It was a day of trolls, memes and fun on Twitter as the ruling BJP and its nemesis DMK trended two hashtags at odds with each other. The DMK trended #MentalMaridhas while the BJP and its supporters trended #ISupportMaridhas.
It began early on Tuesday after the DMK's organising secretary R.S. Bharathi lodged a complaint with the Chennai city police against YouTuber Maridhas, a BJP and RSS sympathiser who had alleged that the DMK has links with Pakistan.
"The publication of statements which are baseless, false and untrue is directly covered under Section 505(2) of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and is a cognizable offence. The intent of this section is to put onus on the state and its police agencies to take effective steps to prevent such public mischief and to ensure no untoward disturbance to public tranquillity transpires. Section 505(2) refers to 'statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes," Bharathi said in his complaint.
In the complaint, the DMK leader urged the police to book Maridhas for content which promotes enmity between classes by alleging that the DMK supported terrorists.
On August 19, the Madurai-based social commentator and author had posted a video titled 'Should DMK be banned?' on YouTube. In the video, which came after a statement made by DMK spokesperson A. Saravanan in a TV debate on DMK, Kashmir and the scrapping of article 370, Maridhas alleges that the DMK is a separatist and anti-national party that was promoting Pakistan's agenda. He claims in his video that there is a nationwide call for a ban on DMK.
In the video spanning more than 27 minutes, Maridhas is seen and heard making several allegations. "DMK has always been in touch with Pakistan and is a separatist party," he says, providing no documents or evidence to support his claim. "A voice has now grown in India for the ban of DMK. If you are patriotic you can stay here, if not, leave," Maridhas is heard saying in the video.
After Bharathi's complaint, two hashtags started to trend on twitter. While the DMK members and supporters trended #MentalMaridhas, BJP supporters including leaders like Tamilisai Soundararajan and H. Raja trended #ISupportMaridhas.
In a reply to the DMK that was posted on Facebook, Maridhas said, “DMK should stop spreading false information on me and oppose me in an upright manner. They should stop lying that I am creating enmity and answer all the questions that I have asked. If people think that I’m inciting them in the name of religion, I am ready to leave this country. At the same time, I will also voice my support for the Hindus. I don’t have to fake secularism.”
A post-graduate engineer, Maridhas runs his own YouTube channel called MaridhasAnswers. He shot to fame when Rajinikanth gave him an appointment and received his book titled Why I support Narendra Modi. In the about page of his YouTube page, Maridhas says that he started the channel to protect students from politicians with a separatist agenda. In his videos, he often counters the oppositions campaigns against the centre with statistics.
In his last tweet, on FCRA contributions to various trusts in India, he says Christian missionaries are receiving funds for conversion. "The list on MHA shows several organisations receiving contributions. Isha has 3 licenses for receiving donations. He has carefully chosen to ignore them and highlights Christian missionaries. This itself shows his agenda," tells DMK senior.
