by B. R. GOWANI

Video/Youtube
one of the most famous South Asian singer Lata died on January 6, 2022
she was a great singer but her closeness to Modi was a sad thing
Modi called Lata Mangeshkar a “Didi”, i.e., sister, attended her funeral
there were politicians, cricketers,celebrities, and others
actor Shah Rukh Khan, known as “King of Bollywood”, came too
he was accompanied by his secretary Pooja Dadlani
Khan a Muslim and Dadlani a Hindu offered prayers in their own way
Khan has his hands open whereas Dadlani’s are folded
Khan then removed his mask and blew out air
a Muslim ritual which is meant to ward off evil spirits
Modi’s BJP’s Haryana state in-charge tweeted:
“kya isne thuka hai?” that is, “did he spit?”
BJP’s Prashant Umrao (Uttar Pradesh state’sa spokesman accused SRK:
ex CBI director M Nageswara Rao of the IPS displayed his bigotry:
“Did you @iamsrk spit at the funeral of #LataMangeshkar Ji? Being a public figure you are required to give public clarification immediately.”
Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, an MP, criticized the trolls
Modi’s law of hatred dictates that he should, as usual, keep his mouth shut
“It is shameful the way people are trolling him (Shah Rukh Khan). Some people are doing politics in the name of religion even on the sad occurrence of Lata ji’s demise. We all know who these people are. Nobody needs to be told.”
Modi media or Godi media – godi means lap, i.e., media in Modi’s lap
NDTV’s fearless journalist Ravish Kumar coined the term Godi media
just one example of the Godi media
the Times Now headline reads:
“Fact Check: Did Shah Rukh Khan ‘spit’ on Lata Mangeshkar’s mortal remains? Here’s the truth”
what the article does is it gives views of attackers and defenders of SRK
at one place it says
“A netizen allegedly explained that ‘blowing air’ is a common practice in Islam.” (italics is mine)
then Times Now gives the tweet:
SRK didn’t spit there. He blew, which is a common practice in Islam. Muslims do blow air from their mouth after reciting Ayats from Holy Quran.
RWs are making issue out of nothing that too in the death of an eminent personality. #LataMangeshkar#ShivajiPark#ShahRukhKhan — Rio the Gökbörü (@RedRanger3000) February 6, 2022
why “allegedly”?
besides, nowhere the article says that spitting accusation is a lie
other news outlets were busy scaring the hell out of people
their frightning tools were called “thookers” (spitters) & “thook Jihad”
some of the film personalities in defense of SRK went after netizens
actress Urmila Matondkar:
“As a society, we have deteriorated so much that we think praying is spitting. You are talking about an actor who has represented the country on various international platforms. Politics has reached such low levels and it’s really sad.”
actress Rakhi Sawant:
“Whosoever is doing this should be ashamed of themselves. He was praying. And when you offer prayer, you blow air after that it’s a pious practice as per Islamic rituals. She (Lata Mangeshkar) is a legend. So, when you offer prayer, you blow air over the other person so that the prayer is accepted and after that you are granted heaven. Do not spread false information. You all should be ashamed. Live, and let live.”
poet Swanand Kirkire tweeted Sahir’s bhajan lines with SRK/Dadlani photo
Allah Tero nAm Ishwar tero Nam / sabko sanmati de Bhagwan
Allah is your name, Ishvar is your name too / may Bhagwan grant wisdom to all
(Ishvar, Bhagwan, and Allah means God)
actress Bhumi Pednekar came out in support of Shah Rukh Khan
how should one counter if every action/word of minorities is misconstrued
the accusers are unreasonable people so you can’t logically argue with them
the accusers are also numerically strong so you can’t really fight with them
the accusers have media on their side so you can’t convey your story
the future looks dark, coal dark
should one accept that kind of ugly future or should one fight back?
the victims will have to decide — and decide fast
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com