Mumbai, July 05 (KMS): Indian journalist and writer, Rana Ayyub has received death and rape threats on social media from the Sangh Parivar extremists for speaking on Kashmir. She is also the author of the investigative book Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up.
Sharing the screen shots of the threats by a user named Pranay Bhowmik, Rana Ayyub tweeted, “My timeline, my inbox is inundated with death and rape threats the last two days for speaking on Kashmir”.
She said that the threats reminding her of Lankesh’s death have been particularly nerve-wracking for her. Gauri Lankesh, an Indian journalist and activist critical of the right-wing and Hindu nationalists, who was shot dead outside her home in Banglore in 2017.
In another screenshot, an account called ‘Hindu Rashtra’ asked Ayyub to recall Gauri Lankesh — a journalist who was shot dead in 2017.
Speaking to media, Ayyub said, “Every time I write or speak on Kashmir, the hate is unimaginable. This time however I think they are doing it brazenly. Earlier at least they used to cover their words, use a language that isn’t specific, but this time they are being specific and aren’t scared of anything.”
She said, “I remember three days before Gauri died, she posted on my Facebook wall when I was receiving a lot of hate, telling me that I shouldn’t worry and that these people won’t do anything. Three days later she was killed so there is always a sense of fear that what if online hate will go offline.”
It all began when Ayyub, a known vocal critic of the Modi government, tweeted Wednesday on Bashir Ahmad Khan’s killing in J&K’s Sopore. “When it comes to Kashmir, there are no humanists, just convenient nationalists,” she had tweeted.
Pertinently Khan was killed by Indian troops in front of his 3-year-old grandchild on July 1, 2020. Later disturbing visuals of the child sitting on the motionless dead-body of his grandfather went viral on the social media creating uproar within and outside occupied Kashmir.