There are trolls, and then there are trolls. The second category of people (or bots) appear to have a set Standard Response Manual for certain “causes” close to their heart. So no matter what the statement or question about these “causes” is, the responses are generally predictable or standardized.
The current “cause” being discussed is Art of Living founder Sr Sri Ravishankar, who’s been accused of damaging the ecology of the Yamuna river. The case is being heard by the National Green Tribunal, which is established by an act of Parliament. For a list of concerns raised by the NGT, see here.
The News Minute has curated some of the comments posted below news reports about these allegations and tweets doing the rounds under various hashtags.
Here’s the top 10 Standard Responses to the allegations against Sri Sri Ravishankar:
For the Nation, is the most popular one:
1. “No doubt, whenever India sees a proud moment, anti-nationals oppose it..”
2. “This event is going to be a proud event for India and most of the countries are going to participate in this.”
India’s ancient glory comes a close second after the notion of nationism, coz we live in the present, right?:
3. “In ancient times also when our Rishis used to do Yagna for world peace, Demons used to come to stop it. History is repeating.!hypocrisy to the core..”
The look-for-the-positive-side / World Peace argument:
4. The aim is to clean the Yamuna and bring in awareness. Its a major cultural festival and not a political dharna or a stage for hate speeches. It aims at bringing people together to enjoy the beauty of art and culture besides one of India's most sacred rivers. Let's stop being a moral police for every thing.
(We don’t even know what to call these)
6. I did not hear of a "Do not have a Christian event!" or a "Do not celebrate Tipu's past!" petition. They did not care to even write an article decrying these events.
7. I don't think the purpose of this article is about the ecology. It is against Hinduism. Why not come out clean?!
8. Nobody ever cared about ecosystem, or inconvenience it created to common people when Sonia ji spread red carpet to Benny Hinn
9. There is so much of illegal mining of minerals n sand going on all over d country, illegal cutting of forest is going on, but ***** tv channel cant see that, just because Sri Sri said India had always been a tolerant country, ***** tv channel is targeting Sri Sri.
Well, this one we just threw in for fun:
10. Huffington post.. tell me your address and I will send burnol packs. Why haj subsidy anyway?