The same channels that obsess over a celebrity baby also weaponise identity politics to silence dissent. In the London’s Singh’s Dining saga, an Indian‑aligned smear campaign used outrage to drown out a Pakistani‑born entrepreneur’s legitimate grievances. The pattern repeats: a sensational story is amplified, the narrative is twisted, and the public’s genuine concerns – unaffordable electricity bills, food inflation, joblessness – are pushed to the margins.
Who profits from this spectacle? Advertisers, click‑bait platforms, and political operatives who need a distraction. The public cost is not measured in likes or retweets but in the erosion of a shared civic space where real issues can be debated. When a newborn’s name becomes a proxy battle over patriarchy versus matriarchy, the conversation sidesteps the pressing question of why a middle‑class family in Delhi cannot afford a reliable electricity bill.
