New Delhi: In the last one month, there have been as many as seven communal flare-ups in West Bengal (WB), all triggered by an unduly aggressive social media.

The latest communal disruption in North 24 Paraganas district of WB is yet another grim reminder of how the social media has become an agent provocateur for communal and social unrest.

On July 2, a blasphemous post on Facebook by a 17-year-old boy against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) triggered communal riots in Baduria village of North 24 Parganas. The irate mob torched around 12 police vehicles, looted and ransacked several houses in the area.

The situation prompted the state government to rush 400 troops of paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) to contain the situation and suspend internet services for over a week.

Also, last week, Kolkata Police arrested a person for sharing an image from Bhojpuri film called ‘Aurat Khilona Nahi’ and passing it off as one from North 24 Parganas riots.

Interestingly, on Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma came under fire from Twitter users for passing off a picture of the 2002 Gujarat riots as that of the violence in West Bengal’s Basirhat.

“Since trolls spent a sleepless night covering up Basirhat violence, sharing media pics of the riots. Hope they report this to West Bengal Police too,” Sharma had tweeted attaching an image of charred vehicles along with it.

However, the social media users correctly pointed out to her that the image was from 2002. Defensive Sharma then said the picture reflected the reality of Bengal, irrespective of the place.

“I received a flyer from organisers of Save Bengal protests and I put it out. This has woken up the people in Lutyen’s Delhi who have maintained a stoic silence on Bengal till now,” she told media.

Not just in West Bengal or Gujarat, social media is used across the country to foment communal unrest.

Talking of Jammu and Kashmir, the state added almost 200,000 new mobile subscribers every month between February 2017 and April 2017. However, the Valley faced several internet bans in last six months causing huge losses to telecom companies and bringing inconvenience to common people.

“The ongoing internet suspension in Kashmir is 33rd since 2012. Internet services were shut 31 times in the state between 2012 and April 2017 and again banned in May 2017. The idea was to prevent rumour mongering and check violence,” Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), a Delhi-based not-for-profit organisation, said in its recently released report.

Last week, BJP lawmaker from Hyderabad T. Raja Singh posted a venomous message on Facebook accusing WB Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of allowing rioters to run amok in the state.

A video showing Singh exhorting Hindus of the state to wake up and give a befitting reply also surfaced three days ago.

“Hindus of West Bengal should give a befitting reply, just like the Hindus of Gujarat had earlier done in 2002. They should stand up against those who killed Hindus in 2002,” Singh said in the video posted on Twitter.

In April, he was seen in a video participating in a weapons training session. In another video in May, he had said he would behead those opposing the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

“To those who warn of dire consequences if Ram temple built, we were waiting for you to say this so we can behead you,” he tweeted.

He also stirred a controversy on social media when he tweeted that Dalits (those belonging to lower castes) flogged in Gujarat’s Una last year had to “face such consequences” because they indulged in cow slaughter. Earlier, he said he was ready to kill people who eat beef.