Coronavirus: Pradyot Manikya Lashes out against Charity "Photo Ops" on Social Media

Agartala, May 7, 2020:

Pradyot Deb Burman, scion of the erstwhile Manikya dynasty, has lashed out against a certain section of society for posing for photos while donating to the poor and needy amid the coronavirus outbreak.

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"When people give someone two kilos of rice and taking a photograph and doing a photo op, what comes out of it?", Manikya queried, questioning the movie behind such acts of 'charity'.

The royal further questioned the "politicization" of these charity programmes by certain people. "Lots of people go and give 5 kilos of rice dal with the picture of the leader or the flag of the political party. The people have to take this, because they have the need, but they also have self-respect. Because they do not have rice and food ration, they are taking it; but to do this and then to put it up on Facebook or Instagram and say we have helped 5 people -- what are we doing?", Manikya said.

Manikya further urged citizens to help the poor and needy irrespective of politics or religious affiliation.

Pradyot also said that his own organization The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) has "probably done the most amount of work" not only in Tripura, but also outside Tripura. "Whether it is helping out students or migrant workers in Guwahati, whether it was in Hyderabad, whether it was in Bangalore, Chennai, Kerala, Maharashtra, we have been helping", Manikya said.

He also said that they have not taken "donation" from any religious organizations or political parties and started with money from their own pocket. The royal scion has also admitted that his organization has helped close to 9,000 families in his home state and announced another 'fund' to help those Tripuris stranded in other states.

Meanwhile, Tripura continues to see a sharp spike in the number of coronavirus cases. Yesterday, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb announced that 22 more from the coronavirus-ravaged 138th battallion of the BSF have tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the state’s tally to 64.