BENGALURU: Social media continued to have its mixed bag of reactions following the death of rationalist M M Kalburgi, with users airing opinions on both sides of the spectrum.
Memes likening the assassination to rationalists Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar also gained currency during the day. Even though police are yet to make arrests in connection with the assassination, netizens blamed the crime on members of pro-Hindu organisations.
Insensitive remarks by some users helped to revive the #SanghiTerrorism hash tag, which had originated about two years ago. Some users also likened the incident to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, resulting in hashtags such as #JesuisKalburgi and #IAmKalburgi. A twitter user with twitter handle @myopiclenses tweeted: #SanghiTerrorism From Gandhi to Kalburgi, Hindutva terrorists have used the gun to silence men & women of reason. Another user @AakashTaywade wrote: “Day by day they are killing secular writers. How many more they want? Why govt is sleeping?” #SanghiTerrorism
Twitter user @UjjwalUniyal483 tweeted, “Thank God Hindu terrorism didn’t trend! These Sanghis can be terrorist but not us Hindus, please note there is a difference #SanghiTerrorism.”
Even though the hashtag originated in 2013, the tag started trending after the assassination of Kalburgi.
During the day, prominent rationalist and president of Federation of Rationalist Association of India, Narendra Nayak, expressed his fears regarding rationalists on his Facebook page. “Well this is not going to stop us from expressing our views and going ahead with our movement,” he wrote. “Better die standing for our principles than of old age. These attacks will not cow us down. They make us even stronger and more determined.” he added.