Rumours are rife that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is undergoing treatment for food poisoning at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. While we hope that rumours are false and pray for Parrikar’s speedy recovery, Twitter has been abuzz with people wishing for the death of Parrikar, some of whom are followed by the official Twitter handle of Congress.
This is th quite shocking that person followed by @INCIndia official handle is looking or waiting for death of @goacm so he can drink beer and party tonight .
If Modi is responsible for anon handle post than Congress is responsible for this person post. pic.twitter.com/fOHf2qvcN0
— Chintan Shah (@chintan20) February 18, 2018
Not just on Twitter, many people on Facebook, too, celebrated the rumours of Parrikar being diagnosed with cancer.
Peace loving, God fearing Goan Catholics. Errr.. @mekansara I think I found the poisonous mushrooms. pic.twitter.com/QODc9UtoIu
— This Posable (@ThisPosable) February 18, 2018
This is not the first time people have wished death upon a leader just because they didn’t agree with them. Earlier, Suprateek Chatterjee, a columnist with The Quint had also tweeted death wish on Modi. That is not the only time The Quint has given a platform to people who go upon wishing death and political assassination. Vikas Malhotra, an author at The Quint, too preferred political assassination (of PM Modi) to create history. A Times Now journalist, Prashant Kumar, had also wished for the assassination of Modi. While The Quint has distanced itself from these columnists and removed their articles, no action was taken against Kumar of Times Now. Similarly, a columnist with Shekhar Gupta’s digital portal, The Print, also wanted PM Modi assassinated. She, later on, deleted her tweet before deactivating her account.
One wonders if Congress, which follows the Twitter user who wished for Parrikar’s death, endorses his views. A difference in political ideologies should not mean one ends up wishing death upon other.