A Facebook user named Deepak Sankaranarayanan was slapped with a non-bailable case by the Kerala police, for a post where he called for the murder of all Indians who voted for the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
As reported by Indian Express, Deepak who is believed to be an employee of HP based in Bengaluru, wrote a Facebook post in Malayalam with reference to the Kathua rape case. In the post he wrote that “Justice should prevail, even if it involves shooting to death that 31 per cent, which is seven times the casualty of World War II, that objects to justice.”
It was a direct defamation of BJP voters (31% referring to the vote share BJP could garner in 2014 elections) and a call for genocide. He ended this segment of his hate post by pontificating about democracy.
The hate speech was soon noticed by various social media users who strongly proceeded to condemn him. Here’s one such instance:
Deepak Sankaranarayanan, A lead Solution Architect in @HPIndia
Calls for Mass Killing of 31% of Indians who Voted for @BJP4India like how people were killed in #WorldWarIIWow ! Thank you so much @HP for having such brilliant Engineers among your #Indian Staff!@HMOIndia pic.twitter.com/YJ0Ha8ISF2
— നചികേതസ് (@nach1keta) April 15, 2018
Despite the dangerous nature of his comments, he received support from various leftists on social media:
Deepak Sankaranarayanan is another such hero who was very outspoken against rapists, riot mongers and their ilk. So they targeted his job and his company @HP,@HPIndia to quash his voice#IndiaVsRapists pic.twitter.com/BoWwOgEYK0
— Sankar Das (@mallucomrade) April 16, 2018
Justice is not their concern. Their only concern is diversion and cover-up. They will use any method to that end. Deepak Sankaranarayanan is a victim of this strategy #IndiaVsRapists
— Myopiclenses (@myopiclenses) April 16, 2018
Support for him also extended to the Kerala Finance Minister who publicly backed him in a Facebook post by claiming that Deepak’s words were twisted. He also supposedly issued a statement in his support on Twitter:
Deepak Sankaranarayanan has always been in the forefront on social media in exposing the violent political ideology of the Sangh Parivar. #SolidarityWithDeepak
— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) April 16, 2018
Besides getting support from leftists, Deepak was also helped by a section of the media who hid the true gravity of his statement. Hindustan Times reported as if someone was booked only for ‘blaming’ Kathua rape on BJP voters, while there was a call for murder of millions of people.
Following all this following the uproar over his comments, Deepak had issued an apology on 16 April, which though didn’t prevent a complaint against him by BJP’s state media coordinator on Thursday. Following this, the cyber cell booked him for promoting enmity among religious groups. The police has claimed that other sections would be added to his case following investigation.
