On January 26, Trinamool Congress MP and former Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar got schooled by netizens after he published a misleading tweet. In his tweet, Sircar wrote, “Just wondering: didn’t Dilip Kumar deserve a Bharat Ratna or a Padma Vibhushan?”. By this tweet, Sircar tried to imply that Dilip Kumar has not been honoured with Bharat Ratna or Padma Vibhushan. A day before that, govt of India had announced the list of Padma awardees for this year.
Jawhar Sircar, who was CEO of India’s Public Broadcaster Prasar Bharati from 2012 to 2016, did not know that late actor Dilip Kumar was awarded Padma Vibhushan by the NDA government in 2015. Interestingly, during his tenure, DD News, a channel run by Prasar Bharati, ran two reports on Dilip Kumar being honoured with Padma Vibhushan. On January 26, 2015, when the award was announced, his name appeared with other prominent personalities who were awarded Padma awards.
Later on, December 13, 2015, when Union Minister Rajnath Singh visited late Dilip Kumar’s house to present him with the Padma Vibhushan, DD News had aired the ceremony. Both clips are available on DD News’s official YouTube channel. It seems Sircar being CEO of the Govt-run channel, was not aware of what was running on the channels. Moreover, it was widely published in the newspapers as well.
Netizens schooled Sircar
Netizens took the opportunity to school Jawhar Sircar over his lack of knowledge. Twitter user coolfunnyshirt said, “Caught doing these things for the Nth number of times. This is what rabid anti-Modi/India/Hindu mindset converts you to eventually. A whatsapp propagandist. Nothing more.”
Caught doing these things for the Nth number of times. This is what rabid anti-Modi/India/Hindu mindset converts you to eventually. A whatsapp propagandist. Nothing more. https://t.co/dwqnEGyJX6 pic.twitter.com/blWxQ43nIV
— Keh Ke Peheno 🆒😜👕 (@coolfunnytshirt) January 27, 2022
Twitter User Ashima Sharda said, “One google search is all it takes.”
One google search is all it takes. https://t.co/3qBGfwWRCm
— Ashima Sharda (@ShardaAshima) January 27, 2022
Twitter user safe_johny called Jawhar Sircar illiterate and said, “Illiterate man, Dilip Kumar was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2015 by Modi Govt. Home Minister Rajnath Singh himself visited his residence and honored him.”
Illiterate man, Dilip Kumar was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2015 by Modi Govt. Home Minister Rajnath Singh himself visited his residence and honored him. https://t.co/Kjepw0Uqjc pic.twitter.com/Gut3bhOfqf
— weird soul ⚡ (@SAFE_JOHNY) January 27, 2022
Supreme Court Lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha questioned his credentials as CEO of Prasar Bharati. He said, “Wonder you were CEO of Prasar Bharti once.”
Wonder you were CEO of Prasar Bharti once 🤦🏼♂️
— Shashank Shekhar Jha (@shashank_ssj) January 27, 2022
Twitter user Varda Marathe said, “I don’t know about other things, but facts certainly don’t matter to you.”
I don’t know about other things, but facts certainly don’t matter to you.
— वरदा मराठे (@Varada_M) January 27, 2022
The Hindu, Economic Times, Indian Express, India Today and many other media houses published the news of the veteran actor awarded the Padma Vbhushan. In electronic media, NDTV, Aaj Tak, Zee News and India TV were among the channels that ran the news. The clips from the ceremony are available on their official channels. One may think that Sircar was might not be aware of what content all the channels showed under Prasar Bharati, but it is hard to believe he did not read any newspaper or watched any news on TV during that time.
