The only effective way to create a contentious fork on a DPOS chain is to replicate everything except the stake that is opposed to the new version of the software (if you want to preserve the history of the old chain).

But they did replicate the stake. They then proceeded to transfer it. That is the problem at hand. It was not an airdrop. Everyone's stake was copied, and the users who were blacklisted had their stake transferred out of their account without consent. That is by no means an air drop (which they have been calling it). At the very least, they were deceitful in calling it an airdrop. Some have even claimed that it is theft.