In a highly distressing incident from Uttar Pradesh, a six years old tigress was beaten to death by a mod armed with sticks; a shocking video of the incident had also surfaced which would send shivers down the spine of anyone watching a helpless creature being battered.
What the hell!! This is allegedly from Pilibhit. The full grown tiger was beaten to death by the villagers! We take over their natural habitat & then such display of cruelty! @ParveenKaswan @susantananda3 pic.twitter.com/08srBnpy5J
— Akancha Srivastava (@AkanchaS) July 26, 2019
While calls for strict action against the mob poured in from all quarters, an FIR was also registered against 31 identified and 12 unknown people. Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) field director H Rajamohan had said on the incident that “The tigress’ age was assessed between five and six years. She had sustained fractures and injuries from sharp-edged weapons like spears on almost every part of her body. She also had broken ribs. The tigress was cremated after the autopsy.”
Pilibhit District Magistrate Vaibhav Srivastava said, “Some of the attackers have been identified, while efforts are on to identify others.”
While condemnations of these acts are not only warranted but also should be taken to firm conclusive action, Bollywood actress Dia Mirza was ready to use this incident to churn a controversy by starting the cycle of blame game, and her target were the forest officials, However, her meek attempts met stiff resistance from another Bollywood star Randeep Hooda who called her out and exposed her ulterior motives.
Dia Mirza had taken to microblogging platform Twitter and tweeted, “The tigress could have been rescued and given timely medical aid as the forest officials had reached the spot. But their inability to rescue the injured big cat in a span of over nine hours undoubtedly reflects their inability in protecting wildlife in adverse situations.”
“The tigress could have been rescued and given timely medical aid as the forest officials had reached the spot. But their inability to rescue the injured big cat in a span of over nine hours undoubtedly reflects their inability in protecting wildlife in adverse situations.” https://t.co/Nmibo4vnG6
— Dia Mirza (@deespeak) July 26, 2019
However, Randeep Hooda called out the meek attempt to put the blame on the forest officials without any basis and tweeted, “With all due respect I disagree with this sweeping accusation @deespeakForest dept is capable and doing good work. She was beyond rescue when found as I talked with experts. Even staff got injured in process. It’s the forest dept that keeping our wildlife alive not just NGOs”
With all due respect I disagree with this sweeping accusation @deespeak Forest dept is capable and doing good work. She was beyond rescue when found as I talked with experts. Even staff got injured in process. It’s the forest dept thats keeping our wildlife alive not just NGOs🙏🏽 https://t.co/03roi3awf2
— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) July 27, 2019
Shortly after the comments by Randeep Hooda, Dia Mirza tweeted to distance herself from the quoted comments and tried to put herself out as someone who had always championed “the cause of Forest Rangers and officials.” She tweeted, “Randeep, please know that this is a quote from the article attached clearly denoted by the inverted commas. I have always, and will always champion the cause of Forest Rangers and officials. They work with very frugal means and are brave, resilient, rakshaks of our lives”
However, Randeep called her out for selectively quoting the part which had indicated towards the alleged failure of forest officials.
Why share that particular quote only from the whole article then ?🤔
— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) July 27, 2019
Now after being caught red-handed, Dia Mirza changed the tone and claimed that forest department needed more recourses, Nonetheless, Randeep Hooda pointed out her ill-intent which was clearly to demonize the forest officials on the back of a heinous crime committed by the mob.
In other words you do believe what you had picked to quote dear @deespeak let’s not make villains out of the forest department on hearsay and undermine their relentless hard work while going about town praising other players for theirs..the aim is the same, let’s work together 🙏🏽 https://t.co/xuKTYbBATY
— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) July 27, 2019
This is not the first time when a pseudo-liberal has been caught red-handed using heinous crimes to peddle their agenda-driven bias, however, this exchange between two Bollywood personalities is a positive indication that such bias which earlier met no resistance will now not go unchecked.