The rising second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has been distressing for the public across the country. However, the western liberal media and the anti-India media lobby which is always looking to target the country has now taken the mantle to parade a propaganda that appears to demonize India for the emergence of the new deadly mutant virus. By constantly terming the newly mutated virus, which spreads rapidly and causes greater complications, as the ‘Indian variant’, — subtle propaganda is being weaved to win the perception battle on the world stage.
However, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a press conference set the liberal media reporters straight when they asked a question by purportedly using the term ‘Indian variant’ verbatim in their question.
In the video that has since gone viral, Boris can be heard saying, “You’re right to raise the Indian variant or B.1617.2 as we must call it. It is a variant of concern and we are anxious about it and it has been spreading,”
Showing diplomatic class, the Conservative leader quietly taught the reporter a lesson that he/she must use the scientific name of the mutated virus.
In another media briefing, Boris maintained a similar line and refrained from calling the mutated virus as the ‘Indian variant’ and preferred to call it by its scientific name.
“Since I spoke to you last Monday, we have seen further clusters of the B.1.617.2, the variant first observed in India. So far, it has been reported in Bolton, Blackburn, Darwen and some other parts of the country,” said Boris whilst adding, “At this stage, there are some important unknowns. We believe this variant is more transmissible than the previous one – in other words, it passes more easily from person to person – but we don’t know by how much,”
The Western media and its dichotomy with the developing world is an interesting case study. While the UK variant (B.1.1.7) was the first one to reach the Indian shores and unleashed the second wave — the likes of BBC or Telegraph actively avoided using the term ‘UK strain’. However, when it comes to the African strain or the Indian strain, they have no problem using them. The Journalistic integrity goes for a toss when reporting such incidents which makes one believe that perhaps it is the colonial hangover, whose stupor these publications are still in.
It is imperative to note that the B.1.1.7 variant was first detected in the UK in September last year and has since also been found in more than 100 other countries. It has 23 mutations in its genetic code.
The United Kingdom has so far reported over 44.62 lakh confirmed cases, of which, 1.27 lakh people have succumbed to the virus. While India, despite recording over 2.4 crore cases has only 2.62 lakh deaths.