Winter is coming and so the protests in Pakistan. TLP (Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan) lead by the religious cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi has brought Pakistan down to its knees for the second consecutive year in the name of religion. While, people are worried how a cleric from a Lahore based mosque could get such prominence they are also scratching their head over who is managing his so dynamic Twitter account.
Folks are actually asking this question which is no less than an enigma.
A Political Scientist Tweeting from Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s Account
The so called religious scholar who is infamous for his flamboyant but irrational speeches and exploiting of religious sentiments of the masses has a Twitter account with almost 55.6 thousand followers. It is interesting to note that tweets from this handle are in Urdu as well as in English with a content carefully crafted according to ‘perceived’ intellect of each language’s reader
Tweets which are in English seem to come from a person who is well versed in the terminologies used by political scientists. The words like ‘imperialist, ‘capitalist and ‘secularist are being used to make a political case against the Supreme Court’s judgement.
https://twitter.com/KhadimRizviReal/status/1057996760252141568
Viewers couldn’t resist Rizvi’s appreciating Khadim Rizvi choice for admin for English tweets and they praised him in his language.
Molbi tu angrezi aala banda changa lab laya ae.
— ASIM MANJ (@ASIMMANJ) November 1, 2018
While this tweet blames the government for a Supreme Court’s verdict on a blasphemy accused in a political language it fails to come up with a satiable logic for its claim of silencing Islamophobia. Hanging someone merely on the basis of accusations is something that can provoke the sentiments against religion among humanists, it can’t do anything to end or even to abate the rampant Islamophobia in Europe and America.
So Dynamic Tweets from Rizvi and Apparent Reasons Behind
Pakistanis reacted to the supreme court’s verdict of Aasia Bibi case via Twitter. In fact, a major number of social media users welcomed the acquittal of Aasia Bibi who was falsely accused of blasphemy. It seems that Khadim Hussain Rizvi, TLP head who is leading the countrywide protests against Supreme Court’s verdict is well aware with the need of the hour that most of his critics are on Twitter and he needs to respond to them in their language.
Exploiting the Very Word “Peace”
And few tweets are even telling that miscreants have nothing to do with TLP which is, according to the following statement, peacefully protesting against the Supreme Court’s verdict.
https://twitter.com/KhadimRizviReal/status/1058002589562867713
It is to be noted that many of the protesters have blocked the main routes to megacities, burnt down vehicles and brought life to a halt in Pakistan. And, still, this account is trying to tell that TLP protest is peaceful and they are no miscreants.
And, Twitter users also calling out others to report Rizvi’s account in order to get him banned from social media.
https://twitter.com/shehrbanotaseer/status/1058310214691311617
It is a fact that social media is a hotbed of fake news, but at the same times, it gives everyone an opportunity to propagate their narrative, without any regards to its harmful impacts on society. In a situation when peace is the need of the hour, people must come forward to stand against those who try to create disruption through provocations.
Is He Being Pushed Back
So, few of tweets from his account have been reportedly deleted or removed. According to this Twitter user, the social media has removed his Twitter threats which were in English as well as Urdu.
https://twitter.com/_Faysal/status/1058244527612354563
A Need to Promote the Voices of Rational Thinking
Khadim Hussain Rizvi who was merely a cleric in a mosque became a ‘religious scholar’ capable of influencing the mobs. How come it was possible. Was it due to his flamboyant speeches or his carefully crafted tweets. Whatever the reason is, or irrespective of whoever is backing him, which might be a possibility, there is a need to promote rational thinking in society particularly through educational institutes, so that no miscreant can easily betray the people and exploit their sentiments for their political goals.
