The Real world of Fake pictures
Internet, with its firebrand of anonymous 'Hindus', is today, a successful mass communication device. It has penetrated the most unusual sections of society and has thus garnered a cult status. So much so, that it has become a tool for both- offense and defense. Support a cause and you risk being labelled. Pass a comment and you risk being branded. Post a tweet and you risk being arrested! Quite recently, an interesting piece of drama unfolded in the Gujarat assembly election campaign. It was of course the eternal, BJP Vs. Congress dilemma, yet it had a virtual undertone to it. A malnourished child, proposed to be from Gujarat but traced to belong to Srilanka, appeared in an electoral advertisement of the Congress. Understandably, the BJP raised a massive hue and cry about the picture being 'fake'. The media too, lapped up the information quickly and passed its verdict- reinforcing the 'Con' of the Congress. I was left wondering how significant the issue real...