How Bhim Army uses social media to `recruit' its soldiers

MEERUT: Bhim Army, the Dalit organisation founded by Saharanpur native Chandrashekhar Azad, has been garnering more and more support from people across UP and beyondDalit analysts believe that Bhim Army -which started as a small WhatsApp gro. With nobody emerging in person to mobilise crowds in rural areas, it is being done by groups working online. up of proDalit thinkers -has grown every day purely based on their efforts online.

"Even Chandrashekhar Azad, barring the manner in which he turned up and spoke at Jantar Mantar, has been largely quiet, and the only way Dalits are being mobilised is through social media. They have numerous Facebook and Twitter handles and WhatsApp groups to inform people about developments in their movement. Azad believes that he is being cheated by the mainstream media," said Satish Prakash, a Meerut-based Dalit intellectual.

On Sunday, when thousands of Dalits gathered at Jantar Mantar, there were not only Facebook lives from the spot by Bhim Army supporters but WhatsApp messages too, thanking people for the support.Bhim Army supporters said cops were wary of their social media campaign and even tried to counter it.

According to them, a day before the protest, police allegedly circulated messages that the event had been cancelled due to denial of permission by Delhi Police. "We had to quickly launch a countercampaign to call their bluff," said an activist linked to the online operations.