New Delhi: After the horrific rape and murder of an eight-year-old in the Kathua district of Jammu, there has been wide spread anger and demand for justice for the victim’s family.
The brutal crime has also sparked debates and rumours, many of which have been propagated on the various social media platforms. One such recent rumour doing the rounds is that of various men wearing T-shirts that reads: “Beware in sending your females to India #JusticeforAsifa”, while another one reads: “Women are not worthy as cows in India #JusticeforAsifa.” Yet another T-shirt reads: “Women! Let India be your last country to visit, as it’s your graveyard #JusticeforAsifa.”
The photos have been spread on social media along with the message that the men wearing these T-shirts were spotted at an airport in Istanbul, prompting us Indians to ponder how the world perceives us at present.
At first glance, they look like genuine photographs, considering the Kathua incident has drawn worldwide ire. Many netizens however, were more skeptical of the photographs doing the rounds on Whatsapp and other social media platforms.
Although it can be difficult to locate the original photo, one netizen managed to find the original. Turns out the photo really was taken at the Istanbul airport and was uploaded on Instagram although, the white T-shirts worn by the men in the picture are immaculate. There is not a single quote or line or colour on them.
Such instances of doctored photos are rampant. Some have their lives ruined while others get off easy if the photo is not traced back to them. Anyone with considerable photo editing skills can use a photo to either make you or break you.
Seeing how these T-shirts were most likely altered in some way, we must ask ourselves if what is splashed on these T-shirts holds some truth. Such rumours would have either died as soon as they began or would have earned some form of consequences if the message they held were not true of the current chaos that is rocking our country.
It is wrong for anyone to try and tarnish the reputation of a country but, this is clearly a direct response to the atrocities that have rocked the nation only recently.
