Dear New York Times: Do you even know what Malayali trolls are telling you on Facebook?

Dear New York Times: Do you even know what Malayali trolls are telling you on Facebook?
Dear New York Times: Do you even know what Malayali trolls are telling you on Facebook?
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The News Minute | October 5, 2014 | 11.00 am IST (Updated: October 6, 2014, 10:35 am IST )Whether it is baseball, Hong Kong’s student protests, Ebola fears in the US, the US fighting in Syria, Jeff Zucker reshaping CNN, smartphone photography, Indians,  especially Malayalis have made their presence felt.On the New York Times Facebook page: In true Malayali style: the language of God’s Own Country has become prominent.So what has made so many Malayalis descend on the NYT FB page? Pure anger, they claim is driving the. Hundreds of comments have been posted on stories on the FB page, demanding that the newspaper apologise for a racist cartoon showing India with a cow and knocking on the “Elite Space Club”. Some of the more polite / courteous / straightforward comments read #Apologize for #mangalyaancartoon.Others are a just little more peeved off, and even coordinated in the-entire-universe-will-conspire-to-make-things-happen-if-you-want-them-badly-enough kind of way..Some knowledge of context would help understand the sheer determination. PS: ISRO is a mini-Kerala. There are of course, people from other parts of the country, but a large number of them are from Kerala. But this doesn’t explain how Sachin Tendulkar has a Kerala connection. Remember Maria Sharapova’s comment about the Master Blaster?Also Read: India trolls, The New York Times apologises for 'racist' Mangalyaan cartoonPerhaps, hurt Malayali pride equals social media trolling. Malayalis and others to be fair, have taken it upon themselves to get New York Times to apologise for the cartoon. Most people post comments in Malayalam written in Malayalam, and others write Malayalam in English.Not a very effective communication strategy. So, we thought we could help out NYT, one news organization to another. Here’s a break-down of the type of comments that are appearing on nearly every other article NYT’s Facebook page shares.(PS: Abusive comments not reproduced. All comments originally written in Malayali Malayalam or English Malayalam)The Patriotic Malayali Indian: We are Malayali, belonging to the smallest state in the bottom half of India. We may fight amongst ourselves over politics, caste, religion, about anything under the sun. But we will unite if someone else criticises us. In Malayalam.To this, some curious bloke asked: What language is this?Pat came the reply: This is Malayalam. (In Malayalam)The Marxist Malayali Indian: How dare you call us beggars, when you are enjoying the fruits of our labour?Another Malayali: Till these guys apologise, there is no question of exiting this page. Go call your Obama!The timid suggestion: What about all of us report this page to Facebook and get it closed down.The assertive Malayali: First take a decision on the cartoonist, then post other articles.The troll Army commander: Nobody should disperse, it’s just going to be morning for them. (This comment was posted last night)Then there were those who (like us) checked out the page for some fun

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