'There are Dalit millionaires... so why are they protesting?': NYT tweet a classic case of 'hot takes' gone wrong

Coverage by The New York Times of the massive Dalit protests that shook northern parts of India on 2 April has kicked up a storm. The newspaper tweeted out a report on the issue with a clickbaity caption, which as many Twitter users pointed out, was in bad taste. In an article titled,  Lower-Caste Fury Shakes India, and Hints at Fiery Election Ahead ,  The New York Times strictly pointed out the what’s and why’s of the situation. But it promoted the story on Twitter with the following caption.

The caption with which the news publication tweeted out the post, was a part of the article. However, in the article, the text did not appear to be out of place and was contextualised. The article did point out that in spite of several community members taking “impressive strides in terms of economic prosperity”, “caste tensions lie just beneath the surface.” However, the sentence used in the tweet, when read in isolation, did propagate ideas frequently used by upper-caste Hindus to peddle an anti-Dalit narrative. Such statements are often heard in arguments which question the validity of the reservation system, as also and other legal provisions enacted for the community’s welfare. Many people on Twitter took the same view and bashed the news website for its choice of caption.

Some of the comments, which claimed that Dalits are now ‘privileged’ also ended up proving the point made by those who criticised the caption. Well pointed out 👍🏼It’s because of politics by congress

Ssome people did mark the distinction between the quality of the article and the words chosen for the tweet.

Dalit groups had launched vociferous protests throughout the country on 2 April as part of a ‘ bharat bandh ’ agitation. The protests were held to oppose a recent Supreme Court ruling that there should be no immediate arrest of public servants under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. A bench of the court had held that a probe prior to arrest under the act, which makes the offence non-bailable, will help filter out bogus and retributive cases invoking the stringent act. The protests turned violent in some parts of the country, with 11 people losing their lives. The community is also agitating against rising hate crimes, alleging that ‘dilution’ of the stringent Atrocities Act will make it harder for victims to come forward with complaints, owing to the fear of retribution.