Mallapuram locals blamed for killing elephant; now lauded for helping plane crash victims

Hyderabad: The death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala after she was allegedly “fed” a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers sparked massive outrage in the country. The incident happened on May 27. The tragic incident started trending on social media after celebrities and politicians condemned the inhuman ordeal. Many demanded that the perpetrators should be given the strictest punishment.

Since, the death of the animal wave of anti-Muslim sentiment has been provoked. Several, media houses have wrongly stated Mallapuram district to be the place of incident; which is a Muslim majority district. Though, the incident had occurred in the neighboring Palakkad District.

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Several including Maneka Gandhi wrongly attributed the incident to Malappuram

BJP MP Maneka Gandhi not only wrongly attributed the incident to Malappuram, she also accuse it of being the ‘most violent district’ in the country.

BJP MP Maneka Gandhi tweeted, “Mallapuram is know for its intense criminal activity specially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it.” She claimed that the incident took place in Malappuram (misspelt as ‘Mallapuram’ in Gandhi’s tweet), a Muslim-dominated district. 

However, these claims aren’t factually correct. NCRB data for 2018 shows that, Malappuram is not a crime prone district in India. In fact, on many violent crimes like murder and unintentional homicide, Sultanpur, which is represented by Maneka Gandhi, fares much worse than Malappuram.

Additionally, Pakistani-Canadian author Tarek Fatah shared a report by NDTV and blamed Muslims for the elephant’s death.

Air India Express thanks Mallapuram residents for kindness, humanity during plane crash incident

The same district is now appreciated for its kind gestures towards the plane crash victims. The Air India Express thanks Mallapuram residents for kindness, humanity during plane crash in which 18 peoples, including two pilots, lost lives.

In a tweet, the Air India said, “Taking a bow to HUMANITY; A standing ovation from our hearts to the PEOPLE OF  MALAPPURAM, Kerala, who had showered us with kindness & humanity during the uncertain incident. We owe you a lot!”

“It takes not just courage, but a touch of humanity to save a life. We at Air India Express, take a bow to the people of Malapuram who have risked their own lives to save many.”

Earlier on August 8 Kerela CM Pinarayi Vijayan on tweeter said, “Yesterday, the fast response of local people and officials made all the difference. They braved bad weather and COVID fears to rescue their fellow beings. The long queues of people who wanted to donate blood was just one example.”