“A large group of Malayalis has swarmed the Facebook Page of Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo with comments in Malayalam and English sarcastically asking for the release P V Anvar, MLA, from Ghana!”, says news column in The Hindu Newspaper. The news that came in a prominent News-daily like The Hindu is thought provoking, surely not due to the news value in it but due to the prominence that had given to such kind of nonsense. The column proudly(?) states further that “after commenting apologetically against Sachin Tendulkar on tennis star Maria Sharapova’s page a couple of days ago, Malayali Netizens proved yet again that they had few competitors and parallels in social media sarcasm and humour”. The article also had quoted few of the said “humorous and sarcastic” comments in the column, which will surely encourage and attract more fresh faces to the scene in near future! Not only The Hindu, but all the major mainstream media giants like Manorama, The New Indian Express, Times of India etc also had appraised the sarcastic courage of the Malayalees. Welcome to the world of hooded (sarcastic) warriors!
The trolls, which took over the space of cartoons and memes, are humorous and innovative way to express one’s concerns in a simple manner and have power to influence the mindset of the common man, politicians and Government. To an extent everyone enjoys the tremendous humorous mind behind those trolls. Sometimes it is a stress reliever too. But the line between the humor and insult is thin and sober like a water bubble. It will shatter the peace of victims into pieces if not handled with care and concern.
Social media pages are now filled with filth oozed out from the dirty minds, hooded safely behind fake ids. The freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of India under Article 19(1)(a) . But remember, “Your freedom ends where my nose begins." No freedom is unlimited and unrestricted. The freedom guaranteed by the Constitution of India is subject to reasonable restrictions. Intruding into others private space and bullying them is considered as a criminal offence in normal parlance. Everyone, including Sachin Tendulkar and Akshay Kumar have the right to express their opinion and , they being public figures, we have the right to be critic on their stands. But that freedom is not unlimited and unrestricted. No one have to right or freedom to intrude into their private spaces and throw rubbish on their walls.
When, we the “sarcastic & humorous malayalis” will recognize the social media pages of others as their private spaces? When we will learn that social media pages are same like the walls inside one’s compound wall? Have we failed to realize that the unwanted and untimely “sarcasm” is much worse than body shaming and hard bullying? When someone will teach us that, dumping our frustrations into social media pages of others, like our waste management, is nothing less than a criminal offence?
The mainstream media have a greater role in educating and leading the society to a better place. The media should not give a soft pat on the back of social media bullies to encourage them, instead it should learn to blow hard to make them realize their mistakes! Unless atleast, the term "the Malayalees" to be corrected as "a small section of Malayalees" in your articles.
BIJOY P PULIPRA