Literally every foreign rag reporting on the Covid crisis in India, has the image of funeral pyres.
We can pretend like this is nothing. But packaging the trauma of the 'third world', complete with all their exotic rituals, for the consumption of the West, is an old skill set.

This is not specific to India.
African nations have seen this treatment since decades. Maybe some of our own intelligentsia will even be critical of that portrayal. But encourage that same behavior when it comes to us.
'Meet the death and decay in this unknown culture' trope.

This was a report by the BBC last year, on South Africa.
The template was similar to how the report around India was.
'How come there are no bodies' type of awe!
Now that there are bodies, the lens has shifted to the familiar. https://twitter.com/pratyasharath/status/1256129184973246469?s=19

For a year or so, the West bore the brunt of being a 'developing nation' where even first world health care could not contain the damage.
So there was shock.
Now the familiar victims are back and the packaging is done for the white audience, so that they can feel 'better' again.

It is not the job of the government to clamp down on criticism, as they are certainly accountable and criticism is fair.
They should clarify and address misinformation though.
It is more for people to remember.
The Western gaze looks at certain people differently. Since always