Remember the ‘Bat Signal’ from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight series which Police Commissioner Gordon used to light up to call upon the Batman? Well, it won’t be wrong to consider social media as the ‘Bat Signal’ of contemporary India where its power is constantly being used by common citizens to alarm the authorities if they or anyone around them are in some sort of trouble.
When a lady and her daughter was rescued from a refugee camp
Gurpreet who originally hails from Faridabad, Haryana posted a video on Facebook telling how she and her daughter are being kept at a refugee camp in Germany by her husband’s family and requested the Government of India to help get her out of there. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj promptly responded to the situation and Gurpreet was rescued by the officials at India’s embassy in Germany.
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/694511905663156224
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/694527150414692352
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/694892982051287040
When an old lady was reunited with her family across border
Hawa Devi had come to India on a pilgrimage trip in 2014 but was not allowed to return to her country because she was not able to pay a bribe to a corrupt officer. After 18 months, news clipping in Dainik Bhaskar attracted the attention of Sushma Swaraj and acting upon the same, Hawa Devi was reunited with her family back at Pakistan.
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/688063070237687808?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
When a young girl was prevented from being trafficked
Radha Lohar who was on a train from Hyderabad gave a letter to one of her fellow passengers stating that she was being forcibly taken to Delhi. A photograph of the letter was tweeted to the Minisitry which was followed by swift action by the GRP. Later the girl was safely handed over to a local NGO.
https://twitter.com/Divyansh131/status/684220635849961472?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
https://twitter.com/Divyansh131/status/684220713452978176?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
https://twitter.com/RailMinIndia/status/684226004307476480?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
When anxious parents were reunited with their eloping daughter
A tweet to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had helped anxious parents trace their 15 year old daughter after she had eloped with her classmate.
https://twitter.com/Narendra_IRTS/status/693421078648115200/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
Social media is indeed the new eyes and ears of the authorities.
Author: Anusheel
