Like Modi government, India’s colonial rulers also knew that sight of pyres can be contentious

The open-air funeral pyre is among the most striking images that epitomise the horror of the Covid-19 crisis that is unfolding in India. Rows of corpses perched on top of funeral pyres waiting to be burned, hapless relatives in PPE kits hugging each other near fires swallowing a loved one, aerial drone shots of mass cremations, the remains of a pyre that has burned down – such visuals have filled the headlines in media across the world.

They have also been the subject of caricatures, cartoons and trolls. The Modi government responded with a predictable and by-now typical crack down: it asked Twitter in India to withhold tweets that criticised the government.

Among those blocked were several that featured funeral pyres. For example, West Bengal minister Moloy Ghatak’s tweet juxtaposed images of burning funeral pyres with Modi campaigning for the Assembly elections. The Indian High Commission in Australia shot off a rejoinder to The Australian for publishing an obloquy of Modi, which had included a photo of a man running past a mass cremation site in Delhi.

This is how ‘The Australian’ has shown mirror to Narendra Modi.

Indian High Commision had sent a letter to this Newspaper, they replied back with these reports. #ResignModi pic.twitter.com/FGO6YEDNBx

— Md Asif Khan‏‎‎‎‎‎‎ (@imMAK02) April 29, 2021

Cremation has a long history…

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