Solicitor General Tushar Mehta quotes false WhatsApp forward in Supreme Court
The story was first published by Altnews.in (read the original post by clicking here.)
On May 28, the Supreme Court heard the Suo Moto case regarding the plight of migrant labourers stranded in different parts of the country due to the lockdown. During the hearing, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta presented the steps that the government had taken so far to tackle the issue. He argued that the Centre is doing a lot but there are “Prophets of Doom” who spread negativity. He also said that these “armchair intellectuals” do not recognize the nation’s effort.
SG:
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 28, 2020
"All these people writing on social media, giving interviews cannot even acknowledge what is being done.
state governments and ministers are working over night. They don’t even have the patriotism to acknowledge that.
Human race is facing most difficult challenge"
The SG then went on to narrate the story of the vulture and the child photographed by Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Kevin Carter during the famine in Sudan — “There was a photographer who went to Sudan in 1983. There was a panic-stricken child. A vulture was waiting for the child to die. He photographed it and the photo was published in NYT and the photographer was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He committed suicide after 4 months. A journalist had asked him – what happened to the child? He said I don’t know, I had to return home. Then the reporter asked him – how many vultures were there? He said one. The reporter said – no. There were two. One was holding the camera…”
SG:
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 28, 2020
"There was a photographer who went to Sudan in 1983. There was a panic stricken child. A vulture was waiting for the child to die. He photographed it and the photo was published in NYT and the photographer was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He committed suicide after 4 months"
Alt News spoke with one of the lawyers who was present in this hearing who confirmed to us that the version reported by Live Law was accurate.
SG quotes WhatsApp forward in Supreme Court
It turns out that the story narrated by the Solicitor General was doing the rounds on WhatsApp among supporters of Prime Minister Modi since at least a week before. In an attempt to silence any criticism of the government, the message draws parallels with Kevin Carter’s story and compares those highlighting the misery of the migrant workers to vultures. Tushar Mehta got the year of the famine wrong but narrated the rest of the story almost verbatim.
It is shocking that Solicitor General of India quoted word to word from a viral WhatsApp message in the top court of the country.
Fact-check
Other versions of the story of the starving child and the vulture with a different messaging have been viral internationally since years. A different message accompanying the story was fact-checked by Snopes in 2008.
The photograph of the starving child and the vulture is regarded as one of the most iconic images that came out of the 1993 famine in Sudan. Kevin Carter, the South African photojournalist, had committed suicide a few months after being awarded the Pulitzer prize for the image.
The photograph first appeared in the New York Times on March 26, 1993. When flooded with queries about the fate of the child, in an editor’s note on March 30, 1993, New York Times clarified, “Many readers have asked about the fate of the girl. The photographer reports that she recovered enough to resume her trek after the vulture was chased away. It is not known whether she reached the center.”
Carter faced a lot of criticism from those who believed he did not help the child and shot a photograph instead. A profile on his life and death in TIME magazine said that the Pulitzer attracted “the critical focus that comes with fame.” Some journalists in South Africa called his prize a “fluke,” alleging that he had somehow set up the tableau, said the article which has no mention of a conversation between another journalist and Carter where he was called a vulture. The closest reference to the statement is an opinion by the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times: “The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering. Might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene.”
However, in another article on the most iconic photos in the world, TIME magazine wrote, “As he took the child’s picture, a plump vulture landed nearby. Carter had reportedly been advised not to touch the victims because of disease, so instead of helping, he spent 20 minutes waiting in the hope that the stalking bird would open its wings. It did not. Carter scared the creature away and watched as the child continued toward the center. He then lit a cigarette, talked to God and wept.”
Therefore, as it seems, Carter chased away the scavenger to help the child. He could not lift the child because journalists were advised to not touch victims of famine because of disease.
There is no literature claiming that the vulture and the child photograph was the reason for his death. His work, overall, was emotionally demanding and he often experienced existential lucidity that came with surviving violence again and again. He often used drugs to cope with his miseries. “Carter had bounced from romance to romance, fathering a daughter out of wedlock,” reads the TIME piece hinting at an unstable personal life. Carter’s suicide note mentioned in TIME talked of financial troubles. He wrote: “…depressed … without phone … money for rent … money for child support … money for debts … money!!! … I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain … of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners … I have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky.”
Ken was one of Carter’s closest friends who had died of a bullet wound covering violence in South Africa’s Tokoza in 1994, close to a month before Carter committed suicide. His death had devastated Carter who told his friends that he, and not Ken, should have taken the bullet. His work assignments covering violence and misery took a toll on his mental health. “Every photographer who has been involved in these stories has been affected. You become changed forever. Nobody does this kind of work to make themselves feel good. It is very hard to continue,” he was quoted telling his friends. His work was not going well on the days leading up to his death. According to his friends, he had begun to openly talk about suicide.
He committed suicide on July 27, 1994.
It was later confirmed that the child mistaken to be a girl was a boy and he had survived the famine. However, he died 14 years later from malaria fever. Based on a WhatsApp forward, the Solicitor General blamed Carter for the child’s death and claimed that during a conversation with another journalist he was called a vulture. There is no record of any such conversation and moreover, Carter had chased away the bird when he shot the photograph and the child had survived. An article in Pgurus also promoted the misinformation that Kevin Carter committed suicide due to the horrors of the Sudanese famine.
The story was first published by Altnews.in (read the original post by clicking here.)
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
