It is not the first time that Shobhaa De has got into trouble because of her social media antics. The self-proclaimed social commentator this time dissed none other than the Mumbai Police by posting a picture of an obese policeman on Tuesday. The picture showed the policeman sitting on a chair, and assuming that he belongs to Mumbai police, De wrote, “Heavy Police bandobast in Mumbai today”.
Heavy police bandobast in Mumbai today! pic.twitter.com/sY0H3xzXl3
— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) February 21, 2017
This enraged many of the Twitteratti who pointed out the flaw in the picture. Actually, the policeman did not belong to Mumbai police but to Madhya Pradesh police. Many even called out to the author, saying she is body-shaming by commenting on his weight.
De's tweet got 976 responses, 314 retweets and 909 likes. The Twitteratti had a field day retorting to De’s tweet, “Pull her out of page 3, else she will remain mentally ill,” commented Somit Bhattacharya. Scherry Siganporia of GIZ tweeted, “Body shaming someone who is obese irrespective of his or her job description or role is not acceptable. Works for both genders.”
https://twitter.com/Sheshapatangi/status/834085620377124864
So, @DeShobhaa couldn't wait for 2020 Olympics.
— Sand-d Singh (@Sand_In_Deed) February 21, 2017
time for some psychiatric counseling
— Dr Vijay Chauthaiwale (@vijai63) February 21, 2017
Well, the public was responding to De’s mocking tweet but the Mumbai Police took the batten in their hands and tweeted back to De for her trolling tweet. “We love puns too Ms De but this one is totally misplaced. Uniform/official not ours. We expect better from responsible citizens like you,” said the Mumbai Police in the tweet.”
We love puns too Ms De but this one is totally imisplaced. Uniform/official not ours. We expect better from responsible citizens like you. https://t.co/OcKOoHO5bX
— मुंबई पोलीस - Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) February 21, 2017
The Mumbai police proved to be decent and graceful and dealt with the matter in a much matured way unlike De who just lifted a picture from the internet or probably Whatsapp and cracked a joke which apparently only she thought was funny.
So after the Mumbai police had politely told De off, she understood the gravity of the situation and apologized to the police. But still she did not stop herself from advising the MP police to hire a dietician.
Mumbai/Maharashtra Police, pranaam. No offence intended. M.P. police, consult a dietician,if it's an asli ,undoctored image doing the rounds
— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) February 22, 2017
De is famous for pissing people off. Right before this, she had found herself in a controversy as she commented on Indian sportspersons who had gone for the Rio Olympics. She faced public wrath because of that but somehow the writer just doesn’t learn and stop mocking people for no reason.
Picture credit- Famousauthors.org