-The Times of India The clamour over Pakistan fanning communal passions in India through social networking sites has missed a crucial detail. Around 20% of the web pages — blocked by government agencies — were uploaded by right-wing Hindu fundamentalists seeking to polarize the country on communal lines.  In these posts doctored images or videos showing alleged atrocities against tribal Bodos by Muslims have been tagged with provocative captions and point to...

-Live Mint India’s biggest crackdown on websites and blogs hosting hate messages was hobbled by the absence of a policy on cyber security, escalating panic and resulting in an exodus of people belonging to north-eastern states from several cities. The government initially identified 245 such websites, but could block only 207 of them, saying it couldn’t shut out the other 38 because of technical difficulties. It has identified and is in the...

-The Indian Express The exodus to the Northeast, perhaps the biggest mass displacement in peacetime, reads like the dark side of the Arab Spring or the reverse of a flash mob. The social and SMS media, which accumulate forces for positive change, were leveraged to spread rumours and disperse minorities by the fictitious threat of violence. And the response is totally inadequate. Social media shifted the balance of power from governments and...

-The Hindustan Times The country is once again dangerously adrift in a stormy sea of competitive hate politics. The signs are both ominous and familiar — the systematic creation of hatred against people because of their ethnicity or religion; rumours and hate propaganda choking the internet; the public moral justification of violence against targeted communities on grounds of ‘larger’ alleged wrongs; and weak-kneed State action against people and organisations which preach...

-The Hindustan Times Indigenous Assamese Muslim groups joined the All Assam Students Union (AASU) on Friday in charging the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal with fanning communal sentiments in the wake of the recent violence in Assam.  Sadou Asom Gariya – Moria Desi Jatiya Parisad (SAGMJP), an influential body of about 25 lakh Assamese Muslims, held Ajmal responsible for Northeast students and workers leaving Maharastra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh...