mid-day editorial: De-ranged commentary needs to end

Even as you read this, Shobhaa De is getting trolled for an insensitive tweet. Of late, the columnist's barbs seem way off the mark and, not surprisingly, she is receiving a dose of terrific comebacks

Even as you read this, Shobhaa De is getting trolled for an insensitive tweet. Of late, the columnist's barbs seem way off the mark and, not surprisingly, she is receiving a dose of terrific comebacks.

Perhaps in an attempt to appear witty, De dug her talons into the Mumbai police. She zeroed in on a picture doing the rounds on social media of an overweight uniformed police personnel, and captioned it, "Heavy police bandobast in Mumbai today". The emphasis was, of course, on the word "heavy". Mumbai police wasted no time in reacting to the unwarranted post and clarified that the photo, which had been doing the rounds for months, was one of the countless hoaxes floating on social media platforms.

The entire fiasco could have been avoided if De had simply checked her facts before tweeting. The columnist, who once accused journalists of being lazy and taking quotes over phone, seems guilty of the same. This social commentator needs to watch what she writes, as her words — unfortunately — do grab attention.

Considering how they serve citizens, working over 48 hours on Election Day, people should think twice before demeaning their efforts. Our police force is routinely hauled up by the media for dereliction of duty, but that's subjective criticism. Flaunting your position in society just because you are a powerful person is an absolutely wrong thing to do.
It is time De does some introspection. Perhaps she should consult with others before posting comments on Twitter to ensure her remarks don't come across as unhinged.

It's become a trend for her to tweet offensive comments and then backtrack saying "no offence intended". At a time when the spotlight is on body shaming, De does a huge disservice to so many people with that tweet. Mend your ways, De

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