Amidst the 21-day nationwide lockdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the epic teleserials “Ramayan” and “Mahabharat” aired on Saturday.
Minister of Information and Broadcast in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet, Prakash Javdekar, took to his Twitter and wrote, “I am watching ‘Ramayana’ , are you?” However, he immediately deleted his tweet after facing backlash on the microblogging site.
Also, India’s Public Service Broadcaster Prasar Bharati asked the viewers to share pictures watching “Ramayan” and “Mahabharat” on Doordarshan. They wrote, “Please share your pictures watching Ramayan and Mahabharat on Doordarshan through twitter and facebook with #ThanksPMThanksDD.”
However, Twitter users flooded the comment section with pictures of migrant workers travelling back to their homes on foot. “Really? thousands are trying to walk hundreds of kilometres to make their way home without food or water, but India’s largest public broadcaster wants people to share pictures of families watching reruns of tv shows from the 1990s. What priorities,” a Twitter user wrote.
“Dear gov organizations, lacs of people are desperately looking for urgent support systems. Let’s sort that out first. We will get enough chance to glorify PM. Can we postpone these unnecessary PR tactics for a few months? There is no need for this. Please,” said another Twitter user.
Here are some of the Twitter reactions:
Dear gov organizations, lacs of people are desperately looking for urgent support systems. Let’s sort that out first. We will get enough chance to glorify PM. Can we postpone these unnecessary PR tactics for a few months? There is no need for this. Please. https://t.co/AAQREiQd4s
— Rahul Raj (@bhak_sala) March 28, 2020
Really? thousands are trying to walk hundreds of kilometres to make their way home without food or water, but India’s largest public broadcaster wants people to share pictures of families watching reruns of tv shows from the 1990s. What priorities. https://t.co/bVk8BSDLeE
— Maya Mirchandani (@maya206) March 28, 2020
Seriously??? Get a grip https://t.co/xVw1qKQuv4
— Kadambini Sharma (@SharmaKadambini) March 28, 2020
How’s this for sharing. Shame on you @prasarbharati https://t.co/YZ1YnhNxFy pic.twitter.com/SoRHOB7Ys4
— Mudit Mittal (@mmudittt) March 28, 2020
Here are few #ThanksPMThanksDD https://t.co/qPSDxOFSq0 pic.twitter.com/KnFMcM5Vph
— Joy (@Joydas) March 28, 2020
शर्म नहीं आती @prasarbharati के अफसरों को? https://t.co/99vl7wXStP
— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) March 28, 2020
Yeah sure!! I hope you like it https://t.co/glrQb2T3kx pic.twitter.com/CFWCMkLXqB
— Altamash Ahraz Khan (@AhrazAltamash) March 28, 2020
#ThanksPMThanksDD pic.twitter.com/GjWV0x58Ep
— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) March 28, 2020
Sita going to forest. pic.twitter.com/eQcXPC5CyM
— Vaishna Roy ویشنا رائے (@vaishnaroy) March 28, 2020
pic.twitter.com/EsH9a7n4ff
— Shivam Vij (@DilliDurAst) March 28, 2020
#ThanksPMThanksDD pic.twitter.com/6iXbFveVju
— Armaan (@Mehboobp1) March 28, 2020
Have you lost it completely? https://t.co/cwz1sWGuAy
— Danish Husain । دانش حُسین । दानिश हुसैन (@DanHusain) March 28, 2020
Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 918 (including foreign nationals, 80 people cured/discharged/migrated, 19 deaths) on Saturday, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.