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Journalism of Courage
It has been more than a month that the Prime Minister announced the demonetisation of high-value currency notes of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. Since then, while many continue to stand in ATM and bank queues to withdraw money even now, the PM and the government has often tried to convince the people and the opposing leaders that the move is for the larger good of the country, including the weeding out of black money, corruption and illegal activities like terrorism. Veteran BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad recently made a comment supporting demonetisation that did not go down well with a lot of people. “People will face a little problem. But the pain is like the one that a woman in labour undergoes. Eventually one will experience the joy like one does hearing the first cry of a baby,” Prasad said, according to PTI.
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While this is not the first time that a BJP leader had made a similar comment, this time Twitterati took on the comment, all guns blazing. People were definitely not happy with the simile that the leaders have increasingly used in the past one month. AIB’s Rohan Joshi reacted to the comment asking if the leader knew that 45,000 women die during childbirth every year in India, when he compared demonetisation to labour pain. All India Trinamool Congress’ member Derek O’Brien called the remark “absurd analogies”. Others interpreted Prasad’s remark as meaning that there probably are eight months more to go, before things settle down in the country.
Sample some of the reactions that the comment garnered, here.
https://twitter.com/mojorojo/status/810726750359588864
https://twitter.com/bilal_motorwala/status/810545766401871873
Earlier, in November, Union information and broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu made the same comparison, as well. According to a Times of India report, Naidu said, “A mother undergoes huge labour pain while giving birth to a child. But when she hears the child of the newborn, she feels the greatest joy”. Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik too, said the hardships arising out of demonetisation is like labour pain, and the end results will be joyful.
What do you think of the leaders’ comparison? Let us know in the comments section below.
