certain FB users with Muslim names have given “ha ha ha” (laughing) reactions.

The story carried on the portal's site does not state if the users who put the laughing emojis are really from the Muslim community since anyone could use any name to handle a social media account.

The accounts could be fake, and the users may have political motives, but the news portal gives no care for such concerns and runs news under the heading “Muslims react with ‘Haha’ emojis over the stampede-like situation at Maha Kumbh Mela”.

Such problematic headlines and stories might result in tensions and untoward incidents.

A particular sentence from the story claimed that when the unfortunate incident was shared on Facebook, “the usual suspects reacted with “Haha” emojis”.

The propaganda news agency claimed that this wasn't the first time Muslim users expressed “glee” at unfortunate incidents that happened at Hindu festivals. Several “Muslims” reacted with laughing emojis during the fire that broke out in the Mela was reported on Facebook, too, it claimed.

This kind of problematic content is being published while polls are due in New Delhi on February 5.