Rajat Sharma, a veteran Indian Journalist and TV editor-in-chief, has been criticised upon his hatred tweets by the Muslim community in India amid coronavirus tensions. His tweet came days after the death of a Muslim man due to COVID-19 in Nagpur, India.
It clearly shows that the tweet was linked to the gathering of migrant workers in Mumbai’s Bandra recently. The tweet read, “Abdul Latif of Nagpur hid corona. After his death, it emerged that he had infected his sons, daughter-in-law, brother, sister-in-law, daughters, son-in-law, grandsons and the whole family.
As a nation we are failed now.
Look the language of tweet, criminals are criminals neither hindu nor muslim.@RajatSharmaLive ji please please stop this classification it is breaking us, our society, our image in world. https://t.co/v31pIqo5IF— चक्रवर्ती सर्वदमन (@PeeNInews) April 24, 2020
Even his friends, who met him unknowingly fell victims. In total, 55 positive cases have come and reports for 144 more are yet to come. People of Nagpur are surprised.”
“Your news and tweet show you must be seeing Muslims even your dream”: Rajat Sharma of India TV faces brutal social media trolling for his latest tweet on coronavirus victim https://t.co/IrQdTrWmyv pic.twitter.com/Rl1BQK4oiH
— Guess what (@2GuessWhat4) April 24, 2020
Sharma’s Islamophobic tweet was instantly followed by a number of social media users. The response of the users to his tweet emphasised on the religious identity of the corona victim. As one person wrote, “Your news and tweet show that you must be seeing Muslims even your dream.”
Reaction after his Tweet:
Anti- Islamic hashtags on the microblogging website by the journalist posed a question on the religious identity of Suresh, a Dubai-returned man, who threw a feast of 1500 people in Madhya Pradesh whilst being positively diagnosed with the pandemic coronavirus. The whole Monera district was sealed by the authorities, where the ceremony took place.
Read more: India blames Tableeghi Jamaat leader for Coronavirus surge
Rajan Sharma had been slammed by the Muslims of India as he emphasized on ‘Jama Masjid’ in his tweet, which was followed by a protest outside Bandra’s railway station. The protest was flooded with the migrant workers and labourers. A veteran journalist Nikhil Wagle also passed aggressive remarks on Sharma’s tweet by calling him ‘shameless’ as he gave a communal color to the protest.
After the outbreak of coronavirus in India, the Muslim Community have been facing more difficulties. The gathering of Tableeghi Jamaat in India was accused as the event of virus spread. Many Muslims were stopped from selling things in the streets, virus-infected patients were banned from giving proper treatment in the hospitals.
Read more: ‘Anti-Muslim’ law causes countrywide protests in India
Violent attacks on Muslims perceived to be carriers of the virus have been reported from different parts of the country. The gap between Hindu-Muslim community burgeoned when the government of India created a separate list of the virus carriers who participated in the Tablighi jamaat’s gathering. There has been a sudden surge in anti-muslim hashtags on social media platforms since the outbreak of the deadly disease which makes the situation even worst.