New Delhi: A social media campaign, spearheaded by prominent right-wing personalities accusing Wikipedia of being ‘anti-Hindu’, began trending Saturday, three days after the open-source information website asked Indian users to donate to “defend Wikipedia’s independence”.
Several users on Twitter, including columnist Shefali Vaidya, BJP leader Nupur Sharma and author Rajiv Malhotra, asked people not to donate to Wikipedia, alleging that it spread biased information and employs “anti-Hindu” editors.
India is one of Wikipedia’s most important markets. In 2019, over 700 million Indians visited the website.
Also read: Not just World Bank, IMF, govt data, Economic Survey quotes from Wikipedia & vedic text
‘Anti-Hindu’ Wikipedia
Several users on Twitter claimed that the Wikipedia page on Northeast Delhi riots, which occurred in February, was biased and described the riots as “chiefly Hindu mobs attacking Muslims”.
The page also notes that of the 53 people killed in the riots, “two-thirds were Muslims”.
Another much-cited instance of bias was the website’s page on the slogan ‘Jai Shree Ram’. Many Twitter users took offence to the page describing the slogan as the BJP’s “war cry”, “for perpetration of communal atrocities against people of other faiths”.
Several prominent right-wing personalities took to Twitter to protest against Wikipedia.
Former Rajasthan Cricket Association secretary Sanjay Dixit and Hindutva activist Dr David Frawley, a Padma Bhushan recipient, also joined the campaign and urged people not to donate to the website.
This is what @Wikipedia says:#JaiShriRam is used as a war cry for perpetrating communal atrocities on members of other faiths.
Wikipedia is also asking for donations from Indians, including Hindus.
So Hindus, make sure you do not donate a penny to this Hindumisic entity. pic.twitter.com/r36V3VRuwT
— Sanjay Dixit ಸಂಜಯ್ ದೀಕ್ಷಿತ್ संजय दीक्षित (@Sanjay_Dixit) August 1, 2020
Wikipedia has published many questionable statements about Hindu writers, leaders, causes and historical issues. Is not an unbiased forum. Hindus should protest against its anti-Hindu views. https://t.co/U6TCt6QgcC
— Dr David Frawley (@davidfrawleyved) August 1, 2020
I’ve seen this “donate” msg pop-up multiple times. My own personal experience with @Wikipedia? During Delhi Elections 2020 a well-meaning contributor warned me multiple times that my page was under severe attack to be taken down by an opposite ideology camp. And it did happen 1/2 https://t.co/HHZjwvLqWu
— Nupur Sharma (@NupurSharmaBJP) August 1, 2020
In response, many people also came out in support of Wikipedia, and said information on the website is taken for granted and must be supported.
And, this is why we need to support @Wikipedia!
Brahmins hate knowledge spreading! Concealing resources, denying education and punishing for learning is an age-old Hindu culture.
Become a ’HERO’ of #FreeInformation by donating through the link below:https://t.co/x56MHjWBRX… https://t.co/0Wg6Cky32V
— Kiruba Munusamy (@kirubamunusamy) August 1, 2020
Author Rajiv Malhotra was trolled incessantly after he claimed that he had been criticising the website since 1990s. Wikipedia was launched only in 2001.
Wikipedia says it was launched in 2001. Kudos for criticizing it in the 1990s. ?? https://t.co/z9VnaDNgLW pic.twitter.com/wfv7f3yyM4
— SamSays (@samjawed65) August 1, 2020
Wikipedia’s appeal for donations
Wikipedia issued an appeal on 29 June, asking Indian readers for donations to help “defend” its independence.
“If you donate just Rs 150, Wikipedia could thrive for years,” read the message, displayed on top of the website.
Wikipedia depends on donations to continue operation and pay staff, and this is the second time that the website has urged Indian readers to donate.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the website, had earlier asked Indian readers for donations in 2015.
However, some users on Twitter also questioned if Wikipedia, in fact, required the donations. A long thread on the issue claimed that while the website functioned on donations and needed them, it was not desperate for funds, citing the “high” salaries paid to its employees.
THREAD:
So, it's that time of the year again when Wikipedia asks people for money. But do they really need it? How much of it is used to keep the site running? And where does the rest of it go? Read on to find out. pic.twitter.com/IEIHPW6qLD— Rick at ? (@RickterScale_) August 1, 2020
Also read: Why the era of free news for Facebook and Google may soon be over
This is what happens when you try to show faith blinded devotees the light of facts. They just want their angle to be true always, blocking out another’s perspective. They cant be reasoned with
***Congress’s Achievement: Looting for 60 years.
***BeeJayPee’s Biggest Achievement: Looting double that sum of money within a matter of six years.
***Congress = We have just one family that loots.
***BeeJayPee = We are one large family of looters.
***O Gullible People of India, judge for yourself which kind of looter you would prefer, or perhaps you could do very well without a ‘Government’. Gone are those days when a POLITICIAN could be trusted. Perhaps in future it would be better to live without the presence of a Government !***
We are going to become a society that will follow Hitler’s ideas. Our People are now acting like Communists and Fascists we want ban on anything that is Anti-Hindu I am also a Right Leaning Person but I am not extreme rightist. Banning anything or boycotting everything is not the solution.
An accurate assessment of the situation in the country Mr Piyush Dixit.
But the, Indians have generally been admirers of Hitler and his Nazi ideas. Indeed, Mein Kampf is openly sold in Indian bookstores and many Indian politicians sing praises to Adolf Hitler. The RSS was modelled upon the Nazi & fascist organisations of Europe of the 1930s. And Shiv Sena Führer Bal Thackeray made no secret of his admiration for Hitler. As does his nephew Raj Thackeray. And then you have the top echelons of the BJP which behave like stormtroppers anyway …
everybody has a right to their own opinion, but while analyzing these things does anybody ever think “why things have come to this end or why the situation is so?”…. I might be wrong…. but if you manipulate history & culture and propagate false narratives to create a politically image and false sense of peace … this is bound to happen. Every agreement / contract / understanding has to be honored by all parties concerned ….. you can’t keep appeasing a select party / group / community and cover up their shortcomings and expect the other to continuously upheld their end of the contract… can you?
Prominent Right Wing, Do you really need to say that. You are playing with people having different opinion. The west has a very destructive meaning of right wing and you want to merge us with them. Wiki said that hindu mobs leaded the attack, yet you “Print” say that Tahir Hussain planned it to take revenge from Hindus due to 370 and Ayodhya Verdict. You contradict each other. I will not donate.
Mr Ritik: You are completely wrong when you claim:
“.. The west has a very destructive meaning of right wing ..”
Fact is, here in Europe and much of North America, the somewhat loose term “right wing” usually encompasses parties that espouse everything from social conservatism, small government, fiscal deficit reduction, restrictive immigration, deeper religiosity etc. etc. The Conservative Party in the UK, Norway’s Høyre, Sweden’s Moderaterna, Germany’s Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschland are all examples of right wing parties.
The right wing fringes though include parties and people who tend to be wary of the democratic process, are violently against immigration and the left wing, often espouse conservative views on the role of women, endorse racism, expulsion of immigrants and so on. Some of these fringe parties such as Germany’s Afd or France’s Front National tone down their rhetoric when they get elected to Parliament. But many others don’t enter the democratic process at all and prefer to remain on the fringes such as the KKK in the US or the English Defence League in the UK.
In India too, the above paradigm can be seen with the BJP being the clear right wing party. However, the BJP still retains a strong presence of the fringe and violent elements even in Parliament. Godse worshipper Pragya Thakur, the saffron bigot Adityanath, and other MPs Kapil Mishra, Tejaswi Surya etc. behave as if they belong to the fringe, presumably with the consent of the PM. And then you have the true right wing fringe elements such as the VHP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Sanathan Sanstha and so on who function as de facto foot soldiers of the BJP going about exercising violence. Of course, the BJP has full deniability when Bajrang Dal guys kill, rape, loot and maim as they did in Godhra in 2002.
No Mr Ritik, both the fringes and considerable sections of the rank and file elements of India’s right wing are violent, thuggish and destructive.
Wikipidea Is an anti Hindu they Are sharing fake information do not donate we all know Who were there in riots and who harmed who I appeal every Hindu do not donate a single penny Wikipedia never shows In favour of Hindus Hurting Hindu sentiments are done by Wikipidiea I was donating bt Now I will stop Bcz It’s againts Hinduism it’s against Indians
What the world needs is an alternative to the Christian and anti-Hindutva Wikipedia.
India needs to develop a “Hindutvapaedia” wherein every entry is vetted for anti-Hindutva comments and the every entry has a Hindutva centric interpretation. In this Hindutvapaedia, the roles of Godse and Gandhi would be reversed – the former will be revered and the latter reviled. The Godhra pogroms will be shown to be a farce and Hindutvapaedia will prove that they never happened. Babu Bajrangi and Dr Mayaben Kodnani will not be treated as murderers but as walking Mahatmas !
I can envisage other interesting entries in Hindutvapaedia.
– Einstein & Newton will be proven to be wrong.
– Taj Mahal will be shown to be a temple
– Plastic surgery will be given its proper place and the ability of ancient Indians to graft the head of an elephant to the torso of a man will be shown
– Arab womens’ orgasms will be explained by BJP’s pre-mature ejaculator par excellence Tejaswi Surya
– Narendra Modi waves will be the new term for gravitational waves as was proposed in the 106th Indian Science Congress (ref: bit.ly/33na2U3)
– Vedic aircraft that facilitated inter-planetary travel using fuels derived from the faeces and urine of cows as explained in the Indian Science Congress of 2015 will be explained, see ref: bit.ly/39OwjeU
I suggest that ther be constituted an editorial committee consisting of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur (Malegaon blast fame), Sadhvi Uma Bharti, Mohan Bhagwat of the RSS, Tejaswi Surya of the BJP, Baba Ramdev, Asaram Bapu,, Garlander of murderous Gaurakshaks Jayant Sinha & Ms Nirmala Sitharaman. The inclusion of Ms Nirmala Sitharaman is not done for purposes of tokenism and to show that South Indians also hold posts. No, Ms Sitharamn will only be there to correct and proofread the usually dodgy English of the other chappathi belters!
In the interim, the BJP government should identify those Indians who do consult the Wikipedia and charge them with sedition!
In November 2019, Wikipedia received 771 million views from India. I don’t know how many distinct users that represents. But in any case, shouldn’t the Modi government take the next step and declare these Wikipedia viewers as traitors ? File sedition charges against them and lock them up indefinitely ? And who knows whether these these people have a Pakistani mindset? Or maybe even a Chinese mindset ?
My appeal to the protectors of Hindutva Mohan Bhagwat, Yogi Adityanath, Baba Ramdev, Jayant Sinha, PM Modi etc:
WIKIPEDIA ROKO !!!
The Hindutva crowd might yell and screem themselves hoarse about Wikipedia’s alleged “anti-Hindu” stance and refuse to donate to it. But then why not go ahead and boycott it ? Indeed, even ban it ?
I fully understand the anger of B r h minical BJP. It never wants knowledge to spread. So they will criticize wikipedia, they will make fun of Harvard, and they will troll Nobel Laureates. I never donated to wikipedia. But now I will.
Excellent retort Pakku !
I have always donated to Wikipedia, but now I will double my contributions !
dont you think nobel prizes are biased i mean barack obama got nobel peace prize for murdering millions in the middle east and you still think that the noble prizes arent baised
The peace prize is ridiculous and highly political, but the economics prize is still pretty prestigious. The science prizes are of course still the top prizes in their fields. Not to say that the science prizes haven’t had problems. For instance, ECG Sudarshan, a physicist of Indian origin, did not win the Nobel, even though two of the sub-fields of physics he pioneered won two others their Nobel prizes. Also famously Einstein never won for the General theory of relativity, even though it’s considered to be one
o f the greatest intellectual achievements of mankind. By most accounts, this was a politically motivated decision. But by and large, the science prizes have still managed to retain their prestige.
Well done Wiki, for seeing through fascists. The Delhi pogrom was organised by the RSS-BJP because they were frustrated by the stand off over CAA-NRC. I shall subscribe to you.
Thats funny cause the delhi riots started when a muslim mob killed a hindu policeman
Wikipedia is anti-Hindu and biased. I will never donate to it.
Anonymous: Will you also take a pledge that you will never visit this anti-Hindu website? And report those traitors who do so to the authorities such that these Quislings are thrown into prison and the keys thrown away?
Wiki is very true about what they said about Jai shri Ram..now only i came to know about donation news.. so will donate..
The Wiki’s account of Delhi riots is internationally accepted due to both Indian and western reporters. No amount of Hindutva propaganda can alter that. Don’t delude yourself. The riot was a pogrom organised by Shah, Anurag Tahkur and BJP-RSS. The BBC showed clips of policemen throwing stones. Hindus can make fabrications and circulate by Whats App but the rest of the world knows who did it. You also know it, but you are mired in wickedness and you do not want to come out of it.
The Sanghis are fabricating history using mythology. That is the very thing that an encylcopaedia cannot allow. Why do the Hindus believe the intellectuals of the world will endorse Hindu fascism ? Hindutva will never be acceptable.
There is not a shred of doubt about it. They will never miss an occasion to denigrate Hindus and support breaking India forces.
I have already donated
Great!
I totally agree. Wikipedia promotes Hinduphobia. In it all Indian historical, cultural, mythologica, classical texts and dharmic views are presented with a negative connotation and the final, conclusive authority on anything Indian is necessarily a western/left-liberal source, person or link.
Indian history and mythology are two different things. Hindus of your ilk want to say mythology is history. The rest of the world will not agree with your delusions. Hindus need to stop whining, and get real.
I agree that Wikipedia is anti- Hindu. I donated to them before, but not again..
Don’t ever consult Wikipedia again then ! And I know you won’t be able to do without it – at least not until the RSS creates a Hindupaedia !