Boycott ‘Gujarat Samachar’ Trending After Pulwama Headline Gaffe

The headline on the frontpage of the 15 February edition reads- 56-inch Chest’s Cowardice: Reckless Terror: 44 Jawans Killed

(Photo: Rahul Nair/The Quint)

The Pulwama terrorist attack has left the nation fuming for revenge after 40 CRPF Jawans were killed in a suicide attack orchestrated by the Jaish-e-Mohammad. Rage has overwhelmed Indians on social media and any form of negative news about the government is being heavily trolled on all platforms.

The latest victim of such relentless trolling is Gujarat Samachar, a news daily published from Ahmedabad. The newspaper drew the ire of several netizens, after the newspaper’s headline on 15 February read in Gujarati - 56-inch Chest’s Cowardice: Reckless Terror: 44 Jawans Killed.

In no time #boycottgujaratsamachar started trending on Twitter with several tweets declaring that they have unsubscribed Gujarat Samachar as a mark of protest against the headline and have urged others to the same as well.

A house in Sabarmati area of Ahmedabad with a banner on its gate that states “Dogs and Gujarat Samachar” are not allowed in the premises.

Tweeple Openly Boycott Gujarat Samachar

Sachin Kharshikar tweeted on 19 February– “@gujratsamachar i am cancelling ur subscription from today and i will inform all others to do the same This is too much, have some pride to be Indian #BoycottGujaratSamachar (sic)”

Dhaval Shah Tweeted on 16 February: “Stop reading #GujaratSamachar unsubscribe and #Boycottgujaratsamachar @gujratsamachar.”

The Quint also spoke with Nilesh Patel, a newspaper vendor delivering newspapers across the areas of Sabarmati, Chandkheda and Motera in Ahmedabad, who confirmed that many households cancelled their subscription to Gujarat Samachar.

“Around ten to fifteen people are calling everyday to cancel or replace Gujarat Samachar with a different newspaper. We have already stopped delivering the newspaper to more than fifty households.”

Nilesh Patel, a newspaper vendor

D Prajapati, a resident of Motera, Ahmedabad, said, "We cant allow political vendetta of any media house to scar the death of our soldiers. That is our main reason of anger, that the newspaper couldn't wait a day before making this sad incident about the government or PM."

Managing Editor and Owner of Gujarat Samachar, Shreyans Shah.

Gujarat Samachar Editor’s Audio Clip Goes Viral

Incidentally, an audio clip has also gone viral on Twitter, featuring the contact number of the owner and editor of Gujarat Samachar, Shreyans Shah.

In the audio clip a man from Surat, Bimat Kanani, calls Shah and reprimands him for printing the headline. The caller asked Shah whether he hails from Pakistan, to which a frustrated Shah replies, “yes.”

The source of the audio cannot be confirmed at this point. The Quint reached out to Shreyans Shah but got no response yet.