India is in the midst of a raging coronavirus outbreak as the number of infected continue to soar at an alarming rate. However, even during such difficult times, when an intractable pandemic is sweeping through the country, there exist certain individuals who are unabashedly exploiting the calamity to further their nefarious propaganda against the central government.
Recently, journalist Rana Ayyub took to Instagram to hold the government in the dock for being accountable for the death of the woman, who she claims died because the government did not provide her with food and water on board and the interminable delays caused by the train.
“Trigger alert. She had taken a train from Gujarat. A train that took multiple diversions, served no food onboard. At Muzaffarpur station, she collapsed of hunger and died. Her child here trying to wake his dead mother. How do we sleep at night? This is no death, this is a cold-blooded murder,” Rana Ayyub posted on her Instagram account along with a hard-rending video of a child trying to wake his mother.
The truth of the death of a woman at Muzaffarpur station
In her Instagram post, Ayyub claimed that the woman “collapsed” on the Muzaffarpur railway station and died of starvation. However, the truth about the passing away of the concerned woman starkly contrasts with her figment of the imagination. According to the sources in the Railways Ministry, the woman, who was travelling with her sister, husband and two children, was suffering from a prolonged illness and had died in the train during the journey.
The Railway sources further said that the Inspector-in-Charge of Railway Protection Force and Deputy SP Headquarters GRP Muzaffarpur, Mr Ramakant Upadhyay were informed about the death of the woman in the train and after securing permission from station in-charge, the body of the deceased was disembarked at the Muzaffarpur railway station and was subsequently examined by the Muzaffarpur Railway Division doctor.
The woman was suffering from prior ailments but Ayyub not only falsely claimed that the woman died of hunger, but she also weaved an imaginary story that the woman crumpled on the Muzaffarpur station before dying. Rana’s assertion that the woman died of hunger also doesn’t hold water as Indian Railways has clarified multiple times over that passengers on-board Shramik trains are provided with food, water and proper medical assistance.
भारतीय रेल द्वारा विभिन्न स्टेशनों पर आवश्यकता पड़ने पर यात्रियों को तुरंत चिकित्सा सहायता उपलब्ध कराई जाती है। सभी श्रमिक स्पेशल ट्रेनों में अनिवार्य रूप से खाना और पानी सभी यात्रियों को उपलब्ध कराया जाता है।
— Spokesperson Railways (@SpokespersonIR) May 27, 2020
इस खबर में किसी भी रेल अधिकारी का कोई भी पक्ष नहीं लिया गया है।
Despite multiple clarifications, a certain section of the media is working overtime to prove that the government is negligent.
Railways calls out misleading reports that claim lack of food and water on Shramik Trains
Indian Railways has called out the misleading reports that are attributing deaths due to prior ailments to negligence by the railways. On Wednesday, May 27, 2020, Jagran published news claiming that four people died on Shramik Express due to negligence. The report states that the migrant workers onboard Shramik Express have been deprived of food and water and cast aspersions that some of the migrants who died on these trains died due to lack of basic food and water.
However, the Indian Railways took to Twitter to rubbish the misinformation being spread regards to deaths on-board. Indian Railways asserted that medical assistance is provided to every passenger in case of emergencies. Moreover, food and water are provided on the Shramik Express trains for all passengers.
On Tuesday, Indian Railways had rebutted Dainik Bhaskar report which had claimed that lack of food and water on Shramik Express trains is leading to death of migrant workers. In its report, Bhaskar chalks up deaths of passengers to negligence observed by the railways. However, the Indian Railways categorically rejected the assertions made in the Bhaskar report, claiming that the cause of death of others onboard cannot be ascertained till the postmortem reports are out. One of the dead, a 4 year old Mohammad Irshad, had passed away while boarding the train from Muzaffarpur to Betiya. The Railways clarified that the child was ill and was returning from Delhi after treatment.
