Lata Mangeshkar: “Killing Celebrities On Social Media Must Stop”

one more attempt to spread false rumours about your health?

I don’t undertand why there’s  the need to report  so negatively about my health.It’s almost as though a section  of  the social media enjoys the idea  of bad news about me.

That’s a ghoulish thought. But you are right?

There  is an unhealthy trend  on  the social media to kill off or hospitalize  people  who have a name. We can see this as a sign of  the desperation  in  a society hungry for news. Sadly sensational headlines  have taken over from real news. Achchi khabarmane  boring khabar. Buri khabar means TRPs and trending new on the internet.

So what is  your solution to this  terrible  problem?

I have no  solution . You can’t stop people  from spreading vicious rumours unless the government makes a law to prevent it. And how many times will they kill me or Bachchan Saab or  Yusuf Saab(Dilip Kumar)?Repeated attempts to create news out of our lives makes the  audience/reader  immune to tragedy. My fear is, people will start  treating such false  reports as a joke even when it is true.

How would you describe your presence  on the social media?

I use it to wish my colleagues  on their  birth and death anniversaries.  Beyond that,I’ve no  interest in sharing my day-to-day routine on  the social media.

How did you handle false  gossip about yourself in your heydays?

 I didn’t.My well-wishers did. No one wrote nonsense  about me. When someone did ,people reacted  very strongly to the canard.

Do you  hope to see a false-hood free social media?

Not in my lifetime. Falsehoods have become  a part of our DNA. We  can’t help projecting lies as sansani khej khabar. But this a  volatile medium still in its infancy. People are experimenting with their thoughts and ideas .One  dangerous  whatsapp  message can lead to mob violence and communal conflicts. I urge  users  of social media to be cautious. Social-media outlets are not to be fooled around  with.