NDTV’s report on increasing Nipah Virus cases in Kerala which featured a couple of burqa clad women has upset a certain section of Twitter.
NDTV reported that in Kerala, as many as 68 people have been put under isolation for Nipah Virus. All patients are in Kozhikode and are stable as per the report.
However, the representational image used by NDTV has upset the usual suspects, who have cried Islamophobia.
Twitter user Mazher Hassan demanded an answer from NDTV’s Executive Editor Vishnu Som for using women in veil in the report. The insinuation is that the women in veil, perhaps, are immune from the virus.
Twitter user Faraz focused only on the two women even though there are at least 14 other people in the picture.
One Maqsood, who is also a politician and has contested BMC elections in Mumbai, also tagged other prominent Muslim personalities to draw their attention to NDTV and its alleged ‘Islamophobia.
Twitter user Green Apple with Palestine flag in its profile picture also focused only on two burqa clad women in a picture that had over a dozen other people.
Twitter user Sameer even declared NDTV as ‘kuffar laetebar’ and said he was not surprised NDTV used the image for reporting on Nipah Virus.
NDTV and Islamophobia
This is not the first time NDTV has been accused of Islamophobia by the usual suspects. Earlier last month, NDTV, while sharing a story on increasing coronavirus cases, used a representational image of a man wearing skullcap who was getting tested for the same.
However, after the tweet was shared, NDTV was accused of Islamophobia for using a representational image of a Muslim man for getting tested for coronavirus.
However, soon the ‘liberals’ were offended at the representational image and bullied NDTV into deleting the tweet and changing the featured image.
India has over 20 crore Muslims, which is about 15% of India’s total population. Considering the coronavirus pandemic affected every individual equally irrespective of religion and caste, a representational should have not drawn such an ire. However, in the ‘secular’ India, a Muslim occultist accused of rape can have a Hindu sadhu’s image as ‘representational image’, but such factual representation is a no-go zone.