Journalists, activists and followers came together on Monday for a “digital protest” against the alleged disappearance of journalist and blogger Mudassar Mehmood Naaru.
Several demonstrations have been held over the years against Naaru’s alleged disappearance since 2018. The latest is #FindNaaruAlive, which demanded the journalist’s “immediate and safe” release. It was a digital protest held across Twitter and Facebook.
Raise your voice for #MudassarNaaru and other victims of Enforced Disappearances and their families. Join the digital protest, today, at 7 pm across social media by using #FindNaaruAlive and #EndEnforcedDisappearances #InternationalDayoftheDisappeared pic.twitter.com/ObJa6L9f76
— #FindNaaruAlive (@FindNaaruAlive) August 30, 2021
The organisers explained to SAMAA Digital how the protest was going to unfold.
“It’s fairly simple. We have announced the hashtags we will be using and everyone will be tweeting using those hashtags for a few hours.”
The three hashtags #FindNaaruAlive, #MudassarNaaru, and #EndForcedDisappearances had been posted nearly a month before the protest. It kicked off at 7pm on Monday and started gaining momentum around 9pm. Some tweets suggest that people were using the hashtag well past 1am.
#MudassarNaaru emerged as the most popular hashtag and started to climb Twitter trends after 9:30pm.
The tweets followed a standard format. The protesters gave their names, pledged that they stand by Naaru and demanded his release.
My name is Hani Taha. I stand by #MudassarNaaru and all other disappeared persons. I demand their immediate and safe release. #FindNaaruAlive #EndEnforcedDisappearances #HumanRights https://t.co/WJ0Ko9hbeR
— Hani Taha (@u_hani_taha) August 31, 2021
A number of tweets carried a photo of Naaru’s son.
My name is Shaheer Ahmad. I stand by #MudassarNaaru and other disappeared persons. I demand their immediate and safe release. #FindNaaruAlive #EndEnforcedDisappearances pic.twitter.com/3oWfuGol91
— Shaheer Ahmad (@Shaheer_Ahmad1) August 31, 2021
Several big names joined the protest, including Hamid Mir and Asma Shirazi.
My name is Hamid Mir. I stand by #MudassarNaaru and all other disappeared persons. I demand their immediate and safe release. #FindNaaruAlive #EndEnforcedDisappearances #HumanRights #Pakistan
— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) August 30, 2021
#FindNaaruAlive pic.twitter.com/BJ8rqgDmM1
— Asma Shirazi (@asmashirazi) August 31, 2021
#FindNaaruAlive is an example of digital advocacy. It refers to the use of technology to inform, contact, or mobilise a group of people around a specific cause or event. Digital advocacy may involve websites, emails, texts and blogs, but the most common and convenient way of registering a protest online is by using hashtags. It helps propel the event into top trends quickly. Digital advocacy helps with a wider reach and an effective way of monitoring progress.
There were 1,603 tweets related to Mudassir Naaru at 9:53pm on Monday.
Naaru is said to have gone missing in August of 2018 while he was on vacation in Kaghan with his wife Sadaf Chughtai and their then six-month-old son Sachal. Sadaf was found dead at her Lahore home in May 2021 after campaigning for her husband for three and a half years.
There has been no progress in the case so far.
Follow SAMAA English on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
from SAMAA https://ift.tt/3mJWiww
0 Comments