Even though the deputy prime Minister in the Vajpayee regime, Lal Kishna Advani heaped his intolerance, it was out of his personal problem in 2002. After the marriage of his son Jayant collapsed, Advani was eager to remove the family of his estranged daughter-in-law Gauri from his neighbourhood. Her father was living in the Press Pool accommodation, Advani got the Press pool system cancelled affecting 114 special correspondents. Most of them were highly critical of the Indira Gandhi regime but not even once did she show antipathy towards them by seeking to throw them out from accommodations in close vicinity to active fields of political activities to enable them to reach the action arena within minutes.

The governments under the BJP ruled states are using the authority to slap legal proceedings against media persons for their reportage not palatable to the party in power. But the self appointed fans of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with clues from the power that is show greater and rabid intolerance and use the social media to run down every opponent or persons with differing views. The Prime Minister sponsored strategy to combat the pandemic corona virus, particularly the abominable plight of economically weaker sections due to the prolonged lockdown imposed all over the country has invited several differing and few highly critical views from the intelligentsia.

One retired bureaucrat Ayan Shukla, on the basis of his 35 years of serving in the various regimes, wrote a long article to express his anguish over the plight of millions walking back to their home villages after they lost means of their daily earnings to sustain life of their family. Millions as part of weaker section that constitutes 60 per cent of total population did not wait for the promised food packets of grain and lentils and without costs for three months. First difficulty was laid down the condition of presenting ration card or Aadhar card. Second important hindrance was that so received grain could not be converted into edible food without heating apparatus or fuel.

As the transport mediums were also closed as integral part of the lockdown, they had no alternative but to walk down the long distances of few hundred miles to reach their places of birth. The adventure turned into misery for millions with their children as they had no sufficient stocks of eatables or money to buy foods on their way as most eateries on the way had pulled down their shutters. Price demanded by some unscrupulous elements for underhand delivery of eatable stuff was exorbitant and beyond reach of most forced out workers on their way.

Shukla did not mention any individual, institute or authority or even any particular social class for his emotive write up to point out untold but avoidable plight and miserable experience for millions. He did, though castigated all for tolerating without protest the unjust and thoughtless directive as a strategy to combat the pandemic without knowing much about it. Everyone who was able to read the blog was certainly moved. Several responses to it indicate.

Among those responded with their appreciation or pity did not visualize the plight of poor millions in the light presented in the blog. The longest was the negative, obviously penned by a self appointed fan club member. He included a story of a photographer who won the Pulitzer Prize for his picture taken in the famine ravaged Sudan in 1993. The press photographer had gone to the famine ravaged country to get few earth moving snaps.

In one place he saw a small abandoned baby crying, perhaps due to her hunger. Nearby on the fallen tree was a vulture intently eyeing the small child as its prey. It was the most moving scene and photographer captured it in his camera. Next year he won the international award. A year later photographer died believed to have committed suicide.

The NaMO fan added twist to the story with apparently his version that Photographer was asked over phone, how many vultures were on the scene that he snapped to earn the prestigious prize.

The photographer replied only one vulture as my picture showed. The caller said, “You are wrong. There were two vultures. One had eyes on the child and the other vulture was holding the camera to take the picture instead of thinking of ways to save the child.” The story ended. That photographer ended his life same night.

The portion of the story of caller of phone and suicide by the cameraman were invented additions to teach media persons their primary duties in similar circumstances. According to the fan club member first duty of media person was to act to mitigate people caught in serious circumstances than rush to right the critical accounts. Ayan Shukla was told through the fan club comments that it was his first duty to provide succor to victims rather than write highly emotive passages. There was no denial that the NaMo strategy brought miseries to millions. There was no denial of the plight of millions but message was you stand condemned as you are pontificating rather than engaging in redress to those you believed to be suffering. In essence the responder ought to have delivered a message to the government to point out how effective was narration and the Prime Minister ought to take corrective measures. Instead the fan club sought to condemn the narrator of woes of millions of poor.

Individuals have bare minimum role to play in such calamities. Individuals have not power to move earth and heaven as the Prime Minister’s have. Every individual has to keep his or her options open for better suggestions. But the fan club believes that their idol Narendra Modi can do no wrong.

Hence every suggestion tends to criticize him, or every individual who differs or disagrees with him cannot be tolerated. Ayan Shukla came in condemnation for this very attitude.