Right-wing trolls call DY Chandrachud foreign agent, a threat to democracy, anti-Hindu: Study

New Delhi: The false narrative about anything or anyone turning against the BJP and its Hindutva ideology, being created on social media with vicious intentions to undermine and denigrate individuals, has found a new target in none other than Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud.

The trolls targeting DY Chandrachud have become the subject of study by Joyjeet Pal, an associate professor at Michigan State University, and Shreyil Agarwal, a researcher at the same institute. They found that the CJI has been called a foreign agent, a threat to democracy, and an internal enemy.

Additionally, he has been accused of having globalist interests and is indoctrinated by global institutions like Harvard University and George Soros, a Hungarian-American billionaire and being anti-Hindu. It has been discovered that most of these trolls have a strong connection with the BJP.

They have also attacked his liberal positions on gender and sexuality, claiming that his ideological stances are "disconnected from mainstream Indian reality.”

The research paper indicates that the majority of the trolling targeting Chandrachud does not originate from mainstream media or political figures. Instead, it predominantly comes from social media influencers who are closely associated with or support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The researchers observed tweets from January 1 to April 20, 2023, and identified several prominent accounts that consistently tweeted against the Chief Justice.

Among the popular accounts mentioned in the study, Ramdharam Das, the spokesperson of ISKON (a Hindu religious group), and Abhijeet Iyer Mitra, a right-wing activist and columnist at the right-wing website OpIndia, were found to be active in the trolling campaign. Additionally, the study highlighted the involvement of a Twitter user named Ram Prasad, who is followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The research paper noted that while these individuals did not initiate the trolling against Chandrachud, they took advantage of the sudden public interest surrounding the Chief Justice and piggybacked on it to amplify the false narratives.

Interestingly, the study also revealed that criticism towards Chandrachud is not solely confined to right-wing circles. The research paper points out that he has faced accusations of benefiting from nepotism due to his father, YV Chandrachud, serving as the 16th Chief Justice of India. Additionally, some individuals have criticized Chandrachud for alleged casteism within the collegium, highlighting the lack of diversity and representation from marginalized communities.

This study sheds light on the targeted trolling faced by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and uncovers the involvement of social media influencers, many of whom have affiliations with or support for the BJP. The findings emphasize the need for responsible online discourse and a thorough understanding of the forces behind the propagation of false narratives on social media platforms.