Prime Minister India Narendra Modi recently visited Lakshadweep Island, where he interacted with the locals, inaugurated several projects and even tried snorkelling. He posted several pictures of the island and its beaches and praised the island’s “stunning beauty”. This caused quite a stir on social media and irked some officials of the Maldives government who made several disparaging comments about the Indian PM and India, igniting a massive online war.
Indian social media users went up in arms against the Maldivian government starting a boycott campaign against Maldives and urging people to visit Lakshadweep islands instead. Numerous Indian celebrities and public figures came forward to encourage people to visit Lakshadweep, seeking to boost tourism to the small Indian island. However, it soon became clear how disconnected many of them were from the issue.
Several high-profile individuals made posts (now deleted) featuring pictures from Maldives and French Polynesia claiming it to be Lakshadweep while urging people to explore Indian islands.
It was especially mortifying as one of those individuals was none other than Kiren Rijiju, India’s Minister of Earth Sciences, who posted two photos on X, one picture featuring a tourist seated inside an orange kayak near an island, and another one of a tourist snorkelling in shallow water near an island, with a caption that said included hashtags like, "#ExploreIndianIslands #Lakshdweep #DekhoApnaDesh #IncredibleIndia."
Indian actor Ranveer Singh was another person to commit the faux pas as he shared an aerial shot of a Maldivian island while saying “chalo Bharat dekhe”.
The thought behind the action was undoubtedly commendable, but the fact that that they could not be bothered to even verify the images they saw and posted, instead choosing to use stock photos from various websites, is testament to their level of interest in the matter. The incident is reflective of how it has become the norm for Indian celebrities to jump onto the bandwagon of popular opinion without delving into the depth of issues.
We have always been told that half-baked knowledge is dangerous. This is especially true if you are trying to add traction to a movement which aims to change people’s mind about their preferences. These kinds of incidents cause more harm than good and lead to major embarrassment for people who genuinely cared about the issue and want to promote domestic tourism.
It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to gather enough knowledge before making a public statement, especially if you command such a high level of influence on people. There have been several other incidents similar to this which made people lose credibility among followers, like when famous pop singer Justin Bieber accidentally posted a picture of Gaza with a message that expressed support for Israel, amid the Israel-Gaza conflict last year, causing a major facepalm moment. These kinds of incidents are easily avoidable with just a little thought and effort.
The Lakshadweep islands are undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in the country and certainly have the potential to become a major tourist destination, but the Government of India will need to be more careful on how it’s promoted and that such embarrassing incidents don’t happen again, while also ensuring that the tourism industry does not cause any damage to the islands and the coral reefs and beaches remain intact and retain their natural beauty.
(The author is a multimedia student of Tezpur University. All views and opinions expressed in the article are the author’s own)
