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The saga of Wikipedia bias continues: ‘Jai Shri Ram is a war cry’

In another case cited, the Wikipedia page said that Jai Shri Ram was chanted to kill Muslims during the Delhi Anti-Hindu riots. However, in the entire narration, they fail to mention how the Delhi Riots were coordinated against Hindus. They even fail to mention how Hindus were murdered after chants of Allah ho Akbar and Naara e Taqbeer were raised.

For many, Wikipedia is a constant source of information. Wikipedia has continued to claim that it is an unbiased, people-driven, free encyclopaedia where ‘editors’, who are average folk, can edit the information available after building ‘consensus’ among other editors, to ensure that the page for any subject is unbiased and authentic. However, the Left bias of Wikipedia has been long known with several such cases documented. With the Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan approaching and the constant vilification of Hinduism in the past few years, the page of the sacred Hindu chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has been distorted to project a severely anti-Hindu picture.

According to Wikipedia, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is used as a ‘war cry’ against Muslims

The introduction of the chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the Wikipedia page itself is severely problematic.

Wikipedia page of 'Jai Shri Ram'
Wikipedia page of ‘Jai Shri Ram’

The introductory para says that the “Hindu expression” of Jai Shri Ram has been used “in the recent past” for the projection of “varied faith-centred emotions by Hindus”. Further, qualifying that statement, Wikipedia says that the “expression” was used by the Hindu Nationalist Party BJP, which embraced the slogan in the late 20th century as a tool of increasing the visibility of Hinduism in public spaces”.

What comes next is perhaps most problematic and deeply anti-Hindu.

The Wikipedia page in the introductory para says that “(BJP) went on to use it as a war cry, for perpetration of communal atrocities against the people of other faiths”.

The introductory part on Wikipedia is so bizarre, that one is left finding words to quantify just how many things are wrong with it. ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is a chant that has always been deeply sacred to Hindus. Lord Ram, the God Kind in Hinduism has been a deity who has been revered across the pantheon of Hinduism for ages. To essentially reduce the chant of Hindu reverence of Shri Ram to one that was “used by BJP during elections” is the ultimate insult to the faith of Hindus and is also deeply politically motivated.

Further, the Wikipedia page also claims that the sacred chant of Jai Shri Ram is a ‘war cry’ that has been used to target Muslims in India. The Wikipedia page nowhere mentions that most of the cases where it was claimed by the media that Muslims were brutalised while Hindus chanted Jai Shri Ram turned out to be fake. Further, the brand a sacred chant for one community a ‘war cry’ is nothing but blatant Hinduphobia which is displayed by the Left.

‘Origins of Jai Shree Ram’ – A television series and Babri Demolition, according to Wikipedia

The massacre of the truth doesn’t just stop with calling the chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as a war cry. Wikipedia, in the section where they attempt to explain the ‘origin’ of the chant, goes a step further.

Wikipedia page of 'Jai Shri Ram'
Wikipedia page of ‘Jai Shri Ram’

According to Wikipedia, the Jai Shri Ram chant was popularised only after the 1980s television series by Ramanand Sagar which depicted The Hindu epic of Ramayana. What is far more troubling, is that according to Wikipedia, it was a chant “used by Hanuman and the monkey army as a war cry when they fought the demon army of Ravan in order to free Sita”.

Further, they say that the chant was used in the demolition of the illegal structure that was constructed in the Mughal era by invaders atop the ruins of Ram Mandir, which used to be called Babri Masjid.

The aim of Wikipedia here is rather simple –

  1. Draw an equivalence in terms of how it is a “war cry”. Essentially saying that it was one when Lord Hanuman fought Ravan and it is a ‘war cry’ not also when Hindus are targeting Muslims apparently.
  2. Secondly, the aim here is to tarnish the image of Hindus with respect to the illegal structure that was called the Babri Masjid without giving the proper historical context of the demolition.

Both of this is done with the aim of painting Hindus is terrible light and painting Muslims as the eternal victims at the hands of Hindus in India.

‘Usage in violent incidents’

The Wikipedia page further talks about how the chant of Jai Shri Ram was supposedly used in violence incidents.

Wikipedia page of 'Jai Shri Ram'
Wikipedia page of ‘Jai Shri Ram’

Babri Masjid makes a re-appearance in this section along with several other instances.

One of the incidents mentioned in the ‘usage’ section is that of the Gargi College Molestation case. In this, it was alleged that people belonging to BJP and those who believed in the Hindutva ideology had entered the college, chanted Jai Shri Ram and molested the girl students. It was also alleged that those participating in the pro-CAA rally had barged into the college holding Bhagwa flags and molested the girls.

The allegations were made by a handle that later deleted the tweet and subsequently, even after the tweet was deleted, it was lapped up by the media. It is pertinent to note that the police at the time had said that CCTV footage obtained by them showed no evidence of anyone holding saffron flags.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South, Atul Thakur had at the time said that investigations have not revealed that the accused are affiliated to any political party. “They all are either college students or their friends,” he had added rejecting allegations that the alleged attackers were from BJP and RSS.

Interestingly, many women who had alleged molestation had also refused to come forward to record their statements. As of today, many have even withdrawn their cases. 17 have been arrested so far with no evidence of any political angle so far.

In another case cited, the Wikipedia page said that Jai Shri Ram was chanted to kill Muslims during the Delhi Anti-Hindu riots. However, in the entire narration, they fail to mention how the Delhi Riots were coordinated against Hindus. They even fail to mention how Hindus were murdered after chants of Allah ho Akbar and Naara e Taqbeer were raised.

The bias of Wikipedia

Wikipedia has long shown their Left bias when it comes to important issues.

The Wikipedia article titled North East Delhi riots was created on 25th February by a senior Wikipedia editor that goes by the username DBigXray. When one visits the page, the first image one sees is the photo of BJP leader Kapil Mishra, not an image of the riots. Kapil Mishra gets a separate section titled ‘incitement’ in the article, where he has been blamed for starting the riots.

Interestingly, some people had reference to AAP leader Amanatullah Khan for his provocative speeches during anti-CAA riots earlier in Delhi and UP. But this was also removed by the moderators, claiming that although cases have been filed against Khan, those are not related to the North East Delhi riots. On the 24th, one anti-CAA protester had brandished a pistol and fired 8 shots towards pro-CAA protesters, who was identified as Mohammad Shahrukh. The Wiki page merely mentions him as a shooter and does not even mention that he is from an anti-CAA mob.

After the image of Shahrukh, the firing had gone viral, anti-CAA activists had claimed he is pro-CAA, despite journalists on the ground who had posted videos and images saying he was anti-CAA. Later, high-resolution images had shown he was part of a mob that had several persons in skull caps. When other users wanted to include this information in the Wikipedia article, they were shot down by the moderator. The senior editor, who is supposed to be politically neutral while editing and moderating content on Wikipedia, commented that if the man was a Hindu, media would not have focused on him, and there is no need to include more detail on the incident.

The article mentions the attack on a mosque in Ashok Nagar and shouting of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Hinduon ka Hindustan” slogans by the mobs, but have absolutely no reference to any attack by Muslims and anti-CAA mobs. On the other hand, while there are videos showing mob shouting “Nara e Taqbeer” and “Allahu Akbar”, they find no place on the page.

Although Wikipedia articles can be edited by anybody, the online encyclopedia has provisions for locking down specific articles to check vandalism, etc. The article on North East Delhi riots has been made semi-protected, which means only confirmed registered users can make edits to it. As a result, ordinary users are having to request user DBigXray for making changes, and user DBigXray, who has special privileges as a Master Editor III, decides what information is included and what is not on the page.

OpIndia detailed investigation about the bias of Wikipedia after the Delhi Riots can be read here and here.

There are several other cases where it was evident just how vulnerable Wikipedia is to peddling absolute lies which can be severely detrimental in the long run. An Islamist user had vandalised the RSS page to call it a terrorist organisation. The user who did so had a long history of anti-Hindu edits. Wikipedia had also deleted the article on Tablighi Jamaat after the spread of Coronavirus citing that it was “Islamophobic”. Further, though the edits were reverted later, an “editor” of Wikipedia had also replaced Hindus with Muslims to show that it was actually the Muslims who suffered at the hands of Hindus during the Naokhali Riots and not the other way around.

The bias of Wikipedia is further evidenced by the fact the the co-founder of Wikipedia, Larry Senger, had quit Wikipedia citing that the Left bias of the platform is too strong to overcome and that the platform had lost its way.

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Staff reporter at OpIndia

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