In the age of the internet, globalisation, a thought or narrative can travel across the globe at breakneck speed. Ideological or religious warfare plays a significant role in social and mainstream media. Intellectuals, both honest and dishonest, recognised the importance of social media platforms in brainwashing or imposing particular thought processes, whether right or wrong. Previously, many communists used this platform aggressively to set a narrative against Sanatan Dharma, Bharat’s glorious past, Vedas, Puranas, and the creation of a positive image of Mughal invaders.
The narrative of these individuals against the concept of Bharat, its culture, socioeconomic fabric, and the destruction of Sanatan Dharma is concerning. This has brainwashed many of us in a negative way so that the energy that was intended to be used for the nation’s socio-economic growth has actually been used for destroying the great culture, destroying the socioeconomic fabric, fuelling caste-based discrimination, and ultimately weakening the mindset of children, leading to violent mentality and greediness, resulting in a compromise in patriotic feelings.
Though late, patriots awoke to this dangerous narrative and began expressing themselves on various media, they are still lacking on many fronts to respond suitably to the right narrative and with a sense of understanding and proportion to address various issues. There are many reasons for this, but the main concern is a lack of unity, an egoistic attitude, and a lack of interest in detailed reading or learning about a particular issue or subject. Sometimes the attitude of the nation and Sanatan Dharma first take a back seat, and the individual ego tries to become big for little gain and to satisfy the ego.
It is time to work smartly, pro-actively with detailed planning, proper coordination among various stakeholders, and in-depth research on an issue or topic to set a narrative or respond to the false narrative raised against an ‘Idea of Bharat’. Individuals or organisations working for this cause should avoid the ‘I am the righteous’ attitude and the obsession with image building.
Whenever there is a discussion in a group of people who have similar thought processes, the majority of the time, it ends up with hatred for each other, a diversion of the subject with unnecessary arguments of proving points, it feels like a stress building exercise and affects relationships, and finally losing to the fake narrative created by fake people.
Many foreign-funded organisations or individuals who oppose the ‘Idea of Bharat’ do so for a variety of reasons, including ignorance, selfish gain, incorrect teachings of their religious gurus, and hatred of Sanatan Dharma. The history of great leaders and freedom fighters is manipulated, and Mughal and British invaders are portrayed as great leaders in order to destroy the mindset of young people and society as a whole. These Bharat-breaking forces are experts at fabricating stories and have a thorough understanding of the psychology of various sectors of society. Fake or minor development stories are presented in such a way that they have never occurred in any part of the world. Many people become trapped as a result of a lack of personal and national character development.
When the Bharat building forces attempt to set the narrative with correct history or perspective through extensive research and development work on social media platforms, the Bharat breaking forces, with their strong manipulative mind, place some comments to divert the subject in their favour and divert people’s attention away from the main topic. The mistake that the nationalist makes is that, without understanding the trap, they respond to the comment, in the same manner, oblivious to the fact that the opponent is trapping to divert the issue and win the point.
The nationalists should keep in mind that they should continue to avoid such distracting comments in order to refocus readers’ attention on the main post. The various issues of national importance can be addressed in a similar manner, and the rest of the nationalist crowd should disseminate it on various platforms without the mindset that the creator or writer will benefit; the nation’s first attitude should prevail.
Another major source of concern is many nationalists’ lack of understanding and are of short temper. Whether it is the decision of a nationalist government or an organisation working for nation-building, any decision or sentence from top leadership, any painful incident, is strongly reacted to without realising that the government or organisation knows how to work on the issue, as they have demonstrated on numerous occasions. This strong reaction affects people who have a weaker mindset or are confused about the issue at hand. The breaking Bharat forces capitalise on this mindset and shape the narrative accordingly.
The intellectual warfare on social media must be fought with greater awareness, alertness, unity of purpose, a proactive mindset, well-defined and channelled research against fake narratives, improved reading and learning habits, and training for those who want to express themselves effectively on social media. We’ve won many battles on the battlefield; now it’s time to win the intellectual war on social media platforms.
