NEW DELHI: On the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a massive ‘Digital India Week’ campaign with pledges of investments pouring in, the Congress, upset over the “mischievous changes” made on the Wikipedia pages of Jawharlal Nehru, asked whether the government has bothered to register an FIR against the culprits.
“A game is being played. The Internet Protocol ID has been traced to the National Informatics Centre (NIC) -- 164.100.41.28. Who was responsible for this extremist act? Has it been found? Was an FIR lodged by the government?” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi asked.
He said a conscious attempt was being made to de-value the Nehru legacy and tarnish the first Prime Minister’s image through “a malicious campaign”.
Of all the controversial changes made on the Wiki page, Nehru’s profession was changed from “Barrister” to “Divider of India”. The changes, however, were swiftly removed by Wikipedia’s empanelled editors after it was discovered.
The anonymous interpolations were later traced to an IP address, provided by the NIC
First announced by @AnonGoIWPEdits, Twitter handle of Pranesh Prakash, who’s a policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society, said the software tracks all anonymous edits of English Wikipedia from a wide range of Government of India IP addresses.
Of the numerous controversial changes that were made, one pertained to Nehru’s grandfather: “Gangadhar was born as a Muslim by the name of Ghiasuddin Ghazi but changed his name to a Hindu-- Ganga Dhar-- to escape from British clutches”.
Another interpolation read, “Jawaharlal Nehru was born on 14 November 1889, at 77, Mirganj, a red light area in Allahabad in British Raj (British India). Allahabad District Magistrate Neeraj Gupta admitted that the house, which was Nehru’s birth place, is a den of flesh trade. But all the records of the exact location of the house are missing from government files.”
Also salacious edit was entered on Nehru’s “affair” with Edwina Mountbatten, the wife of Lord Mountbatten, India’s last Viceroy.
“There was an attempt to alter the Wikipedia pages of Jawaharlal Nehru and Motilal Nehru. There was a sinister attempt to show that Jawaharlal Nehru was a Muslim.
It doesn’t matter whether he was a Muslim or a Hindu: he was an Indian. The government should conduct a full enquiry,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.