V.P. Rajeena, a journalist based in Kozhikode, has become the target of organised online abuse, after she shared her personal experiences of studying in a madrasa in her younger days. Facebook closed down her profile on Wednesday after mass reporting by her detractors.
On Sunday, Rajeena put up a post in the social network on alleged instances of immoral conduct of madrasa instructors, which she claimed to have witnessed. The post touched a raw nerve and set off a torrent of abuses and open threats on her Facebook page and in her message box.
“The abuses came in large numbers, questioning my motive at making these revelations. They pictured it as an attack on the religion. I never tried to generalise this as the behaviour of all madrasa instructors. I just shared what I experienced. But many others from the community did come out in support. A few shared with me similar experiences which they had kept as secret all these years,” says Rajeena.
Blocked, recovered, blocked again
On Tuesday, she was locked out of her account after mass reporting, but she managed to recover it. On Wednesday, the account was again blocked and it might be an arduous task to get it back. “One of the other criticisms was on the timing of my revelations. I thought of making this public after I started hearing the opinions of conservative community organisations on the question of gender equality, related to the Feroke college issue. Muslim women here are facing denial of justice on so many levels, but they do not have a platform to raise these issues within the community. I was forced to use social networks because of this very reason. The suppressed anger of so many years might have also come out through the post,” she says.
She says that many of those who have targeted her have spoken out against intolerance in other issues. “In this case, their intolerance to my opinion is due to the fact that I am a woman from their community. They are scared of more women speaking out. Instead of targeting me, they should try to ensure that women from the community get justice. Being silent about issues is not the solution,” she says.
