Date : 13-12-2015
Kashmir: A group of 30 girl students from Jammu and Kashmir undertaking a countrywide tour under the Army’s ‘Operation Sadbhavna’ programme has faced threat and abuse on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The hate posts have not only passed aspersions on the character of the girls but have also said that the tour was nothing but an attempt to groom ‘army informers’, with some demanding punishment while others seeking social boycott of the girls.
It may be recalled that the school girls from Jammu and Kashmir had embarked on the tour sponsored by the Indian Army much against the warning from Duktharan-e-Millat (DeM) Chief Asiya Andrabi.
The students, who also visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan besides the Lok Sabha and several other places, had a group photograph with President Pranab Mukherjee. They were targeted on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
While no action was taken by the government and the civil society to demand action against the abusers, some prominent individuals from the state came to the defence of the students, who were earlier this week termed by the Army as ‘Proud Ambassadors of Kashmir’.
Popular radio voice and producer at 92.7 Big FM RJ Nasir said in support of the girls on his Facebook wall: “I should hang my head in shame on how our own sisters are being trolled, abused and tarnished on social media for meeting the Honourable
President and how the government is silent and civil society is downplaying it.”
“I think the journalists should take a strong note of it and highlight the plight of these girls,” he said.
Security analysts said the girls have a threat in volatile Kashmir because of the circulation of hate posts.
