By Aliza Noor
If you thought you have seen the media or the right-wing ecosystem term everything as ‘Jihad’ already, then well, you’re in for a surprise.
A wild new claim, another alleged ‘Jihad’ has entered the market and this time, it’s ‘Rakhi Jihad.’ Ahead of Rakhi celebrations on 9 August, The Quint found out that right from right-wing accounts, to a prominent TV media channel, all are purportedly platforming narrative of ‘Rakhi Jihad.’
But how did this new ‘Jihad’ rhetoric take form? Where did it originate from?
This misinformation — evidently aiming to target Muslims — was borne out of a video reported by a local TV news channel, Pahad TV. The video showcased a collection of Rakhis being sold on Dehradun road, Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.
Among them is a Rakhi which has a moon and the star, and this has become the point of contention, enough to launch ‘Jihad’ allegations, without rhyme or reason.
“The moon and the star on the Rakhi also represents another community. This should be investigated as to what do these elements signify? Does this signal towards a Jihadi conspiracy to malign Hindu festivals?” a voiceover in the video can be heard saying.
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.
