Twitterati in Nepal slam Indian media for its coverage of earthquake disaster

KATHMANDU: The Indian media is facing flak for its coverage of the earthquake disaster in Nepal with complaints in the social media that it was treating the tragedy as a “public relations exercise” on behalf of the Indian government.

As Nepal picks up pieces in the aftermath of last month’s devastating earthquake that killed over 7,000 people and injured more than 14,000, some have picked holes in the “relentless and aggressive” coverage by the Indian media. By Sunday evening #GoHomeIndianMedia, which was created on Twitter for slamming the Indian media, was the top trending hashtag in Nepal with more than 60,000 tweets on the topic.

At the same time, there have been critical responses to the negative reactions in the social media with comments like the Indian media coverage being “largely responsible” for how the rest of the world saw the Nepal tragedy and even driving global response. While grateful for the aid and help in rescue efforts, some sections of the media were panned on the social media for pitching the tragedy as a “Public Relations exercise” for the Indian government.