Over a week which began on May 7, the two airlines Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have embarked on this mission, while the Navy has also deployed two of its ships. The operation “Vande Bharat” is being carried out amid growing appeals from workers, students to be brought home amid restrictions imposed across the world. Although the passengers would have to bear the travel cost, their return poses a fresh challenge to the South Asian giant as it grapples with a surge in Coronavirus cases, which has so far infected about 70 K people already.
Therefore, once in India, the people will be tested medically and will be quarantined for 14 days in state-run facilities on payment basis. Not just that, travelers would also have to register for “AarogyaSetu” to curb the spread of the virus in India.
This is not the first time that India has embarked on a major evacuation exercise as in the past, our country has helped evacuate many citizens and other foreign nationals during wars and natural disasters. This goes on to show how positively India reacts to a humanitarian crisis, says Sanjay Dalmia, a renowned Indian nationalist.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest rescue and evacuation operations that India has conducted:
1. COVID-19 medical evacuation from Wuhan: It was Air India’s first medical evacuation, in over 70 years of existence, and it came at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak i.e. Wuhan, China. On January 31, 637 Indians and 7 Maldivians were brought back.
2. Airlift from Kuwait: About 1,70,000 Indians were caught in the war which left millions homeless and many more dead. Air India operated around 500 flights over two months – considered as the world’s largest evacuation exercise of civilians by air.
3. Operation Raahat: It is said “cometh the hour, cometh the man”. If this stands true for one establishment in India then it is the Defence Forces. On April 1, 2015, their valor transcended boundaries, when they evacuated 4,640 Indian citizens and 960 foreign nationals of 41 countries from Yemen during the 2015 Yemeni crisis.
4. Operation Safe Homecoming: The air-sea operation was conducted by the Indian Navy and Air India on February 26, 2011 to evacuate its citizens, fleeing from the Libyan Civil War. After the evacuation of more than 15,000 Indian nationals, the operation ended on March 11.
Operation Maitri, Operation Sukoon, Evacuation from Brussels – India has a long history of evacuations during wars and natural disasters. It is this swift, prompt measures and affection towards its citizens that make India one of the greatest nations in the world.
भुबनेस्वर: ओड़िशा के मालकनगिरी जिल्ले में कथित तौर पर दुष्कर्म पीड़िता एक आदिवासी महिला की मौत हो गयी। कथित तौर पर दुष्कर्म पीड़िता, जो अस्पताल में भर्ती होने के बाद से बेहोश थी, आज एक एम्बुलेंस में रायगडा में दम तोड़ दिया। जबकि उसे कोरापुट जिल्ला मुख्यालय के अस्पताल से ब्रह्मपुर एमकेसीजी मेडिकल कॉलेज स्थानांतरित किया जा रहा था।
रिपोर्ट्स के मुताबिक, पीड़िता जो मालकानगिरी पुलिस कैंटीन में काम करती थी, उसके साथ 6 या 7 मई को कथित तौर पर दुष्कर्म किया गया था। 7 मई को पीड़िता के पति बुदूरा गौड़ा को कैंटीन के मालिक द्वारा सूचित किया गया था कि उनकी (बुदुरा की) पत्नी बीमार है और उन्हें अस्पताल ले जाने की आवश्यकता है। पीड़िता को अस्पताल में भर्ती कराया गया। “मां’ घर” नामक ओड़िशा के एक अग्रणी महिला संगठन सदस्यों कें सहयोग से बुदुरा गौड़ (पति) ने 9 मई को पुलिस थाने में एक शिकायत दर्ज कराई थी, और आरोप लगाया था कि उसके पत्नी के साथ दुष्कर्म हुआ था। भारतीय दंड संहिता की धारा 323/34 के तहत मालकानगिरी पुलिस थाने में 192/20 में एक मामला दर्ज किया गया था। लेकिन इस घटना में पुलिस और डॉक्टरों की भूमिका पर सवाल उठाते हुए ‘मां घर’ संगठन के अधक्षया ऋतुपर्णा महांती नें कहा था के पुलिस और डॉक्टर झूट बोल रहे हैं। घटना को दबाए जाने की कोशिश हो रही है। महिला के साथ दुष्कर्म हुआ है। इस बारे में उनके पास काफी सबूत है। कुछ दिन पहले ओड़िशा में घटी चर्चित कुंदुली घटना के यह दोहराव है, अभियोग करते हुए महिला के साथ न्याय करने केलिए हर तरह की कोशिश करने की बात ऋतुपर्णा मोहंती ने कहि है। इधर इस घटना के बारे में संज्ञान लेते हुए ओड़िशा भाजपा के बरिष्ठ नेत्री प्रभाती परिड़ा ने भी पुलिस प्रशासन के ऊपर सवाल खड़ा करते हुए कहा है कि एक तरफ करोना योद्धा और दूसरी तरफ यह घटना। कुंदुली की तरह मर गयी या मार दिया गया? बीजेपी नेत्री ड. लेखाश्री सामंतसिंहार नें भी एक भिडियो जारी करके इस मामले में पुलिस के लापरबाही के ऊपर सवाल खड़ा किया है।
हालांकि, मामले की जांच के लिए एक विशेष जांच कमिटी (SIT) का गठन किया गया है। मालकानगिरी के अतिरिक्त एसपी जांच की कमान संभालेंगे। स्वतंत्र और निष्पक्ष जांच की भरोसा दिया गया है।
PM Modi addressed the nation today and inspired the country to fight Covid-19. Prime Minister Modi came live for speech at 21:00 PM fourth phase of the lockdown will be different with new rules and regulations. This was the Prime Minister’s fifth address since covid-19.
PM Narendra Modi said the fourth phase of the lockdown will be in a new form. Researchers say that the novel Covid-19 will be a part of our lives for a long time period. But we cannot give-up our lives remain moderate around it. Masks will be mandatory for everyone and maintain social distancing and after come from outside everyone need to wash hand with sanitizer The new rules will be announced before May 18.
PM Narendra Modi also introduced a complete package worth Rs 20 lakh crore to deal with the crisis. Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) will announce the details of the attractive economic package from Wednesday. it will be play an important role for labor and farmer he said, adding that the the announcements made by the govt so far, RBI package adds to Rs 20,00000 Lakh Crores or 10% of India’s GDP.
The Prime Minister emphasized on achieving self help for the country at a time when the pandemic has brought the economy. We have to move on with new resolve. This is the prime minister’s fifth address to the nation, including a Live video message, following the outbreak of Coronavirus, which has so far claimed 2,293 lives and infected 70,756.
Financial package should have been announced before 17 May. It is not clear what is in the package for laborers, farmers, traders, and MSMEs. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will declare Sectors
The Covid-19 crisis, has shown more than ever before the need of a robust and efficient public health system. While India has thus far dealt fairly well with the crisis, it has had its own share of hiccups- with doctors at the forefront complaining of the lack of Personal Protective Equipment, harassment by neighbours and police authorities in times of lockdown. Moreover, India’s response to the Covid-19 crisis has also been a sobering realisation, that though we have risen to the task when the pandemic struck, we have been turning a blind eye to several more preventable deaths that occur every day in what we consider ‘normal’ times (be it road accidents, malnutrition or vaccine preventable illnesses).
Another regular feature of the Covid-19 times across the world have been daily briefings by government authorities of different nations. In US the face of the briefings has been Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, a widely acclaimed name in the medical fraternity and one of the editors of Harrison’s Principle of Internal Medicine, considered as the Bible of Modern Medicine. In contrast, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India has been represented by Mr. Lav Agarwal, an affable IAS Officer who is the Joint Secretary in the MoHFW. Mr. Agarwal, is not a doctor or related to the medical fraternity in any manner; he in fact is an engineer from IIT Delhi, who joined the prestigious Indian Administrative Service after cracking the UPSC (Union Public Services Commission) exam in 1996. Similarly, the Secretary in the MoHFW, Ms. Preeti Sudan, is also not from the medical fraternity, but an economics graduate, who among other postings has also served in the Ministry of Defence.
Defence and Health, sound as disparate as chalk and cheese isn’t it? Well, for that you can thank the Indian Administrative Services. Never mind your academic background or aptitude, once you crack the tough UPSC exam and get allotted the IAS cadre, you start of with managing a district and then as you rise through the ranks, you can be posted in almost any field, from archives to fisheries, agriculture to industries and as we have seen defence to health. IAS, often called the steel frame of India, prioritises the generalist bureaucrat over the expertise of a specialist. While it is not without its plus points, it has glaring limitations as well. For starters, there is little incentive to delve deep into a particular field and gather latest domain knowledge, when you have every possibility of being shunted to an entirely different field within a matter of days and there is every incentive to continue the mundane affairs of moving files from one desk to another and squat on matters.
The field of medicine and healthcare is today based on evidence and that evidence is generated through research and studies, thousands of which are ongoing in every part of the world. As a result, medicine is a dynamic and rapidly evolving field, in which new frontiers are being scaled all the time; in 2020 medical knowledge is estimated to double every 73 days. This makes health and its planning a particularly challenging field which could do much better with those people at the helm, who have the necessary knowhow and can keep updating themselves. The way a nation manages its health system, impacts each and every one of its citizens at some point of time or another and by extension, it plays a very fundamental role in the trajectory of the nation as a whole. Moreover, as the Covid-19 pandemic has shown, in the world of the future, a robust healthcare system will play the same role in furthering the interests of a nation (and humanity as a whole) as played by its army or industrial base in the past. Just like the government has given an expert from the armed forces a seat at the high-table of defence planning by setting up the office of the Chief-of-Defence staff, now is the time to radically reform the way India manages its health system.
It is in this background, that the long pending demand (more than 40 years old) of creation of an All India Medical Service (AIMS) on the lines of Administrative, Police or Revenue Services assumes more importance than it has ever had in the past. An AIMS will place the levers of the health system in the hands of those who have a basic knowledge of medicine (MBBS lets suppose) and are then trained in the administrative and managerial aspects, with particular focus on issues relevant to health system management. They can begin their careers from the hinterland (much like an IAS officer starts as a Sub Divisional Magistrate) and then as they pick up experience, be gradually promoted higher up in the ladder at state or central level, right up to the Secretary MoHFW. This also solves to a great extent the pressing issue of lack of doctors in the rural areas as compared to the urban areas. One particular aspect which dissuades doctors from taking up rural assignments is the perceived lack of growth opportunity in their careers. An AIMS would solve that problem and motivate young and talented doctors to start their careers in the most far-flung and underserved of areas and then once they rise through the ranks and become responsible for laying out the further path for healthcare of the country as a whole, they can put the experience gained from the field to use.
What is also true is the fact that most doctors have little, if any, exposure to the domains of economics, management, resource allocation etc., as none of these topics are taught in medical schools. For any AIMS framework to be successful, it would need to bridge these lacunae in knowledge through adequate training before posting the newly recruited candidates. IAS/IRS/IPS officers have a foundation training programme followed by a probationary period to train the future officers in their respective domains and a similar health system-oriented programme would have to be formulated. Looking at various health models across the world, for example the NHS (National Health Services) in United Kingdom (which is one of the largest employers in UK) and the lessons we can learn from them, apart from experience of our medical personnel and health system administrators gathered over the past several years, could be instrumental in formulating not only the curriculum of this programme, but also deciding on the nitty-gritties of how the AIMS framework is to be laid out.
A major barrier in creation of the AIMS, would prove to be the fact that health is under the State List of the Constitution, and any overarching framework laid by the Centre can only be through approval by an overwhelming majority (if not total consensus) of the state governments. This would require a lot of deliberations between all the stakeholders at the state and centre. Though this would make the process more tedious, it also provides the benefit of gaining a broad variety of perspectives and then incorporating the most feasible among them. As the GST council (Goods and Services Tax) has shown, with the necessary political willpower, such co-operation between the centre and states is indeed possible.
With a doctor himself as the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, there could not be a better time to bring this long pending issue of an All India Medical Services out of the cold storage and make it a reality.
Most of us have heard the fable “The boy who cried wolf”, in which a shepherd boy tricks the villagers repeatedly by raising a false alarm that a wolf is coming to attack their sheep. When the wolf actually comes, no villager comes to his help, this time believing it was a false alarm again and the wolf eats up the boy. Well, Rahul Gandhi is the quintessential “The boy who cried wolf” of Indian politics. Very often, he has raised false alarms, the most famous in recent history being the ‘suit boot ki sarkar’ jibe and the vicious ‘chowkidar chor hai’ campaign.
In the midst of global acclaim for India, in the manner in which it handled the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Rahul has been repeatedly crying wolf, going at great lengths raising unfounded concerns as as to how the virus is going to spread alarmingly after the lockdown is lifted, how there is an acute food shortage etc., and his latest cry raising baseless concerns on data security on the Aarogya Setu App. However, not many citizens seem to be falling for it, perhaps rightfully realising that it was just another attempt by Rahul to cry wolf, a pointer to his low trustworthiness.
There are other reasons too for Rahul’s low credibility. Consider Jyotiraditya Scindia’s exit from the Congress. Soon after, Scindia’s exit, the Congress’s ‘youth icon’, Rahul Gandhi, expressed helplessness and publicly wondered why Scindia did not approach him before leaving, when Rahul’s doors were always open for him. Indirectly, he put the blame of Scindia. However, Rahul also went on to clarify that he would meet him only for personal reasons and not for party matters.
Hence Scindia, who has been completely occupied fighting a lone political battle in MP for the past 15 months, should have visited Rahul, not to discuss politics but, perhaps, to play a game of ping-pong! As that seems to be Rahul’s view of what the young leaders in Congress should be pursuing….playing ping-pong, and other such exciting activities, while leaving the mundane business of governance to the old guard. Since Rahul himself has been shirking away from assuming responsibilities of governance, he perhaps feels it is too early for folks like Scindia too.
Rahul’s excuse was that since he is no longer the Congress President, hence no one should approach him for any party matters. Someone who aspires to be the PM, Rahul can abdicate titles and positions but he cannot wash away his hands from responsibilities and accountabilities. Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi), after few years initially, held no position or authority in Congress but he continued to hold sway over the party like no one else, purely based on his personal influence. Moreover, most importantly, he assumed full responsibility of the party, especially when things went wrong.
It is not at all enough to have the same surname as Bapu, but more importantly, one needs to imbibe his qualities and emulate him. If Rahul continues to display this type of ‘youthful spirit’, his ‘ping-pong spirit’, of crying wolf at a drop of a hat, shirking away from responsibilities of governance and party organisation as well as abdicating accountability while being constantly in a blame-it-on-the-others mode, it is only a matter of time when the wolf eats up the Congress party.
With his children in distress, I don’t think God would be willing to sit on Gold seats and laden with gold from head to toe.
The world is currently engulfed in the perilous flames of COVID-19 pandemic. Some countries are struggling in their attempts to overcome this menace while some have been successful in controlling it. Indian government has been quick in its response and decided to lockdown the country with an iron hand. The country is locked down till 3rd May, 2020 and counting. Various decisions have been taken by the government which requires the government to roll out crores and crores of rupees. This is going to drag the already crawling Indian economy to its knees. Before the outbreak, the Indian economy was not in good shape. Industrial output was sloping with GDP figures growing at a record low pace. With the pandemic hitting us hard, the production has come to a still, except for the essentials, and there has been widespread loss in income for various income groups
The direct tax and indirect tax revenue collection have missed their target and are at 8% and 4% decline from the previous year’s collection respectively. The deadlines have been extended and government has rolled out various subsistence schemes ranging from public distribution of ration to direct money transfers to the bank accounts. The most vulnerable section is the informal sector which lives in a hand to mouth condition. Suggestions have been coming for tax reliefs to people and enterprises to help them revive post the pandemic. With already the burden of a sloping economy, Indian government has to strain the union purse to meet the ends. But what if the government gets its hand on the hidden treasure of lakhs and crores of rupees. What if the God, on whom the majority of Indians believe, steps in and bears the burden to save his devotees. Yes it is high time that purveyors of God jump in to buttress the staggering Indian community.
Indian temples are a store house of enormous wealth. Temples are the beacon of hope for devotees who visit them. With each wish comes an offering to the deity which adds to the wealth of the temple. The people of India, being highly religious, go in huge numbers to the temples across India and pay offerings in huge amount. Temples are store houses of gold and silver which have been donated by the devotees, most of the time anonymously.
Currently, to prevent gathering, temples in India have been temporarily closed. Some pilgrimages like Badrinath, Kedarnath etc are opened seasonally which attracts lakhs of people. This season is the only source of income for people having shops near the temple vicinity. Due to this closure, the only source of their income is unwillingly snatched away. The temples also gets money with the inflow of devotees. If the pandemic keeps on spreading at the current rate, it will create great havoc in India. Major population of India is poor with no facility for social distancing. If the virus gets spread in these areas, death toll will increase with uncontrollable folds.
What the temples can do
The immense wealth which rests in the store houses of these temples is of no use to God. These temples are managed by trusts which looks after the maintenance of the temple. The amount which would be employed for maintenance would be minuscule in comparison to the annual offering being made to these temples. As per an India Today article, Padmanabhaswamy temple of Kerala has a wealth of around 20 Billion dollars which amounts to around 1.53 lakh crore rupees. This is just the figures of one such famous temples which attracts lakhs of people each year. Temples like Tirumala Tirupati Venkateshwara Temple in Andhra Pradesh make 75 crore rupees just by selling laddoos. According to a report which was prepared on the directions of the Supreme Court to audit the religious and charitable institutions, there are 20 lakh major temples in India. Just imagine the amount of wealth these temples would be holding when the aforementioned temples are a mammoth of reserves.
Macro-level
God exists because we believe in him. These temples have acquired such enormous wealth due to the faith of people who pay visit to these temples. If there will be no devotee to pay visit, these temples will lose their relevance. Who will visit the temple when they would not have money to eat, when they would not have resources to cater to the basic needs?
In my opinion it is the time that the warehouses of these temples be opened and help the people with a generous heart. It is time that the wealth accumulated due to the offerings of the people be used for their welfare itself. India needs money and it has enough but the problem is of the access. Under Article 25-28 of the Constitution of India, freedom of religion and managing of religious affairs is enshrined. Therefore, the government cannot legally usurp or bring into use this wealth. However, the trusts who manage the temples can come forward to ameliorate the economic plight of the economy as well as the needy. This wealth can be donated helping the already strained economy.
Micro-level
We find temples in every locality in India. These are the local temples which are very frequently visited by the people and also have handsome amount of deposits. The initiative which these temples can take is providing food to the needy classes in their locality at their expenses. I know all the temples would not have adequate necessary resources at their disposal but they can at least aid to the welfare work under taken by the government.
The problem which we are currently facing is a nationwide problem and hence we need to act collectively to fight it. Not only temples, but the other religious institutions of other religions can also take the initiate on their own. The countrymen are in distress and question themselves each day whether they would die out of COVID-19 or hunger. With his children in distress, I don’t think God would be willing to sit on Gold seats and laden with gold from head to toe.
Views expressed are personal and do not intend to hurt the sentiments of any religious group.
The author is a 1st year student at National Law School of India University, Bangalore.
When entire India celebrated the integration of Kashmir, the entire multitude of Kerala media was busy with bifurcation of Kashmir, demonizing armed forces and predicting that Kerala would be the next ‘TARGET’. Irony was that this was the same media that gave rise to some of the strongest anti-corruption crusaders that has fallen into this pathetic state. The various take-overs, campus violence and even ‘police raid’ threats from the part of kerala government are part of this trend setting.
Kerala is a state that has a deep rooted left cadre. Unlike Bengal, Tripura the traditional apparatus of the left is supported by the IT cell. It is well known that the left IT cell and policies in state are dictated by sleeper cells. Heavy money flow in left party machinery is coordinated by the same jihadi-left nexus. Most colleges in Kerala are dominated by left apparatus. It is either the Professors or the students who tend to be on the left side. The net result is that every student is exposed anti-national narrative set by the left. As per government data, there are 92 colleges in Kerala that offer journalism or mass Communication. Of these 92, 78 of them have students body ruled by SFI (CPM’s student wing). 10 of them has got MSF (Muslim student’s Federation). So its natural that most of the budding Kerala journalists tend to be anti-nationals. A well known Manorama news anchor whose presence in screen itself radiates negativity and a sense of foreboding was an active SFI member. She is also dubiously close to CPM MLA M Swaraj, who openly ridiculed army and even went on to claim that ‘Lord Ayyapa was fake saint of previous era’. Yes, left student wings promote anti-nationals. The same ideology gets transferred to budding journalists.
Arnab Goswami is a hate figure among lefts and ‘pseudo seculars’. Reason is simple: his voice reaches every corner of the nation. Be it over dramatic, his voice and his views are dagger to their hearts. Therefore, cyber-attacks on him and his channel is common. Cable TV operators association in Kerala too is a sidekick of CITU(left trade union).So all channels that do not support CPM is also cut off. Thus, through these effective means a “mini North Korea” is created. When riots broke out in Delhi, Malayalam media, especially MADHYAMAM (owned by Muslim league) was hyper active in twisting facts and victimizing minority community. MATHRBHUMI which used to be an independent channel became more aligned to Islamic fundamentalism after a dubious take-over. Little is known about the takeover, except the fact that investors of anonymous identity have business in Middle East. The chain of events are happening in broad daylight,yet its importance is played down.
The neutral community (neutral voters) are always deceived by the biased news popping up in Kerala media. The journalists always take up the left side, isolating BJP spokespersons. The print media in Kerala too has the same state. Reports are heavily biased. Even a rape case involving a CPM leader or ‘non-khafir’ comes up, the media goes conspicuously silent. Added to it, every news channel works around a corporate line. Heavy funds organized by these anti-nationals means they hijack the channel. This deep rooted cycle of anti-nationalism is ever growing and if not tightening its grip.
The only way to break this chain is to promote nationalism with valid points rather than sentiments. Counter anti-nationalism with the same model of underground nationalist networks, healthy debates (i.e not discussing communal hatred) involving valid nationalist points and even exposing truth to people.Else the state of Kerala might get out of control.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to sufferings” …. George Lucas
There are many reports in social, print and electronic media pertaining to incidents of registration of FIR against a Hindu person for not taking delivery from a Muslim in Maharashtra and registration of FIR for fixing of saffron flags in the shops of Hindus in Nalanda, Bihar and writing word “Hindu” in the shops in Jharkhand.[i] When these reports came out in public domain, many people shared their difference of opinion pertaining to the aforesaid activities and against actions of state police and administration on various platforms. As these incident happened amid the incident of deaths of Hindu Sadhus in Palghar, Maharashtra, therefore, pendulum of discussion on topics ‘Communalism’, ‘Religious Authoritarianism’, ‘Religious Segregation’ etc. again started taking its motion in India amid corona-virus.
In the meantime, the controversy gets some more air when media reported a video which shows a BJP MLA From Deora, Uttar Pradesh suggesting it’s citizens in his constituency not to buy fruits and vegetables from Muslim vendors amid corona. As usual, the controversy when reached to the ear of the opposite political parties, many leaders condemned the act as same was according to them; ‘Communal’ in nature and asked authorities to send above MLA in Jail. However, media reports does not suggest whether any FIR is lodged against him or not.
When media person confronted aforesaid for his controversial statement, he said in his defense that when he visited his constituency, general public informed him that vendors of a particular community contaminating vegetables with saliva. As such, as a part of advisory he asked them to not buy vegetables from them after taking into account all the situations amid coronavirus and there is nothing communal in his speech and remarks.[ii]
That the media reports pertaining to the incidents in which FIRs have been registered do not suggests any reason or about any intention behind the commission of alleged crimes. Further, State police of Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand after registering the FIRs have still not clarified, if there was any such intention behind the offences under which FIR were registered against those people. Furthermore, State police does not discloses the probable theories or reasons behind the offences under which FIRs were registered. It is pertinent to note that accused person Mr. Gajanan Chaturvedi told media that his version was not recorded before registration of FIR and there was no such intention to insult any religious sentiment.
So, through this article a benevolent effort is being tried to make to help the readers to search for the answer “whether it was done under certain fear and compulsion or there was communalism behind these controversial incidents. Readers are advised to read this article with a pragmatic mindset in order to pierce the veil shadowed the actual picture.
Crux of the situations & circumstances amid Coronavirus:
In recent past, there are ample videos and reports circulating on social, print and electronic media which shows some people from a particular community i.e. Muslim were deliberately trying to spread the deadly corona virus in India. There are videos which shows some Muslims were deliberately spitting on foods, raw vegetables, fruits and even on currency notes to contaminate it in order to spread the deadly virus & risking the lives of general public in India.[iii]
Secondly, there are ample reports which shows how Talibaghi Jamaatis were flocked to conduct religious congregation at Nizamuddin, New Delhi and broke safety guidelines issued by both State and Central Government.[iv] The reports also shows how the organizers of the ‘Islamic Congregation’ had tried to hide the whereabouts of the foreign travelers who attended the congregation and also violated the various lockdown measures adopted by the Government for sake of safety and security of the general public.[v] Further, the nation has also witnessed many unpleasant incidents categorically done by these Jamaatis and other stake-holders of the Islamic Community such as attacks on doctors, spitting and misbehaving with female nurses and para-medical staffs, throwing of urine bottles on roads etc. in various parts of country amid corona virus.[vi]
The country also see various reports on different media platforms about repeated intolerant behavior of these people with the corona warriors in the hospitals and quarantine centers. The nation is also witnessing rise in the graph of corona patients and also deaths occurring throughout the country and it is quite difficult for everyone to neglect the contribution made by these miscreants in this rising graph; though State Minority Commission, Delhi advised State and media not to highlight the contribution of these miscreants anymore for public harmony or any other reasons which are best known to them.[vii] The safety and security of own life and lives of near and dear ones are also haunting day by day as actual causes, symptoms and treatments of this deadly disease are yet to be detected. Therefore, if one summarize all these incidents, it is very common phenomena to develop a sense of fear in minds and act accordingly; although same might sound irrational or immoral to others amid pandemic.
People may come up with an argument that few incidents of nuisance or negligence done by some people, shall not be taken as detrimental factors to generate a sense of fear from a particular community, however, one can also not brush aside this fact that when a large number of people belongs to a certain community identified as a participants to any life threatening act; then whole community falls under a loop. There are also reports about spreading of purported videos or news which are claimed to be circulated to malign Muslim Community, however, falsification of some news or videos does not provide any blanket to the bunch of controversial incidents reported in public domain amid present pandemic.
Rising Actions; Offence & Registration Of FIRs:
During the present pandemic, some reports circulated in different platforms of media that State Police of Maharashtra booked a person u/s 295 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) for not taking delivery from muslim delivery boy. Further, there are media reports which says Jharkhand Police has booked fruit sellers u/s 107 Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for writing word “Hindu” and displaying a banner of Viswa Hindu Parishad on their shops. Similarly, Bihar Police has booked two men alleged to be a member of Bajrang Dal u/s 147, 149,188,153A, 295A & Section 66 of the IT act for planting saffron flags at shops owned by Hindus at Nalanda, Bihar.
The way of operation of state police & administration is very familiar, it again shows when there would be controversy; registration of ‘FIR’ is the only answer or solution to shift the bucket. We all know fear of voice of opposition, media & public perceptions how much haunts police nowadays. Further, registration of FIR without going into the crux of the facts of the case becomes monotonous work of the Police to avoid any controversy. That matters now went to the court and proceedings will be take place according to the law. It may take any number of years to decide whether those person are guilty or not. It is also not certain that we can ever come to know about the ultimate fate of these cases like other cases. However, we are free to use our own intellect to find the answer without being carried with any report or word of mouth i.e. is it Fear or compulsion Or Communalism?
Is It Fear & Compulsion?
If we summarize current situation amid corona pandemic and series of acts done by the Talibaghi Jamatis and some miscreants belongs to Muslim community, one cannot simply brush aside the fact that yes; there is a sense of fear amongst general public. Secondly, the virus is new to the society and Government has issued many health guidelines which reveals all possible causes for spreading of the virus in the society. Thirdly, there are many inconsistencies in the theories related to causes and symptoms related to this deadly disease. As such, these inconsistencies generates many conceptions or misconceptions about the disease. Moreover, Government has prohibited spitting on public places and wearing of mask become compulsory to control the spreading of this deadly virus. Further, similar advisories were issued by other foreign nations to control the epidemic.[viii] That it is very normal affair for a common people to develop a sense of fear in his mind after watching videos or reading reports which shows people spitting on vegetables and fruits, currency notes and behaving intolerantly with the corona warriors amid pandemic.
Some reports also suggests some of the videos related to spitting on fruits and vegetables are old and has no relevance to present pandemic. But, we have to accept this fact that spitting on foods or vegetables and fruits before serving or selling is not acceptable practice even in normal course; same is treated as an unhygienic practice. Further, reports of attacking and misbehaving with corona warriors is still continue and same also put a big blot on the entire community. Needless to say this, repeated unpleasant incidents forced many people to lose their faith on that particular community & same also put a big question mark on their intention amid corona virus. Therefore, a sense of fear is being developed amongst public after watching or reading about all such unpleasant incidents repeatedly committed by the stake-holders of Muslim community.
The sense of fear was clearly felt in the behavior of Mr. Gajanan Chaturvedi when he claimed that his areas is highly effected of virus & the complainant-delivery boy was not wearing mask and continuously touching his face while delivering the goods. This fact reflects that a sense of fear or developed in his mind amid coronavirus & may be the same compelled him to act in such manner. [ix] Furthermore, accepting or non-accepting of delivery of goods due to any personal reasons does not ipso-facto suggests any intention to insult anyone’s religious sentiments.
Similarly, there is also strong sense of fear among the small vendors who are selling essential commodities such as fruits, vegetables, milk & other groceries etc. Therefore, fear of losing customers & business amid corona virus may be the actual reason which compelled the vendors to put afore-said banners & saffron flags in their shops. The enabling circumstances does not suggests there was any wilful intention to insult any other’s religious sentiments or to create communal riot. Further, there might be many people like Mr. Gajanana who may prefers to buy certain goods from a particular community people due to any personal reason or faith towards the people of that community taking on account all the odd incidents happened amid corona-virus. But, it is not easy for people to configure shops on the basis of religious ethnicity in a fruit & vegetable market where large number of vendors from different religion running their shops. It is pertinent to note that it is not possible for a consumer to check the identity of all the vendors present in the market place. Further, asking for identity from vendors may also be treated as an attempt to insult anyone’ religious sentiments. However if we think broadly, an attempt to make consumers aware about the religious ethnicity to give them a sense of ‘security’ amid corona-virus by hoisting flags or putting banner in shops does not suggests anything wrong or harm to anyone’s religious sentiments. There is no report which suggests those people have put any restriction for the customers to buy goods from the shops run by people of other community. Similarly, no report suggests that any vendor belonging to other community was restricted to sell their goods or their religious symbols & flags in the same market place.[x]
Is It Communalism?
The word Communalism is a term used in south Asia to denote attempts to construct religious or ethnic identity, incite strife between people identified as different communities, and to stimulate communal violence between those groups.
The word “Attempt” demonstrates that there must be presence of “mense-rea” & “Actus-Rea” to give any activity or event ‘communal color’. However in the aforesaid cases, the ruling situations and circumstances which are rotating amid corona-virus does not suggests about any theory or role of communalism behind these activities. There is no report which suggests that any prior similar attempt having been made by those persons to outrage communal harmony as alleged. Further, there is no report which suggests any atrocity has been committed towards any people belonging to other community during the commission of aforesaid activities. Per contra, there are strong circumstances & situations in favor of this contention that the alleged acts were carried out due to strong fear of losing their lives & loved-ones, security, loss of business & trade etc.
It is pertinent to mention that concept of putting symbols, marks, pictures, flag etc. to demonstrate a particular religious ethnicity, is not new in our society and same at outset does not score an attack to the sentiments of other religious community. There are plenty of shops where we can see word “Halal Meat”, numeric numbers 786, Onkar Sign (Central Tenet of Sikh Religious Philosopy) displayed on shops boards & other conspicuous places. It is believed that there is a sense of security generates in the mind of muslims when they see shops mentioning “Halal” as they prefers Halal meat in terms of their religious beliefs. Similarly, no law restricts any consumer from purchasing any goods or preferring shopping from shops of any particular community. Further, choosing a particular shop or outlet is sole discretion of the buyer & one cannot deny purity or security standard of goods/products are always been a detrimental factor behind choosing a particular outlet.
It is very crucial to note that many reputed restaurants and food outlets in India & abroad including Macdonald’s have specifically written in their outset about serving “Halal Meat”. But, no governmental authority has ever taken any coercive against these restaurants and outlets despite protest being raised by the people of other religious communities.[xi] It is pertinent to note that “Halal Meat” controversy does not restricted to India, there were protests against this practice outside India also.[xii] Therefore, marketing of products or outlets by using religious connotations does not ipso-facto outrage or insults religious sentiments of any community as per the law. If we put the aforesaid acts wherein FIRs were registered and legal proceedings had been initiated in similar pedestal, then we can find that same has nothing to do with outraging any religious sentiments or communalism but simply a bonafide act to generate a mark of security or satisfaction amongst their customers amid corona-virus. Therefore, acts and conducts of state police i.e. registration of FIRs against those people without going into the crux of the case is simply denotes their incapability to cope with the odd situations arising due to present pandemic.
If we analyze these matter from the legal point of view, some settled principle of law, the registration of FIR and subsequent initiation of criminal proceedings is bad in the eye of law. As mentioned above, there must be presence of ‘Mens Rea’ & ‘Actus-Rea’ which are essential elements to constitute a crime. Mens-Rea- ‘Actus non-facit reum nisi mens sit rea is a well-known maxim of criminal law. It means “the act itself does not make a man guilty unless his intentions were so.[xiii] Whereas, in the following cases essential element i.e. mense-rea is absent. Per contra, there is strong circumstantial evidences which suggests that the acts were under certain fear and compulsion and same occurs due to repeated mischievous acts done by the large number of stake-holders of the other religious community. Furthermore, the maxim ‘actus me invite factus non est mens actus’ supports the doctrine of ‘mens rea’ for no person can be held liable for an act done under fear or compulsion.[xiv]
Further, Section 96 & 97 of India Penal Code, 1860 talks about “Right of private defense of the body and of property”. This section subject to the restrictions contained in section 99 of the said act, provides citizens right to defend his own body and the body of any other person against any offence affecting human body.[xv]
Furthermore, amid pandemic Government has imposed Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 throughout the territory. Section 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 says “No suit or other proceedings shall lie against any person for anything done or in food faith intended to be done in good faith intended to be done under this act.[xvi]
In the light of the above discussion, ending this article with a note: ‘what appears to you may not be true or what not appears to you may be true’. I hope article would help the readers to reach to a definite conclusion.
Maintaining financial health once the lockdown is over will be important for our saving goals and for having a financial cushion to handle any emergency. In every recession people will cut back on purchases that can easily be postponed and increase precautionary savings in anticipation of worst crisis. What makes the coronavirus pandemic different is that people will eliminate spending for restaturant travel and other services that usually fall but do not drop to zero. This adds to year long habit of savings among Indians whether it may be FDs in banks RDs in post office or in the physical form of gold. People use to save money in the crisis like coronavirus because scarcities could catch up with everyone. The unequal impact of lockdown is most evident when it comes to food.
Food is the basic necessity in lockdown rather than clothing and a house to live in. For thousand of migrant workers set adrift by nationwide, some have to live on salt and water finding hard to reach to community kitchens or essential supply stores.
Saving money is incredibly important. It gives you peace of mind and expand your option for decision that have major effect on quality life. Most amongst the wealthy people get their share through a combination of hard work and smart savings. Planning before spending is a must to spend rationally and would stop you giving your money to something that is as good as a scrap. So well it definitely is important to save as crisis never comes with alarms. There is a crowd existing with a thought that we have one life so why think twice but this doesn’t hold true in case of money. You should think twice before spending it.
It’s not about restricting yourself from living blissfully but prioritizing the needs. The saved money may turn out to help you someday when it is vital for your life. You would be thankful to yourself. The ailing will be well again migrants will find their homes, the restaurants will fill up. The rich and middle class will get to work and forget these nightmare months. But if they carry anything with them into the waking world, would be a healthy respect for our daily bread and habit of saving money for any future obstacles.
Bollywood has always been accused of promoting stereotypes; repacking them again and again and sell under different titles. The reason behind Bollywood’s propensity for brazen exploitation of stereotypes is their easy acceptability by the audience which lessens the pressure on the filmmaker to be more creative. Among several filmmakers, Anubhav Sinha comes first in mind when thinking of spicing up a social issue and wrapping it with stereotypes to serve the audience. After the critical acclaim and box office success received by the movie ‘Pink’ Anubhav Sinha identified a potential short cut formula for making successful movies. Put together a mediocre script on a social issue decorate it with stereotypes and tag it with ‘Inspired from true events’ and eureka there is another successful movie.
These types of movies don’t go through tough scrutiny like other movies because both critics and audiences feel pressure to appreciate these movies to avoid being tagged as insensitive towards social issues. Anubhav sinha is selling cheap copies of the movie ‘Pink’ with different social issues, he smartly uses the issue to divert the attention of the audience from the lack of creativity in the film script. Audiences feel pressure to appreciate the movie because it is dealing with an important social issue in doing that they usually choose to ignore flaws in the script and mediocre film making. Sinha’s recent ‘Thappad’ is third in the series of mediocre movies on a lingering social issue. Even though Thappad is a movie with a noble message the film script lacks creativity.
The movie has a flawed script with numerous loopholes and barely developed characters with convoluted characterization. Like ‘Mulk’ movie thappad also lacks proper understanding of the legal system and can easily be accused of propagating misinformation about the divorce proceedings and legal aspects of it. For example, legally, slap alone that too in the heat of moment can’t be considered as domestic violence in a divorce proceeding as suggested in the movie. A judge usually suggests counseling in these types of cases. Perhaps that’s the reason Sinha avoided the dramatic court scene like Mulk because he knew legally the plot is flawed. The protagonist suggests that the ‘Thappad’ surfaced all other wrongdoings of her husband which she was ignoring but Sinha chose not to discuss those because presumably, he wanted to focus on the Thappad since the inclusion of other incidences will make the movie another version of several previous domestic violence based TV shows and movies. Just one Thappad instigating protagonist to ask for a divorce is the only novelty of the script but it is also the biggest loophole. Thappad promotes the stereotype that somehow housewives are lesser than working women and most of the women are forced to become housewives which is entirely untrue.
Being a housewife is also as respectable as being working women and it’s not some kind of social punishment as the movie suggests. The movie shows how women have to give up on their hobbies after marriages, which is sad but it’s not true only for women men also usually give up on their hobbies because of lack of time and the burden of responsibilities. So giving it a gender angle is another wrongdoing this movie is accused of.
The more deserving protagonist of the movie was the poor housemaid who was constantly getting physically abused but for her Sinha’s solution was ‘If your husband hits you, you hit him back instead of taking divorce’, however, this solution might have worked in the case of Ammu the protagonist. But of course, movie revolved around domestic abuse of a housemaid would have not been so successful. Among other things, the most serious issue with thappad is that it projects divorce as a first and only option instead of last resort for marital problems which is not justified both legally and socially. The movie portrays divorce as a woman empowerment tool and blatantly glorifies it. The protagonist remains adamant even after getting to know about the pregnancy and keeps on insisting on divorce and somehow that was suggested to be empowering, which was absurd because the protagonist was simply being selfish putting her ego in front of a child’s future. Imagine the mental state of a child whose parents were divorced even before he/she was born. Overall, the movie glorifies and oversold the concept of divorce; the issue of domestic violence deserves a more sincere and honest film. Basically, if you are married stay away from this movie it will just make you more mentally intolerant toward each other. For every woman: if you watch be careful with what you take away from this movie and keep in mind that like every movie this movie also had financial goals to achieve, so exaggeration was inevitable to make it more sensational.
Sinha’s previous two movies Article 15 and Mulk also carry the same caricature. Besides social issues he also loves to claim the movie is based on an actual event which is a desperate attempt to confer more authenticity to the movie. Article 15 also claims to be based on actual events. Except in movie the perpetrators were brahmans while in case of the real incident the caste of the criminals was thakur. Now for a movie that discusses casteism in society, not being stick to the actual cast of criminals seems not right. Making a movie on someone’s brutal death is like selling someone’s pain and torture. Just assume if those girls were alive would Sinha dare to ask them that can he change the identity of the perpetrators because it doesn’t fit his image of the real events. The most disgraceful moment in the movie comes when Sinha tries to justify the violence and rioting by a Dalit leader citing ‘revolution demand agitation’; no Mr. Sinha burning of public property can’t be justified by any means no matter how noble the cause is. Sinha’s Dalit leader Azad inspired by a real-life leader who has several cases against him falsely resembles Chandra Shekhar Azad. The villain of the movie ‘Mahantji’ resembles U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath but the irony is Sinha thanks him in the movie credits this shows the filmmaker has no serious intention to put forward any social message he is too scared of the very system he is calling corrupt.
Mulk has been already criticized by many for its superficial treatment of the complex problem of terrorism. Just think how many times parents of a terrorist refused to take the dead body as shown in the movie but you can easily remember an incident where dead terrorists are called martyrs by their parents. The character played by late Rishi kapoor says in court “If you will ask with love I will open my heart but if you will force me than I don’t care I am only answerable to country and God.” And there lies the problem; everyone is also answerable to the legal system besides god. This increasingly popular concept of “I am only answerable to God’s court or I will accept only God’s judgement“ is very dangerous. People in Shaheen Bagh also made the same claim when refused court’s order saying that they believe in God’s court.
Sinha has a history of making the same kind of movie until he exhausts the genre and the audience rejects it. For example, after the movie ‘Dush’ he made a similar type of flop movie ‘Cash’, after hit ‘Tum bin’ he made a flop sequel. He also made Tathastu a cheap rip off of Hollywood movie John Q. Now let’s see how many movies it will take before the audience realizes Sinha’s movies are just products of poor film making with mediocre script having a social issue as protecting shield.
Sinha is not the only filmmaker who has a propensity towards smearing stereotypes on the silver screen, almost all the movies focusing on a social issue suffers from this predisposition. Making an honest investigation and then presenting the facts with an unbiased attitude is not a favorite practice for filmmakers. They usually pick a side and then narrate the whole story singing praise for that side. Filmmakers don’t want to spend much time on fact-checking most attention is paid on increasing the emotional content of the script to make it sellable. That’s why documentaries are a more honest and suitable form for discussing social issues, not Bollywood movies.
Finally advice for Sinha: Hire a lawyer first before hiring a scriptwriter when you are making a court drama to avoid butchering of legal issues in your movies.
