Let’s just get things straight – Poonam Pandey faked her own death as a publicity stunt to raise awareness about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine. This is unethical, insensitive and disrespectful on multiple levels. By faking her own death and turning cervical cancer into a mere Instagram hashtag, she has disregarded the painful journeys of countless patients of cervical cancer and their loved ones. She has spread misinformation and misused her credibility as a public figure.
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Nikhil Taneja, the co-founder of We Are Yuvaa took to X (formerly Twitter) to explain very articulately how this entire stunt is plain and simply wrong, irrespective of what the intentions behind it were.
Wow, so #PoonamPandey is alive. A friend of mine told me in private last night that this is a campaign by a digital agency, but I was skeptical. Because could we really fall this low? Looks like we have.
So many things wrong with this. #Thread
— Nikhil Taneja (@tanejamainhoon) February 3, 2024
This stunt was thoughtless and made a mockery out of real-life victims of cervical cancer.
There are hundreds of thousands of people who die from cancer every year. To use a cancer-led death as a tool for a publicity stunt is one of the most insensitive, thoughtless, vile ideas anyone’s come up with. You’ve diminished real deaths & suffering, and made a mockery of a…
— Nikhil Taneja (@tanejamainhoon) February 3, 2024
Will women want to take the HPV vaccine and associate themselves with something Poonam Pandey has associated herself with?
Beyond that, you’ve turned the HPV vaccine into a punchline. I really hope that every woman who was considering taking this vaccine after the news of the death yesterday, goes ahead with it, because chances are that this will have the opposite effect: people will not want to be…
— Nikhil Taneja (@tanejamainhoon) February 3, 2024
In a country where women are seldom taken seriously for their harrowing experiences, this just makes things worse.
And most significantly, a stunt like this will be turned into the most misogynist of backlashes. I hope I’m wrong about this, but in a country and society where women are barely believed, Poonam Pandey – and the people behind the campaign – has given more reason for women to not…
— Nikhil Taneja (@tanejamainhoon) February 3, 2024
Poonam Pandey has a lot to gain from this stunt but because of all this noise, what truly matters – cervical cancer awareness and the HPV vaccine – will take a backseat.
This will now go down in history as an example of ‘publicity ke liye kuch bhi karega’, and the only person who will benefit out of this will be Poonam Pandey, who will probably get invited to 10 more reality shows. Whereas the issue of cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine may,…
— Nikhil Taneja (@tanejamainhoon) February 3, 2024
Did nobody who was associated with the campaign take a few steps back and question how unethical this was?
'What were they thinking', will be the question on everyone's mind.
The answer: they weren't. We are a country and society filled with people who don't think. Who believe their actions have no consequences. The joke's on us. My god, what a farce. What a circus. What a tragic…
— Nikhil Taneja (@tanejamainhoon) February 3, 2024
Imagine how triggering this must have been for actual victims of cancer!
Can't stop thinking of how triggering this would be to the survivors of cancer..
— Nikhil Taneja (@tanejamainhoon) February 3, 2024
Do you agree with what is being said here?