West Bengal’s mango town Malda turned into a grave when communal riots broke out on January 3 after Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari made derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammad.
Tiwari had called Prophet Mohammad the first homosexual in the world after UP Cabinet Minister Azam Khan called the RSS members the same.
The Muslim community reacted strongly to Tiwari’s comments, setting on fire the Kaliachak police station and burning down all files and computers.
Police vehicles were also burnt, including one belonging to the Border Security Force. Thousands of protesters marched with green flags on National Highway-34.
Despite the gravity of the situation, mainstream media largely steered clear of covering the riots. This led to strong reactions from journalists, authors and actors on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Veteran actor Anupam Kher was powerful in his reaction on the media’s silence on Malda.
In a series of tweets, Kher slammed the media for being a mute spectator to the whole fiasco.
Author and columnist Suhel Seth shared Kher’s sentiments.
Renowned journalist Swapan Dasgupta praised Zee News for reporting on the riots while other media outlets did not. He also wrote an article for The Asian Age about the show.
Noted Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen took to Twitter to highlight the difference in reporting between the Malda riots and Dadri lynching case, tweeting an image by artist Manoj Kureel.
Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy too shared his views on the issue.
Prabhu Chawla, the Editorial Director of The New Indian Express, also joined the discussion. But despite his opinion, his newspaper did not cover the riots extensively.
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