Yesterday, Social Media was taken by storm when British adventurer and survival expert Bear Grylls, known for his popular television show Man Vs Wild, announced through his Twitter account that he will host Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on his show. “People across 180 countries will get to see the unknown side of PM Narendra Modi as he ventures into Indian wilderness to create awareness about animal conservation & environmental change,” tweeted Grylls.
The announcement by Grylls and Discovery Channel had instantly become the top news in India as the social and mainstream media started discussing the PM’s appearance on the widely popular show. Numerous memes and jokes were also shared on social media over the PM’s appearance on the show with Bear Grylls.
In one such attempt, the popular online content creator ‘The Viral Fever,’ whose founder is mired in sexual molestation cases, attempted to mock PM Modi by posting a video edited out of the teaser released by Bear Grylls with ‘Gau Mutra’ jibes.
The caption of the video read Bear Grylls asking PM Modi if ‘Gau Mutra’ is better than his urine. This was a sly attempt by the portal to deride Hinduism where the cow is revered.
It is notable here that several Ayurvedic practices consider the cow urine to have healing properties and this aspect is often used by Hinduphobics to deride the believers of Hinduism and the sacredness of cow.
Soon after posting the video, a large number of TVF followers started objecting to the crass meme uploaded by TVF. Sensing a potential blowback, similar to that faced by AIB for its distasteful anti-Hindu memes, TVF quietly pulled down the obnoxious post. Earlier, the All India Bakchod(AIB), which was known for sharing anti-Hindu stuff on its social media pages, was disbanded following allegations of sexual harassment against their founders.
Was a big fan of TVF for their content, used like their satire and jokes on Modi and Yogi but now it seems that @TheViralFever has hired some saste meme makers from AIB. Such Gaumutra taunts was USP of AIB. would like to know if TVF also going to follow same path @TheQtiyapaGuy pic.twitter.com/pY6pDAwFrd
— ? (@AndColorPockeT) July 29, 2019
It is also noteworthy to mention that the Pulwama terrorist who blew himself up killing 40 CRPF personnel earlier this year, had used similar Gau Mutra jibes while justifying his hatred for Hindus in the video released after the dastardly attack. In the video uploaded by Jaish-e-Muhammad, terrorist Adil Ahmed Dar was seen vowing to kill Gau Mutra drinkers. Islamic zealots and terrorists have often used the Gau Mutra jibes as an insult towards Hindus, to justify their acts of violence.
So, when social media entities with a considerable follower base such as TVF echo the same sentiments as terrorists do, they offer credence and legitimacy to the narrative of militants that Hindus are worthless beings who deserve to be mocked and attacked. Thus further emboldening them to continue spreading hate and violence. The attempts to use Gau Mutra as an insult is nothing less than blatant Hinduphobia.
