‘Remember Gauri Lankesh’: Rana Ayyub receives death & rape threats after posts on Kas
‘Remember Gauri Lankesh’: Rana Ayyub receives death & rape threats after posts on Kashmir
M.U.H
04/07/2020598
New Delhi: Journalist Rana Ayyub took to Twitter Friday to share screenshots of the several rape and death threats she has been receiving on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
According to Ayyub, these threats began after she spoke out against the recent killing of Bashir Ahmed Khan, a 65-year-old Srinagar resident, who was caught in the crossfire between militants and security personnel in Kashmir’s Sopore region Wednesday.
The killing triggered a massive controversy in the Valley, and a photograph of Khan’s grandson sitting atop his corpse has also gone viral.
“Every time I write or speak on Kashmir, the hate is unimaginable. This time however I think they are doing it brazenly. Earlier at least they used to cover their words, use a language that isn’t specific, but this time they are being specific and aren’t scared of anything,” Ayyub told ThePrint.
On Friday afternoon, she had tweeted, “My timeline, my inbox is inundated with death and rape threats the last two days for speaking on Kashmir,” with screenshots of the threats by one Pranay Bhowmik.
One can see in the messages that Bhowmik has not only used extremely foul language but also issued a ‘rape threat’. He also hurled abuses at Kashmiris and Muslims.
In another screenshot, an account called ‘Hindu Rashtra’ asked Ayyub to recall Gauri Lankesh — a journalist who was shot dead in 2017.
“My Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is completely filled with hate and threats. They are reminding me of Gauri Lankesh. Every time they do this, whenever I make a statement,” she told ThePrint
The threats reminding her of Lankesh’s death have been particularly nerve-wracking for her.
“I remember three days before Gauri died, she posted on my Facebook wall when I was receiving a lot of hate, telling me that I shouldn’t worry and that these people wont do anything. Three days later she was killed so there is always a sense of fear that what if online hate will go offline,” she added.