Last year in May, the village of Noorpur in Uttar Pradesh made news when its Dalit residents alleged that a marriage procession of theirs had been stopped by a group of local Muslims. The situation became tense enough to warrant armed police being deployed in the area.
While efforts were made to calm the situation in Noorpur, this hashtag surfaced on Twitter: #नूरपूर_भीम_के_दुश्मन_मीम (Muslims are enemies of Noorpur’s Dalits). Messages with this hashtag falsely claimed that Muslims in Noorpur had not let the Dalit groom ride a mare to his wedding, as per wedding customs.
