NDTV let itself be bullied by Islamists. Now, it is being trolled by Times Now and the Hindustan Times

Leftist media house NDTV has been at the centre of a mass trolling campaign as national media houses, as well as netizens are taking digs at the publication for wilting under pressure from a rabid Islamist. On Sunday morning, that is, August 6, NDTV, in a tweet, reported 44,643 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, which it said were 4 per cent higher than the day before. NDTV used the thumbnail of an Indian man getting swab tested for the virus. Everything was routine about this process until the Islamists entered the scene. You see, the Indian man, whose picture NDTV chose to portray the persistent severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, happens to be a Muslim donning the Islamic skull cap and a beard.

And just like that, the Islamist lobby took offence. Sharjeel Usmani, a Newslaundry columnist took to Twitter to issue veiled threats to NDTV. In a threatening tone, he tweeted, “Who in NDTV decided to use this picture with the report? Employees may reveal the name if they wish to. DM is always open.”

Along with Sharjeel, a horde of other Islamists’ troll accounts attacked NDTV in the comments section. Soon after this, instead of standing up for media freedom, NDTV deleted the tweet. But by now netizens had taken note of NDTV’s pliant behaviour when it came to Islamists and netizens started questioning NDTV.

Under pressure, Sonia Singh, Editorial Director at NDTV, quoted the tweet by the Islamist, and retorted, “I can only see an Indian taking a corona test in this picture. Stop trying to intimidate our team with your agenda!” But by then the tweet had already been deleted and NDTV’s weak stance was already exposed.

Now, it appears that Indian media indeed has some spine left as publications like Times Now, Hindustan Times and several other journalists have started posting the same picture or a different picture that represent the Muslim community to report the Covid cases.

Times Now joined in by reporting, “#India reports 35,499 new #COVID-19 cases, 447 fatalities in past 24 hours,” and adding a picture of another Muslim woman in a burqa taking a Covid test.

Hindustan Times shared a similar Covid update but shared a picture of a woman in a burqa getting the vaccine. The tweet said, “Patna has now administered 95% first dose vaccination to its urban adult population and 33% to the rural masses.”

Similarly, Zee News anchor Aman Chopra tweeted, “35,499 cases and 447 deaths in last 24 hours” along with the same picture that NDTV had deleted.

It is important to note that Sharjeel Usmani, the rabid Islamist that brought NDTV to its hunches has had an illustrious history of making obnoxious statements. He is the same man who had remarked that Hindus who chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ are most likely terrorists. On his Twitter profile, he marks his location as Lynchistan. The level of hate he has for his own country is appalling.

By forcing NDTV to delete the tweet, the hardened Islamist was trying to keep the larger Muslim populace in oblivion. There is no beating around the bush that there is massive vaccine hesitancy amongst the minority populace of the country, despite the government trying its best to quell the fears.

As reported by TFI earlier this year, forget the small Muslim villages or localities, even the well-read and educated professors of Aligarh Muslim University succumbed to vaccine hesitancy. 38 reported deaths and more than 100 burials have been recorded during the second wave of the pandemic. The death and devastation inside the university campus have been caused by the fatal concoction of rumour mongering, vaccine hesitancy and general lack of awareness. At the end of the day, Indian Muslims are as Indian as other Indians, but Sharjeel Usmani wants to single them out and treat them as a special lot.

Read more: 38 reported deaths, more than 100 burials: Covid is raging like wildfire at AMU and the actual numbers are shocking

Besides, NDTV is the same publication that used late Danish Siddiqui’s infamous crematorium photographs without paying any heed to the notion of journalistic integrity. Despite Danish’s unethical journalism, that is when he posted and sold photos of burning pyres at Indian crematoriums, and despite people protesting against it for violating the privacy of the departed, NDTV used the said photos to further its propaganda and did not stand down or delete any of its posts, even when all that was being demanded was for NDTV to honour the dead.

Thus, it serves the leftist propaganda channel right that Islamists descended upon it and issued threats. After all, no one wants to risk losing their lives for a photo and NDTVs ‘fearless’ and ‘courageous’ posse of journalists well understood the risks if the photo remained on the platform. Hence, the swift deletion and even swifter retreat to the burrow holes.