The creator of the popular Humans of Hindutva Facebook page on Thursday claimed that he had received several death threats to his family and deleted the page.
The administrator, who has chosen to remain anonymous, wrote on Satyanash that he was quitting of his own accord, and not because he was banned or mass reported. “I am outnumbered, live in a BJP state and come from a middle-class family with no political or police connections,” he wrote. “I have no desire to end up like Gauri Lankesh or Afrazul Khan.”
The creator congratulated “Hindutva for winning this David vs Goliath fight”, and said that he hopes those who have threatened him and his family will leave them alone now.
The page, inspired by the famous Humans of New York, featured satirical commentary on moral policing, attacks by cow vigilantes, casteism and other aspects of Hindutva.
In September, the administrator had deactivated the page for a few days and said: “It was a good run, but...I’m tired of arguing with people for the past five months.”
Humans of Hindutva began in April with a photograph of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath purportedly threatening to to make beef-eaters switch to paneer.
The page’s administrator had explained that he decided to start his own parody page after noticing a sharp spike in the number of publications online with a clear right-wing bias, all of which were engaged in the business of peddling “alternative facts”.
“I joined the fake news party,” he had told Scroll.in when it interviewed him for a feature about the page. Read it here.
Here is the full text of his post on Satyanash:
I’m quitting out of my own accord. I’ve not been banned or mass reported. I have recently received some threats to my life which I can’t take lightly. I am outnumbered, live in a BJP state and come from a middle-class family with no political or police connections. I have no desire to end up like Gauri Lankesh or Afrazul Khan. Actually, more than myself I worry for the safety of my family. I hope those who threatened me consider this as a victory and leave us alone. I have deleted the HOH page and will delete this website soon. Congratulations to Hindutva on winning this David vs. Goliath fight.
As for those who were kind enough to lend me their ears for the last eight months, I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year. Cheers and alvida. Thanks for giving me some of your time.
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