After Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference where he got emotional remembering those who succumbed to COVID-19, an image supposedly of The New York Times international edition published on May 21 is going viral on Twitter. Hours after Modi’s emotional moment, several people began sharing that image and kept trending that as the idiom crocodile tears to allege that Modi’s tears were insincere.
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, columnist Shobhaa De were among some who tweeted an image that looks like the front page of US daily, The New York Times with a picture of a crocodile in tears corroborated with a headline “India’s PM cried”. In the screengrab of the newspaper, a photo of a crocodiColumnist Shobhaa De posted this image and said, “Savage”. Her tweet had garnered more than 200 retweets so far. Digvijaya Singh tweeted that screengrab and said, “Dr Jaishankar ji now that you are going to the US would you please ensure The New York Times does not spoil the image of Modi ji!! After all, he is more worried about his IMAGE than worrying about the people suffering from COVID!! To him crying at the right time is an art!!” Advocate Prashant Bhushan also tweeted the viral image with the caption “Crocodile tears!” However, the tweet was later taken down.
After a thorough search, it was clear that the viral New York Times clipping is fake and edited to add the photo of the crocodile and the headline about Modi. The actual edition of the newspaper did not carry any such photo of a crocodile or even an article on PM Modi on its front page. The fake clipping originated from a parody Twitter account The Daily New York Times that tweeted the viral clipping clearly stating that it is satire.
On the international edition of the New York Times dated May 21, 2021, one can clearly spot that the lead story and photo are different and not the same as in the viral clipping. The lead photo on the NYT front page was of solar panels on rooftops with the caption, “There is no alternative. Solar energy is a blessing from God.”
Though on comparing the fake clipping with the original NYT front page it was found that there was no article on PM Modi crying or any photo of a crocodile published whatsoever. However, the other news stories in the viral clipping are same as NYT’s original official international edition.
PM Modi on May 21, 2021 at 11 A.M. addressed the nation via video conference, he spoke the ill effect of Covid-19 that has been so vast despite all efforts and due to which numerous lives were lost, PM Modi said in a voice choked with emotion, while interacting with doctors, paramedical staff and other frontline health workers of his parliamentary constituency Varanasi. The PM said, “Covid-19 has snatched many of our loved ones from us. I pay my respect to the people who died of Covid-19 and express my condolences to their beavered families.”
Interacting with the frontline workers, Prime Minister had to take multiple pauses as he was seemingly emotional, trying hard to fight back tears.
Thus, a morphed image from New York Times’ international edition was used to claim that the newspaper used a crocodile’s photo to say that PM Modi cried.
