Fact or Alternative facts?

The great Russian poet Mayakovsky wrote,

No sagas, no epics, no myths- all extinct.

Fly verse, like a telegram , act!

With lips inflamed, drop down and drink

From the river whose name is FACT.

But these are days of post truth, when lines between truth and lies have blurred and facts are easily interchangeable with alternative facts(which are nothing but lies). Our leaders will make us believe anything to achieve their immediate goal – which is to win elections.

Donald Trump started his campaign based on audacious alternative facts and is now continuing his war with the media, which is demanding a probe into his alleged Russian links. To derail the issue of a probe, he calls the media dishonest and “enemy of the American people.”

The recent claim by none other than our Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the train accident in Kanpur in 2016 was an act of sabotage and planned by Pakistan is not backed by evidence at all. It is not the opinion of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) which is investigating the accident. The NIA said in January that its preliminary investigations ruled out sabotage by terrorists. A preliminary report from Railway safety authority said old, defective coaches and wheels appeared to be the cause for the mishap in which nearly 148 people died.

Anything can be said, especially when a leader is on an emotional pitch and when the prize of winning elections is so high. But the important thing today is, what do we want to believe?

-UDAAN