As most of us are reeling from the tragic news from our mother country of untold deaths and sufferings during the second wave of the pandemic, one cannot help noticing the narrative the BBC reporting team worked with throughout last few days.
Opinion loud and clear as evidenced in social media platforms is that of abject helplessness at watching the ‘cremation porn’ touted by likes of BBC and other foreign media aided by out of bounds Indian counterparts. So much upset was wider Hindu community that Mr Vinod Popat of Shantidham and many co-signatories’ of various leading Mandirs and associations had to make complaint to BBC about the distress caused by the images of funeral pyres. Cremation is a sacred Hindu rite and is very personal and private to the bereaved family, not for public consumption.
How would the people from other faiths react if mass burial of coffins were constantly shown on TV screens? BBC employs reporters, including ones of Indian origin who rather than stating the attempts by the Indian government to address the issue, cite politically charged statements such as election rallies, the Haridwar Kumbh Mela etc. The reported infection rate in West Bengal and northern India where the rallies and Kumbh Mela took place is lower than in Maharashtra and Delhi where there were no such gatherings.
BBC never complained about the thousands of farmers protesting and march to Delhi on Republic day as super spreaders presumably because they sided with the protest which ultimately was to blame PM Modi. You can pick up an BBC online news and the common theme is how to blame the Prime Minister or the Govt. of India. If its BBC’s plan to make the Hindus watching such news start being critical of PM Modi, then it has not worked. India has no luxury like NHS in the UK and media compares the readiness of local health departments to face such an avalanche of infections. For a country of some 1.35 billion why don’t they report on the per capita death or recovery rate?
I would urge all British Indians to en mass complain to BBC about their anti-Hindu stance and one person hatred as clearly it will always backfire. We are the licence fee payers and BBC’s anti-India rhetoric must stop.
Jai Hind
DeshPremi
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BBC would not have flame if Indian anti Hindu opposition political parties and media did not lick BBC ..
Those who are managing BBC are anti Democracy and Hippocrates and tyrants mis-using on TV Licence Fees
Journalism at it lowest
What is happening in India, We all should pray that it should stop.Many people are dying and I feel news agencies must cover and tell us what is happening and they are doing. Some of the scenes are very upsetting but it is up to you to watch or not. BBC news coverage was important to let us know the situation.