Thread by @churumuri

Sir V.S. Naipaul called India an “area of darkness” (1964) and a “wounded civilisation” (1977) marked by a “million mutinies” (1990). What would he make of the brutality and inhumanity the land of his origin is able to showcase to the world in AD 2020?

“We had to leave to survive. I had no money for rent... My grocer didn’t extend credit... My factory is shut for 3 months... I got work only on 2 days in the last 15”: @IndianExpress journalists Anand Mohan and Amit Mehra show @balbirpunj why real Indians are fleeing Delhi. (1/2)

“I have lived long enough to see many things but nothing like this... I didn’t want my daughter to get the disease... How will I pay my rent?”: 8 close-up shots of Indians who didn’t join @narendramodi’s joker in the pack @PrakashJavdekar to watch Ramayan. @IndianExpress (2/2)

Where is our welder Praveen Kumar today? Last night the “irresponsible” Rajasthani was in Ranebennur, 370 km from Bangalore. Tweetiyas will be pleased to know Praveen still has 1,430 km to walk and hike before he reaches Jalore so he can enjoy his forced ‘chutti’. @balbirpunj

“Irresponsible” Hindu-haters who, instead of watching ‘Ramayana’, lazily trekked towards the Gujarat border from Maharashtra for their “forced chutti’ but were turned back by Gujarat police—and so walked all the way back to Mumbai and Thane. @DainikBhaskar @balbirpunj #COVIDIOTS

Did Ranveer Singh work for @swiggy_in or @zomatoin—or just our ‘Om’ hotel? Food delivery man walks 200 km from Delhi over 3 days to “catch up with his family” in MP but falls 100 km short of “forced chutti”, thus deliberately bringing a bad name to @narendramodi. @balbirpunj

Are you missing ‘North Indian items’ due to the lockdown? Already craving for ‘tandoori’ chicken? Harsh Mander scoops the latest recipes that the cooks and artisans who make them are working on, thanks to the planning of their “event manager”. @karwanemohabbat @PMOIndia #COVID

“My husband and I have no money and we are scared of #COVID... There’s no work... There is no work at all... If we don’t go home we will starve”: @IndianExpress journalists continue with their mission to re-educate India’s heartless. @balbirpunj

“We have been waiting here for 2 days as the contractor didn’t give us the money... The landlord locked us out. We had to leave as we have no food”: Ananya Tiwari and Prem Nath Pandey show why “irresponsible” people are taking their “forced chutti”. @IndianExpress @balbirpunj

An “irresponsible” woman, an “irresponsible” child, and three “irresponsible” men who turned their “forced ‘chutti’” into a permanent holiday from the hell that their homeland has become. #Covid19India @IndianExpress @balbirpunj

“While India’s urban elites and middle-classes are hunkered down, millions of vulnerable urban migrants are making desperate journeys to better survive the catastrophic loss of income”: the plight of migrants makes it to the front page of the UK and US editions of @FT. @PMOIndia

“I have no food. No one has offered help... My boss left. I have no savings. I told police I have no food, water but they told me to go back”: @IndianExpress keeps an admirable focus on the humanitarian crisis sparked by @narendramodi’s latest poorly planned “event”. @balbirpunj

“I have just Rs 10 left... I want to rest and eat but I have no money... I have no food but police won’t even let me cross the street”: @IndianExpress journalists Jignasa Sinha and Praveen Khanna bring home the inhumanity facing “irresponsible” holiday-makers. @balbirpunj

“This is a man-made disaster. What prevented the @narendramodi government from anticipating and acting to prevent this mass exodus? Lack of foresight? Misplaced priorities? Or reluctance to empathise with the poor?”: excellent @DeccanHerald editorial. @PMOIndia

The pedicured foot of an “irresponsible” traveller taking a “forced chutti” to meet his family and run errands back home, thanks to @narendramodi’s 4-hour notice for a 21-day lockdown—as opposed to a 59-hour notice for a 14-hour #JanataCurfew. @ttindia @PMOIndia @balbirpunj @AP

While obedient Indians were “working from home”, some “irresponsible” holiday-makers are still walking towards home. The daily @IndianExpress reminder of the foresight behind @narendramodi’s announcement of a 21-day shutdown with a 4-hour notice.

Feeling good that you are getting to do your “10,000 steps” regularly? Virendra Manjhi and Praveen Kumar did 12,50,000 steps—1,000 km—on ‘sattu’, ‘bhuja’, salt and green chillies, while carrying their belongings in bags and sacks. @PMOIndia @balbirpunj @ttindia

Enjoying the weekend? A 54-year-old “migrant worker”, who started walking from Delhi seven months ago, with not a rupee on him, has reached home in Odisha, 1,200 km away, after begging for food and water in the only language he knows along the way. @ttindia #AtmaNirbharBharat