A recent viral video on social media platform X has ignited a fierce debate, exposing the ugly underbelly of online racism and stereotyping. The clip, filmed outside the iconic Taj hotels in Mumbai, shows a group of tourist women from Azerbaijan posing for photographs.
The Viral Clip and Its Damaging Narrative
The video quickly pans to show a group of Indian men on the other side, some of whom are looking in the direction of the women and recording on their phones. The person who posted the video added a caption that read, "Indian men look at Azerbaijani women like they’ve never seen a human." This framing set the tone for a torrent of hateful comments. The post gained significant traction, amassing over 163,000 views and more than 4,000 likes.
A Flood of Racist Comments Targets India
The comments section beneath the post became a cesspool of prejudice, with users from various parts of the world using the clip to launch broad, racist attacks on India and its people. The remarks revealed a deeply entrenched and offensive lens through which some still view the country.
One user wrote, "Reminder to never ever go to India! If a toilet and a garbage dump had a baby." Another comment stated, "Color obsessed? That caste society is said to suffer from it." Several comments focused obsessively on skin color and hygiene, with one claiming, "It’s because they’re mostly white women. It’s a fixation with white women." Other derogatory statements included labels like "Most disgusting race in the world" and crude references to "The smell."
Reality Check and Pushback Against Stereotyping
While the video does raise valid questions about public behavior and privacy in the digital age, many social media users provided crucial context and pushed back against the sweeping generalizations. They pointed out that the women were visibly posing for photos, suggesting a possible interaction between the two groups that was completely omitted from the narrative.
One user countered, "The women are posing for a photo. Your claim is most likely taken out of context." Another offered a rational perspective, stating, "If staring equals 'never seen a human,' then the same logic would apply to tourists everywhere. Bad behaviour is individual, not national. Generalising Indians is no different from any other prejudice."
This incident serves as a stark reminder of how social media can be weaponized to amplify racist stereotypes. It underscores that while the platform connects the globe, it also provides a space for some to find community in their darkest prejudices, all while reducing complex human interactions to a single, misleading frame.
