Tukde Tukde Gang

Tukde Tukde Gang is a pejorative political catchphrase used in India by the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its sympathisers accusing their critics for allegedly supporting sedition and secessionism.[1] Whereas the words tukde-tukde refer to "breaking or cutting something into small fragments",[2] the phrase "tukde tukde gang" can be translated as "a gang that wants to divide the country". The phrase is used by BJP leadership, and pro-Government media to stigmatize political opponents who have different political views.[3][4][5]

Background

Sudhir Chaudhary, the editor-in-chief of Zee TV, took credit for coining the term. According to him, it was targeted at "designer journalists", and "English-speaking page 3 celebrities" who allegedly "sympathise with terrorists" and "malign the judicial system".[6] Shivam Vij credited Republic TV's Arnab Goswami for having popularised the term as a device to club together all the Left-liberal critics of the government and painting them as anti-nationals who allegedly wanted to see India broken to pieces.[7]

The term was popularised during the 2016 JNU sedition row. Then it was used to brand the left-leaning students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University that protested the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted for aiding terrorists. In a cellphone video that emerged after the protests, some protesters were heard shouting anti-national slogans such as "Bharat Tere Tukde Honge" (India, you will be divided into pieces).[8][9][10] Some students, including Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, were arrested under charges of sedition and later released,[11] following the Delhi High Court found out the videos were doctored and there is no direct link found between such sloganeering and the students who were arrested.[12][13]

Since then, numerous senior members of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) have used the phrase multiple times, including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi,[14] Home Minister Amit Shah,[4][15] Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad[3] and MoS External Affairs S. Jaishankar.[16][17]

Home Ministry's reply

On 26 December 2019, Amit Shah, while addressing a crowd in Delhi, called out CAA-NRC protesters as "tukde tukde gang" and said that they needed to be punished.[18]An RTI request was filed in the Ministry of Home Affairs headed by Amit Shah, querying the particulars of the "tukde tukde gang" and whether it was banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). In its reply on 20 January 2020, the Ministry said it had "no information concerning tukde-tukde gang."[19][20]

Reverse criticism

Yashwant Sinha, former Minister of Finance and External Affairs under PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee said, the real tukde-tukde gang are the one who are in the BJP indicating to Modi and Shah.[21] Renowned historian Ramachandra Guha said the real tukde-tukde gang are those, who are sitting in Delhi who want to divide the country on the basis of religion and languages while he was detained by police during CAA-NRC protest.[22] P. Chidambaram, the former Minister of Finance under PM Manmohan Singh, said that the "real tukde tukde gang" is the ruling party which is determined to divide the country on religious lines. He criticised the comment of Ravi Shankar Prasad, the sitting Law Minister of India, for calling protesters as a part of tukde-tukde gang.[23] Talking to the National Herald (India), Kanhaiya Kumar, on whom the BJP Government registered a seditious case, said that the BJP government has been using, the imaginary “tukde-tukde gang” to deflect public attention from the real issues of unemployment, economy and education.[24]

References
  1. Tripathi, Rahul (January 15, 2020). "Who are members of 'Tukde Tukde Gang': RTI". The Economic Times.
  2. "'Tukde-tukde' gang warned". Telegraph India. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  3. Press Trust of India (22 December 2019). "Tukde tukde gang, urban Naxals behind CAA, NRC protest: Ravi Shankar Prasad". India Today. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  4. "Kejriwal defending tukde tukde gang: Amit Shah ahead of Delhi poll announcement". India Today. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  5. Quraishi, Humra (August 27, 2020). "Godi Media and Govt Should Apologise for Spreading False Ideas about Tablighi Jamaat and COVID-19". National Herald, sec. Opinion.
  6. Sudhir Chaudhury boasts Zee created ‘tukde tukde gang’, Nidhi Razdan grills Pavan Verma, The Print, 22 January 2020.
  7. Shivam Vij, Tukde Tukde Gang is the ultimate fake news of the North Korean media, The Print, 25 April 2018.
  8. "3 Policemen Were Present, But Kanhaiya Kumar Case Based On TV Footage". NDTV. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  9. "There is no info on 'tukde tukde gang' admits home ministry, contradicts Modi, Amit Shah". The Week. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  10. "How the BJP has used the JNU sedition case to stifle dissent". Scroll. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  11. S, Kamaljit Kaur (15 January 2020). "Home ministry dumbfounded by RTI seeking details of 'Tukde Tukde Gang' members". India Today. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  12. "JNU doctored video: Court asks Delhi Police to file report". The NDTV. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  13. "JNU doctored videos: Delhi Police files status report in court". The Business Standard. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  14. "In Response to RTI, MHA Says It Has No Information About 'Tukde Tukde Gang'". The Wire. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  15. Naz, Nikhil (7 January 2020). "Will The Real 'Tukde-Tukde Gang' Please Stand Up?". The NDTV. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  16. PTI (6 January 2020). "We did not see any tukde-tukde gang in JNU: S Jaishankar". India Today. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  17. Chaudhury, Dipanjan Roy (2020-01-07). "When I was in JNU, there was no tukde-tukde gang there: S Jaishankar". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  18. "Time to punish tukde-tukde gang for anti-CAA violence in Delhi: Amit Shah". The India Today. 26 December 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  19. "Have no information on Tukde Tukde Gang: Home ministry in RTI reply". The India Today. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  20. "In Response to RTI, MHA Says It Has No Information About 'Tukde Tukde Gang'". The Wire. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  21. "Tukde-tukde gang has 2 people, Duryodhan and Dusshashan, both are in BJP: Yashwant Sinha". The India Today. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  22. "Real tukde-tukde gang sitting in Delhi: Guha". rediff.com. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  23. "When Chidambaram turned BJP's 'tukde tukde gang' barb into ammo to attack govt". The Hindustan Times. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  24. "Amit Shah's 'tukde tukde gang' barb is a sign of his desperation: Kanhaiya Kumar". The National Herald (India). 23 January 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.

Bibliography
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