The Cyber Mongers in India were the most active in the period preceding the day of judgement and even after, in the ensuing Indian Supreme Court hearing and also after the declaration of the final verdict and its dissemination in the ‘Babri Ram Janam Bhumi’ dispute. The litigation dates back to year 1885, however the political backlash, had been subdued to a seeming Coloured-Religious dispute till date.
There have been reports in the media as on 11 November 2019, that there were over 80 preventive arrests made and as much as 9000 posts on different social media and chat websites detected and moderated for allegedly trying to vitiate communal harmony through these posts and chats. Hence, this cyber exercise so undertaken, has not be a futile one. Thanks to the late advent of the Cyber-revolution, that it did not find the present day mongering, when in December 1949 in which the idols of Ram Lalla, the infant deity, were planted under the mosques central dome; which actually leads to the flaring-up of the dispute. The Cyber World at-least for this time was deterred by the fact that the Social Media and Internet-Domain was under unprecedented surveillance, and also for the fact that, if the culpability was establishment would have made the Administrators and Group Heads liable for punishment for Cyber Offence. This then drove caution, in which the users and the Admins had warned the Cyber Users in their respective groups.
It is but sure that even the Honorable Judges would have used the Cyber Domain, to read the Review of Related Literature, the Historic Rhetoric, the Public Opinion, the expected Fall-out among the General Populous, the Dissemination Methodology, and others; to arrive at the Verdict.
The announcement that the verdict will be delivered on 09 November 2019, was yet not a confirmed new; but the posting of the Court Schedule or Court Cause List on Social Media and other Internet Forums, was the confirmation that many were sensitised upon.
In India and abroad, the complete Cyber Mechanism of the Law Enforcement Agencies and other Government agencies was activated with establishment of Control Rooms and Archiving Mechanisms, with an aim to rightfully ‘nip the bud’ of any cyber adversaries and also to take counter measures against Law and Order backlash that may arise, post the announcement of the verdict.
One is sure that the service providers of Search Engines, Social Media Platforms, Digital Forum Hosters’ and Chat Room service providers, would have been adding ‘Pentabytes of Storage Space’ to Archive and also would have activated filters and tools to monitor and to capture ‘key words’ and ‘other adverse’ posts.
This is not the end; the Acceleration of the Cyber-Precaution is a must in the present dispute, till its complete resolution. The verdict so declared by the Supreme Court of India, is expected to be resolved in atleast 10 years from now. The Cyber-World and its Users have a larger responsibility, post the verdict and hence, it should be a responsible medium to ensure peaceful coexistence among diverse mankind as Global Citizens. India is Young and has the largest number of Internet Users, with a large population that own smart phones and internet devices. Indian citizen’s need to move beyond divisive politics of identity and focus on building the internal cohesion and economic strength needed to carve out and defend its own unique space in the world’s Geography and History, and also the Cyber Arena that it commands. The Cyber Space should also ensure:
- Confidence Building among Citizens
- Hold the repute of Unity-in-Diversity, for which India stands
- Accept the unanimous verdict of the Apex Supreme Court of India on the subject
- Respect mutual sentiments
- Assist in Nation Building, and culling of negative publicity
- Allow and prepare the opinion among citizens to build a grand temple at the site and a grand mosque, too, in the place allotted for its construction in Ayodhya
- Initiation of Cyber Campaign to assist citizens to desist from raising any fresh demand to demolish mosques claimed to stand at the venue of temples, henceforth
- Uphold the Judiciary and entrust more faith in Amicable Dispute Resolution
The Cyber Domain is also an enabler among others to ensure Peace and Tranquillity in the World that we live in. This Cyber means should never be used as a Demon for destruction of Mankind. Cyber has always been seen as a Necessary-Evil and its rightful use will assist it better Peaceful co-existence among Citizens.