Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui on Friday was killed by the Taliban terrorists in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar after he had been embedded with the Afghan special forces to cover the clash between forces and Taliban fighters. However, the liberal brigade of the country, infamous for churning bogus narratives has shifted the blame of Danish’s death from Taliban to some internet trolls.
Ravish Kumar, the Magsaysay award winner, known for his alleged ‘fearless’ journalism could not take the name of Taliban in his obituary post for the photojournalist. Rather, Ravish seemed more intent on cussing the bullet which killed Danish.
गलती गोली की थी जो अपने आप हवा में तैर रही थी, रवीश ने उस गोली को हजार लानतें भेजी है, कहीं गलती से अगर कोई विपरीत विचारधारा का पत्रकार वहां मारा जाता तो रवीश पत्रकार की ही गलती निकाल देता कि हवा में तैरती गोली से जानबूझकर टकराया होगा। pic.twitter.com/7iWETypQHS
— The Frustrated Indian (@FrustIndian) July 16, 2021
Rana Ayyub, the Washington Post intern who appeared to be a friend of Danish, similarly couldn’t muster the courage to call out the Muslim overlords in the Taliban who killed her colleague. Speaking truth to power certainly works in enigmatic ways when Islamic terrorism is involved.
Danish Siddiqui. One of my first colleagues at work, friend, critic, mischief monger. One of the most dedicated journalists. Pursued his most passionate obsession, his love for the camera, capturing the truth however dangerous. You left too soon bhai @PoulomiMSaha pic.twitter.com/TvDgE0eC7J
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) July 16, 2021
Congress scion Rahul Gandhi who has lately become a full-time Twitter troll refrained from bringing Taliban into the conversation.
My condolences to the family and friends of Danish Siddiqui.
I appeal to GOI to facilitate bringing his mortal remains back home at the earliest. pic.twitter.com/3xcLETl9BL
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 16, 2021
Nearly every mourning piece for Danish carried a similar undertone. Those who knew or not knew him on the left side of the political spectrum were sad for his death but for some mysterious reasons could not call out his murderers.
Huge loss to journalism. Some iconic work on protests in India, Delhi riots, second wave. A remarkable chronicler of his times, Danish Siddiqui's work will live on for generations to come to learn and take inspiration from. Deepest condolences to his family, friends & colleagues. pic.twitter.com/7kYqtx0UBB
— Manisha Pande (@MnshaP) July 16, 2021
The Wire journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who has on multiple instances claimed that we are living in a fascist state and the PM is a dictator could not write a line for the Taliban jihadis sitting and killing innocent people in Afghanistan.
However, soon after tweeting the mourning post, normal service resumed for Sherwani and she managed to bring Right-Wing netizens into the discussion and somehow managed to portray that Indian RW killed Danish. It is pertinent to note that till the time of publishing the article, Sherwani still had not blamed the Taliban for the killing.
Absolutely shocking and extremely sad news ! @TOLOnews confirmed that our very brave and Pulitzer Prize Winner Indian journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed in clashes in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Rest in peace, Danish ! https://t.co/1bOWBQFbxt— Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa) July 16, 2021
How it started : We are better than Pakistan.
How it is going: We are better than Taliban.
Hindutva apologists have come a long way.— Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa) July 16, 2021
An accused in the doxing case, Mohammed Zubair did not even beat around the bush to assert that it was the RW that had killed Danish. His vitriol for a section of the public was on full display while the ‘good samaritans’ in Taliban were left alone by the supposed ‘fact-checker’.
He is hated by RW for showing the reality. He is hated by RW for exposing the mismanagement by the authorities. He is hated by RW for showing mirror to authorities who denied dignity to the death. He is hated by RW for exposing govt for not doing their duty. RIP Danish Siddiqui.
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) July 16, 2021
Shekar Gupta’s protégé Zainab Sikander, known for her anti-India posts made the discussion about Rohit Sardana and Danish Siddiqui and who was the better journalist out of the two.
Apparently, clicking photos does not help in creating narratives but holding news talk shows does. And while the allegiances of both departed men can be debated and argued, the fact that one was killed by the Taliban and yet his supposed friends could not call out the killers is a reason enough to understand whose allegiance one would rather prefer.
Rohit Sardana moderated debates,peddling opinions to create a narrative in the minds of his viewers.
Danish Siddiqui showcased pictures of real people in real places in real circumstances telling true stories as they happened.
DON'T COMPARE HOW THEY WERE SPOKEN OF POSTHUMOUSLY.
— Zainab Sikander (@zainabsikander) July 16, 2021
A netizen posited a hypothetical situation that perfectly summarized the problem with the obituary posts for Danish. She tweeted, “Suppose I just landed from Mars. And hypothetically I was given a Twitter account where I only follow liberal and Jihadi handles since they often overlap. Do you think I would have known who killed Danish Siddiqui?”
Suppose I just landed from Mars. And hypothetically I was given a Twitter account where I only follow liberal and Jihadi handles since they often overlap. Do you think I would have known who killed Danish Siddiqui?
— Sunanda Vashisht (@sunandavashisht) July 16, 2021
Let's get one thing straight:
Who killed Danish Siddiqui?#Taliban or India #RW?
If the answer is the former, why is blame being re-directed at the latter?
— Makarand R Paranjape, Ph.D. (Illinois) (@MakrandParanspe) July 17, 2021
Yes, blame the bullet, but not the Talibani mullahs that fired the bullet that blasted the head of Danish Siddiqui, coz Muzlims MUST NEVER BE BLAMED, right? pic.twitter.com/otXurDbNUT
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) July 17, 2021
https://twitter.com/GappistanRadio/status/1415946011411767300
Despite Danish’s unethical journalism when he posted and sold photos of burning pyres of the Indian crematoriums, his death is a grim reminder of the dark, bleak, dystopian situation in Afghanistan. Instead of squabbling with Internet trolls, the left-liberal journalists should call out Danish’s slaughterers without any filter and that presumably will be the most meaningful way to honour his memory. But alas, hatred and politics take precedence here as well. And did we mention, the killers were hardcore Islamic terrorists?
