A pregnant elephant died- a tragedy or mere politics?
A tragic incident came to light in Kerala Silent Valley forest on 3rd June 2020. An elephant ate a firecrackers stuffed pineapple which was set as a trap by the locals to discourage wild animals from destroying their crops. The pineapple resulted in the gradual death of the pregnant elephant. But this tragic incident has taken a communal turn when a former Union Minister and the right wing trolls used it to propagate Islamophobia.
This gruesome act happened in Palakkad district in Kerala. Leading newspapers such as The Hindu and The New Indian Express reported the same. But there came a turn when known fake-news peddler and Canada-based troll of Pakistani origin, Tarek Fatah, tweeted, “The atrocity of feeding a pregnant elephant with pineapple full of firecrackers & killing her, took place in the Malappuram district of India’s Kerala State. The district is the only Muslim-majority district of the state with an over 70% Muslim population. What are the chances?” adding communal colours to it. Fatah relied on the data that was presented in an article by the right- wing website Swarajya, which is included by the BBC in the list of outlets that produce fake news regularly.
Another right wing individual Arun Pudur who was recently caught lifting photos from an American brewery, too highlighted Malappuram “In Kerala’s Malappuram, ba$tards fed a Pregnant Elephant Fed Pineapple Stuffed with Firecrackers. She exploded but didn’t harm anyone. She went to the river and died quietly. Now tell me about 100% literacy & who is majority in Malappuram?” tweeted Pudur.There were many other individual including political figures like Maneka Gandhi, former Union Minister, made special mention of Malappuram.
But this was not the case, the entire incident took place in Palakkad and not in Malappuram which is the only Muslim Majority district in Kerala. In fact Malappuram is about 80kms away from Palakkad.
Another report by Reuters news agency said, “Forestry officials said the incident happened on May 23 in the Palakkad district of Kerala state in southern India, near farmland where locals sometimes scatter fruit spiked with firecrackers to discourage animals from damaging crops.”
Hence it is proved that the entire incident took place in Palakkad district and not in Malappuram.
Then why mentioning Malappuram? Just to add communal colours? To target a community and defaming them?
Story by Sohini Paul
Read other analysis here.