It’s numbing to see parties mining COVID for self gain

This picture has been used for representational purpose

The police booked a BJP spokesperson for triggering panic with an unverified video. The spokesperson had tweeted a clip claiming that a person who was alive was being taken to a crematorium. It was accompanied by text claiming that it was beyond shocking and asking whether the state government had some target to reach when it comes to cremation.

This senior person could not provide satisfactory answers when asked about where exactly he got this information and how did he tweet this without verifying with his comments below. He did apologise later.

We are shocked that political parties have mined this tragedy for personal reasons. The recourse when asked about the genesis of the news is that it was to create awareness but inadvertently, it created alarm.

There is no use bluffing, blathering and blustering your way through, when hauled up for tweeting such false matters. One can blame the other parties, but right now it would be much better for every party to create workable, and actionable squads, helplines that give correct responses and pitch to alleviate a desperate and frightening situation.

People have enough to deal with, what with the WhatsApp factory spewing out fake forwards, mountains of warnings, very disturbing images and self-styled soothsayers portending more gloom and doom. One WhatsApp message with morbid visuals claims that people are deliberately left to perish in medical facilities for profits.

There are several warnings from companies about false information, fake accounts being bandied about on social media. In the midst of all this, comes false information from party spokespersons and seniors. Even by their own low standards, this is deplorable. Leaders at every rung have a responsibility to society, maybe they need daily tweets as reminders.