Amid Assam and Mizoram clashes, #ShameOnAssam goes on Twitter’s trend list
29 July, 2021 | newsx bureau
As clashes between Assam and Mizoram peaked, Twitter saw a rise of #ShameOnAssam tweets, particularly from the US. It is alleged that bots were used in this process to create internal tension withi...
Assam and Mizoram have had border disputes for over a century now. On July 26, 2021, the dispute over the state boundary escalated, leaving seven Assam policemen dead. Over 60 individuals were injured due to the same. The recent dispute was over the land encroachment between the people of the two states. The Ministry of Home Affairs has called for a meeting with the Chief Ministers of Mizoram and Assam to solve the issue that dates back to several decades.
People reacted widely on the matter through social media. At first, there were some racist comments against Mizoram. However, the arguments quickly turned in the opposite direction. #ShameOnAssam was seen trending at number 5 on Twitter, with 98.4K tweets employing it by Wednesday evening.
Reports suggest that the decision of the Assam police to shoot the Mizo police was widely discussed by the public. The attack by Assam police is claimed to be unjustifiable. Sources say that the video of Mizoram police celebrating is the celebration of retreat of the Assam Police and not their injuries. Assam is blamed for breaking the status quo.
One Twitter user going by the handle @vikrantkumar tweeted an observation regarding the ongoing trend. The screenshot he shared shows the search result of the trending hashtag #ShameOnAssam on social media analytics. The results showed that most of the Twitter handles that posted the hashtag were from the USA. It is alleged that mostly bots were used in this process to create internal tension within India.
However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma retweeted the post stating that it is a ‘very serious matter. I agree – Need to know who is behind this?’.
Very serious matter. I agree – Need to know who is behind this ? https://t.co/Cp2IW2g6sc
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 28, 2021
Apart from this, reports suggest the interesting fact that almost all the Twitter handles posting the hashtag belonging to non-Indians are unverified with no more than 10-11 followers. They have been retweeting each other’s posts. However, the actual face behind this and their motives are unclear.