Yesterday, Twitter was abuzz with the outrage on the Swiss couple assaulted in Agra during their trip to Fatehpur Sikri. Even External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj took to Twitter to assure Indians as well as tourists that the government is working for maintenance of law, order and safety for everyone.
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/923397853463986176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/923399286217326593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
A county like India which has such rich and varied culture and history to offer, tourism is one of the very important industries. Hence, the concern over safety of tourists is not misplaced.
While making the elected government accountable for their deeds is within your right, being an abusive troll and indulging in fear mongering is not something a responsible citizen should resort to. Akash Bannerjee, Vice President of popular radio channel Radio Mirchi, is known to be a hateful twitter troll, and has also been accused of spreading a fake video on Twitter.
Yesterday, Bannerjee shared another video, this time addressing foreign tourists visiting India, urging them to not visit us. At first he reached out to Swiss Broadcasting Company and passive aggressively informed them about the attack that took place yesterday. After about 10-12 hours of posting it, he put another tweet in the same thread, addressing same organisation saying how India is not safe for tourists and they should not come.
https://twitter.com/akashbanerjee/status/923588856099868674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The ad starts with how Incredible India welcomed tourists then (which is a non-specified time in the past) where things were great. But now, all tourist spots are unsafe and hence, instead of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ it is #MatAaoIndia. It was appalling. Safety is paramount, but is this a way to create awareness? This is more like fear mongering. If a reputed and popular radio station is running it, Indian tourism industry will come crashing down!
Soon, twitterati questioned whether Radio Mirchi, a respectable brand with a very wide reach and influence, stands by the video which reeks of sheer irresponsibility!
https://twitter.com/iAnkurSingh/status/923614007306567686?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Faatima433/status/923628234914140160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/moronhumor/status/923664821731684354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Nesenag/status/923610282026418176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/AndColorPockeT/status/923603268734816258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/vivekagnihotri/status/923616069322809344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/ARanganathan72/status/923636791172673536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Twitter users also pointed out that perhaps the Unified Access licence Department of Telecommunication guidelines could do with amendment such that the platforms of public goods are not misused.
https://twitter.com/muglikar_/status/923770865346662405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It is really unfortunate that a brand like Radio Mirchi would want to dissuade tourists from visiting India because of one unfortunate incident.