Stranded in Ukraine, Rashid Rizwan’s anti-CAA stance made him a target of right-wing hate

Over the last few weeks, users of social media have sifted through, cross-checked and reshared posts and videos of Indian students stuck in Ukraine. However, one video, in particular, stood out. The subject of the video, Rashid Rizwan, a student of medicine in Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk national medical university, can be seen remarking in a video posted a few days ago, “ Isse acha toh mar hi jaate ,” (We might as well have died instead of suffering this way.) Even a superficial viewing of the video makes it clear that Rashid was distraught. His eyes, still glassy with leftover tears speak volumes. He asks how long he can cope. ( Kitna sambhale khud ko ?) As the video progresses, Rashid says, in a shaky, fearful tone that “ yahan par puchne wala koi nahi hain . (There is no one her to enquire after our well-being)” While a big chunk of social media, reshared this video hoping to convey the anxiety of the trapped students, another part of the Twitterverse (spearheaded by the right-wing) chose this moment to dig up Rashid’s old tweets to invalidate him.
If someone has raised his voice for the truth, will you expel him from the country? Now that he and some of his students are stranded in Ukraine, you are trolling him instead of supporting him. #RashidRizwan pic.twitter.com/fYagcwz5xa — Meraj Faateh (@MerajFaateh1) February 27, 2022 Rashid, who is a native of Gopalganj district of Bihar, was critical of the Citizenship Amendment Act introduced by the Union government in 2019 and in fact protested against it in his university in Ukraine. He also stood in solidarity with the countless victims of the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. And for that reason alone, some people argued that he did not deserve to be rescued from a war-torn country.
How the right-wing maligned Rashid bit by bit Popular right-wing website OpIndia.com, known for spreading fake news, called Rashid an “avid supporter of rioters and Islamists.” Communemag.com, another questionable media outlet accused the student of peddling a narrative against the government. Yet another online portal accused him of fake propaganda. All of this is aside from the hate Rashid has had to deal with on Twitter.
Islamophobia and Political bias “ Kuch logon ne Twitter par DM karke toh ye bhi kaha ki mujhe marr jana chahiye. Main gaddar hoon . (Some people messaged me on Twitter and said that I should die because I am a traitor),” says Rashid while speaking to Siasat.com over a WhatsApp call . As per his account, he was subjected to further scrutiny. There were verbal abuses hurled at his mother and sister ( maa-behan ki gaali ) and some people said that they wished a “rocket would hit Rashid”.