Political outfit Shiv Sena has pledged to block anti-India content on Orkut, the social networking site which is like a phenomenon in India. Shiv Sena is known for their radical view against whatever they see as western culture. These self-appointed cultural guardians are known to create havoc on Valentine’s Day vandalizing shops and attacking clubs. In the past they had digged up the cricket pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to disrupt a India-Pakistan match.
The student wing of the group is readying a software that will monitor abusive communities on Orkut, which is really good. They have also gone an extra mile and threatened to attack cyber cafe owners if they don’t ’spot and stop people surfing Orkut to spread hate messages’, which is really bad.
Last week, dozens of Shiv Sena workers vandalized some Internet centres because they were not stopping their customers from accessing Orkut groups involved in sending hate messages. Poor internet cafe owners! The overzealous Shiv Sena should approach Internet Service Providers to block content rather than tormenting these people.
It is unfortunately true that Orkut houses many anti-India communities. Anti-India hate campaigns are common. To put an end to this, the government should talk with Google for an effective solution. However, what seemed to have caught the Sena’s ire are communities like ‘I hate Shiv Sena’ or ‘I hate Bal Thakeray’ after the name of the group’s supremo.
Related article on Rediff: Anti-Orkut campaign: Women, minorities stay away from Internet cafes
Good catch!
Whatever anti-shiv sena communities there may be - these Orkut members are simply expressing their freedom of speech. Unlike their non-violent expressions - Shiv Sena members are openly resorting to violence to accomplish their at-best vague ends. When will these people learn that the means do not justify the end…? Someone has to stop this madness that is Shiv Sena!