Deccan Chronicle, on Thursday, ran a story on Indian Army’s proposal of allowing civilians join the Armed Forces for three years. While the report itself was devoid of any jibes, the headline took a dig at the ‘bhakts’ suggesting that now is the time for supporters of Prime Minister Modi, who are often referred to as ‘bhakts’ (devotees) or ‘andh bhakts’ (blind followers) condescendingly by a certain section of media and politicians, to join the Army.
Congress supporters soon hailed Deccan Chronicle for its ‘fantastic’ headline and also expressed fear that the ‘Sanghis’ might now ‘infiltrate’ the army.
https://twitter.com/KavitaThomas/status/1260982762124840961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Some even saw this as a sign that the print media has ‘credibility’. https://twitter.com/RamgarhWaala/status/1260982742956642309?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwMeanwhile, PM Modi’s supporters took the jibe in their stride and used the taunt as proof that only the ‘bhakts’ could actually serve the nation and be ready to die for the motherland.
https://twitter.com/desimojito/status/1261139192001622017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/runjhunmehrotra/status/1261173624586637313?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwHowever, a day later, despite appreciation from Congress supporters, Deccan Chronicle has quietly removed the ‘bhakt’ jibe from its headline.
The quietly updated headline now reads “Army proposes three-year Tour of Duty for citizens”.
The Game of Headlines
AajTak had recently displayed Hinduphobia by dragging Karwa Chauth in a report on violence in a Muslim household. The headline stated that a husband had severed his wife’s tongue on the day of ‘Karwa Chauth’ when the perpetrator and the victim, both, were non-Hindus. Similarly, earlier NDTV had to change its headline after its dishonesty was caught on Twitter.