Even before the embers of the funeral pyres of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men killed in the line of duty in the terrorist attack at Pulawama, could cool down, political vultures have started hovering to make the most of this ghastly tragedy to further their own divisive agenda.
Kapil Mishra, an MLA from the Karawal Constituency in Delhi, made series of deeply disturbing tweets that appear to promote hate and violence in a bid to demand revenge.
When he wasn’t threatening violence against “wombs that give birth to terrorists”, a virtual threat to inflict genocide, Mishra was busy taunting intellectuals and civil society members, suggesting they were terrorist sympathisers.
When incidents of violence against Kashmiri students began being reported from across the country, Mishra insisted that the stories were made up and dismissed them as fake news, even though videographic evidence became available.
The Aam Aadmi Party was quick to distance itself from the MLA who had earlier been suspended, though not explicitly expelled from the party. “Kapil Mishra has been removed from AAP and remains officially suspended. We have no association with him and condemn his divisive and opportunistic statements,” said Preeti Sharma Menon, National Executive Member, AAP.
But Mishra’s behaviour has been exceptionally toxic towards women on social media. In the following tweet he suggests that designer Farah Khan Ali is part of the ecosystem that nurtures and shelters terrorists, alluding perhaps to her faith.
He was particularly vicious towards CPI (ML) Polit Bureau member Kavita Krishnan, when she called him out for his diatribe.
Krishnan had also pointed out how one of his tweets was a virtual call to commit genocide and demanded that Twitter suspend his account. This is how Mishra responded to her.
But Kapil Mishra reserved his most vile comments for actor Swara Bhaskar. When the actor pointed to his tweet inciting genocide, he made a despicable comment about the actor alluding to a masturbation scene in one of her movies.
He even went on to justify his use of foul language!
We appeal to our readers to not give into such calls for hate and engage in violence. We urge people not to take the law into their own hands. We also urge you to engage in healthy debate, but steer clear of abusive and derogatory language in case of a difference of opinion. Democracy is built on dignified discussion and exchange of ideas. We also urge authorities to crack down on people spreading hate on social media, especially if their posts incite violence.
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