“A stitch in time saves nine”. Appropriate actions need to be taken at an appropriate time. Entire world is battling an unseen enemy– COVID 19. When novel corona cases were reported in Wuhan, China; many did not anticipate that it would affect lives and economies globally. Many developed countries have high number of cases and deaths. India is second most populous country with 137 crores people belonging to diversified cultures and very high population density of 464 per km². India is still in a better position compared globally due to the bold decisions taken by Indian government at an early stage.
The way India successfully lead the battle against corona shows that a decisive and stable government only can tide over such crisis times in world’s largest and diverse democracy. This government has been successful in handling corona crisis till now. Earlier Indians used to opt USA, now amidst corona crisis many Americans are opting to stay in India.
World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that novel corona virus was responsible for respiratory cases and deaths in Wuhan on January 12, 2020.WHO in mid-February 2020 claimed there was no human to human transmission of virus, refused to put travel restrictions on China, appreciated efforts of China and refused to declare COVID 19 as global pandemic. By late February corona cases and deaths increased and exploded in Europe, Iran, Turkey, UK. By March first week new epicenters were identified in Middle east, USA, etc. with raising cases and mortalities. WHO declared COVID 19 as global pandemic on March 11, 2020.By March midweek many predicted India would have crores of corona cases and lakhs of mortalities by April end.
As of now worldwide there are 31 lakhs corona cases and 2,18,000 deaths. While, India had reported 31,360 cases and 1008 deaths. Deaths per million cases reported in various countries are as follows, India -0.7, Belgium – 633, Spain -510 ,Italy -453 ,France – 362 ,UK – 319 ,USA -179. India contributes to 17.7 % of world population, but contributes to 1% of corona cases and just 0.46% of corona deaths worldwide now. The timely bold measures taken by Modi government helped in curtailing corona crisis in India.
Corona case was first reported in Kerala on 30 January. Cases rose to 3 by 3rd February and all were Wuhan returned. They were isolated well and no cases reported till March 4th when 22 cases, including 14 Italian tourists, were reported. On 12th march first death was reported of an old man who returned from Saudi Arabia. Cases rose to 100 by March 15th. Cases were mainly due to tourists and Indian nationals coming from foreign countries like Europe, UK, Middle east, etc. On 31 March, Delhi Tablighi Jamaat religious event has been identified as a major hotspot leading to thousands of cases and a sudden rise in number of cases nationwide.
The measures taken by government, the timing and strict implementation played a crucial role in curtailing disease. After WHO confirming novel corona virus disease on January 12 2020, Indian government started protective measures in January. India started thermal screening of passengers from China at air ports from 21st January 2020 and later extended to other nations. On 3rd march 2020 Indian government stopped issuing of new visas and suspended already issued visas from high risk countries at that point. On 13th March all visas, except diplomatic and official, including Overseas Citizens of India were suspended.
Indians returning from foreign were asked to be quarantined for 2 weeks. Land borders with neighboring nations were restricted by March 2nd week. In March first week, at caseload of less than hundred Prime minister emphasized on personal hygiene, social distancing and requested not to gather for Holi or other festivals. When cases were less than 100, schools, malls, hotels, movie theatres, places of worship, public places, gyms, etc. were closed from march 5th in majority states and by march 17th all over India. All social and religious gatherings were also banned by this time across India. On 11 March 2020 Epidemic diseases act was invoked all over India. On 19th March, with less than 150 cases, PM Narendra Modi addressed the nation requested people to observe ‘ Janata Curfew’ voluntarily on 22nd March and announced establishment of COVID 19 Economic Response Task Force .PM asked people to stay at home during Janata Curfew, except for emergencies and essential services. On 22nd March with 335 cases Indian government enforced lockdown in 82 districts where cases were reported. On 24th March PM Modi announced a complete nation wide lock down for 21 days effective from midnight. On April 14th PM Modi extended lock down till May 3rd, with conditional relaxation in specific areas which have curtailed virus well.
From February 1st to March 29th thousands of Indian citizens stranded in China, Japan, Italy, Iran , etc.. were evacuated and brought to India. From March 11th they were kept under quarantine in army base camps and observed. On 13th March PM Modi invited SAARC nations to jointly fight the pandemic. On 15th March a video conference of SAARC leaders happened and PM Modi allocated 74 crores to the COVID 19 emergency fund.
During lock down inter state and inter district travels were not allowed. On 14th March centre declared the pandemic as “notified disaster” and states were allowed to use State disaster response funds to fight corona. From 22nd PM Modi requested doctors and people to stop elective surgeries and elective outpatient consultations. On 24th PM announced 15,000 crore package for health sector for developing PPEs, masks, ventilators, testing facilities. Arogyasetu app was launched to track health and to know about corona cases in the vicinity. Testing labs were increased involving private labs also. Random testing of samples was done since March 15 to detect community transmission.
On 20th March government advised to test all pneumonia cases also. In April first week center advised to test patients with fever, flu like symptoms in red zones. On 13th April pool testing was advised in less infected areas to detect community transmission. Doctors, paramedics, sanitation, ASHA workers were provided 50 lakhs term insurance by central government. Union government brought an ordinance by which those attacking health care staff or hospitals have to face punishment, fine and non bailable arrest.National Mineral Fund to be used by states for health facilities like medical equipment, screening kits, lab investigations, medicines ,etc. Lakhs of government officials, health employees, volunteers worked tirelessly and monitored lakhs of patients, suspects and contacts at houses , quarantine and isolation centres.
Research and development were promoted since the outbreak confirmed in January in China. Indian government encouraged the development of indigenous diagnostic RT PCR kits in late January. Within record 6 weeks the first Indian made diagnostic RT PCR kit by My Lab was approved on 24th March. This kit took short time of 2.5 hours and costed less at 1200 per kit. On 14th April ICMR and DCGI approved 18 new suppliers of testing kits, including 3 Indian firms. DRDO , ISRO and IITs started research on PPEs ,medical equipment and ventilators since January at a lower cost and good efficiency .DRDO designed multi patient ventilator .Research also resulted in world’s smallest, low cost and effective ventilators. Government entered into collaboration with various PSUs, private firms to double the ventilator count by June. Serum Institute of India, Pune is involved in vaccine trials and production. On 12th April approved plasma therapy to be included in trials of treatment in selective cases. Nearly 3.8 lakh isolation beds were prepared using railway coaches with the advantage of mobility to the needed places. Totally 4 lakh beds including 40,195 ICU beds and 18,828ventilators in hospitals are allotted for treating covid patients as of April 22.
Pradhan mantri Garib kalyan Yojana with 1.7 lakh crores was announced on March 26 to cater needs of poor, migrant labours, construction, health care workers. Through the scheme:
-Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojna. 80 crore poor BPL card holders will get free ration of 10 kg rice / wheat and 1 kg pulses for 3 months. -8 crore 70 lakhs farmers got 2000 rupees – Jandhan account holders women get 500 per month for 3months -5. 5 crores MNREGA account holders get 2000 per month now. Daily wage increased to 202 rupees per day – 3 crores widows, divyang, elderly received Rs. 2000 -Ujwala scheme holders ,nearly 8 crore families to get LPG free for next 3 months. – Collateral free loan limit increased from 10 lakhs to 20 lakhs for 53 lakhs Self help groups like DWACRA covering 7 lakhs crore families. -Center to contribute total 24% of provident fund for companies having less than 100 employees upto salaries 15000 -Collateral free loan limit increased from 10 lakhs to 20 lakhs for 53 lakhs Self help groups like DWACRA covering 7 lakhs crore families. -3.5 crores registered construction employees got money of 31000 crores from labour welfare fund
RBI announced moratorium on all loans for 3 months and cut repo rates bringing more cash into liquidity. For helping migrant labours 28000 crores amount was allotted.
India is the largest democracy with federal structure and many political parties. This is one of the few instances where leaders from all political parties united in this fight. Chief ministers of all states responded to PM Modi’s call and worked sincerely in this crisis. Such united fight in a federal democracy is inspiring and is not happening in other federal democracies like USA. Even in highly educated and developed USA, Europe significant number of people were against lock down and social distancing. The responsibility of leader lies in convincing people. India is a country with diverse cultures and socio-economic activities. India has significant poor and illiterate people. PM Modi achieved this important herculean task by repeatedly addressing people with motivating speeches. PM Modi asked people to ‘Not panic, Be prepared’. With folded hands Modi asked people to forgive him, give time and to be patient for weeks to save the lives of people saying ‘Jan hain tho Jahaan hai’- If people are there, world is there.
Later on April 14th PM Modi urged ‘Jan bhi, Jahaan bhi’– People also, Nation also. PM asked people to clap and light to show solidarity to corona warriors. Such emotional appeals have struck chord with Indians and more than 95% were compliant with the lock down. Oxford study revealed that India was the only country to implement lock down strictly at 100% capacity. India acted fast and early in taking above steps. When corona cases were 446 in India, 6650 in UK, 6,633 in France, 9172 in Italy, 6250 in Spain, complete lock down was implemented. Population density is also low in other nations compared to India.
The results are evident. The doubling time has increased from 3.2 days to 11.3 days post lock down. Growth rate has declined from 24.8% to 7.8% post lock down. Only 2059 cases were reported till April 1. After April 1st a major epicentre was identified in Delhi Markaz area where religious congregation took place in march middle. Nearly 9000 Indians and several foreign nationals attended the meeting who later were responsible for major raise in cases and deaths in 23 states and UTs. Due to lock down it was possible to identify such hotspots, trace contacts and treat patients. Lock down has limited the spread from such hotspots and super spreaders to close contacts and decreased the case load. Highly developed and top-ranking countries in health sector like France, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, UK, USA have reported lakhs of cases and thousands of deaths.
Thousands of deaths of elderly at homes were not reported in UK, Italy, Ecuador, etc. In India such under reporting of deaths of aged is unlikely due to a strong family system. Media also has lot of freedom in India and underreporting of deaths is not possible. Many predicted in March that India will see lakhs of deaths and crores of cases in few weeks. On contrary India with 17.7% global population contributes to only 0.46% of deaths (1008) and 1% (31,600) of cases globally as of now. Only 15 districts in 9 states contribute to 87 % of total cases as of now and more than 350 districts are safe.Purpose of lock down is achieved by decreasing growth rate, mortalities and health care burden. Modi government has given utmost importance to lives of people above anything. The fight does not stop here and needs to be continued balancing livelihood and lives now in coming months. People believe that Modi government will definitely take appropriate timely measures from now. “JAN BHI, JAHAAN BHI”
मुस्लिम पाकिस्तान में पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद भी कहते है। मुस्लिम पाकिस्तान में झंडे को इज़्ज़त भी देते है। मुस्लिम पाकिस्तान में पाकिस्तान का राष्ट्रीय गान भी गाते है। मुस्लिम मक्का मदीना में कर्फ्यू और lockdown का इज़्ज़त से पालन करते है। मुस्लिम UK, ऑस्ट्रिया, Netherlands, नाइजीरिया जैसी जगहों पर मस्जिदों के ऊपर लाउडस्पीकर नही लगाने का कानून भी मानते है। मुस्लिम UAE में रोड पर नमाज नही पढ़ सकते है। मुस्लिम दुबई, UAE में हर कानून मानते है चाहे वो शरिया से मतलब रखता हो या नही।
भारत ने ऐसा क्या गुनाह किया कि यहाँ पर इनको हर चीज़ में इस्लाम खतरे में आ जाता है? क्या भारत के मुस्लिम जबरदस्ती के दिये लाड़ प्यार से बिगाड़े गए है? आप चाहे कांग्रेसी हो या भाजपाई या सपाई या TMC वाले इस समस्या की उपेक्षा करने की जगह सर्वदलीय बैठक बुला कर इस आंतरिक सुरक्षा के ऊपर चिंतन होना चाहिए।
सभी प्रमुख मुस्लिम नेताओं को बुलाना चाहिए उसमें और उनसे इसका समाधान पूछना चाहिए।
अपने आप हल निकलता इस समस्या का या प्यार मोहब्बत देने से हल निकलता तो 70 सालो में कांग्रेस TMC सपा बसपा और पिछले 6 सालों से भाजपा ने भी खूब प्यार बांटा।
नतीजा- ढाक के तीन पात मदरसे बन्द करने पड़े तो करो, कानून बनाना पड़े तो बनाओ! कुछ भी करके इस समस्या का हल निकालना पड़ेगा। कुछ नही सुधरा बल्कि वक्त के साथ आपराधिक मानसिकता बढ़ी है इन लोगों में। समस्या के तह में जा कर सुलझाने का वक्त आ गया है!
We live in extraordinary times. World Health Organisation has declared Covid-19 as a Global Health Emergency. The Indian Government has invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act,1897 and veritably declared a national health emergency. ‘The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020’ has been promulgated in April, 2020- mandating that attacks on health care workers- be its doctors or other health care professionals as cognisable and non bailable offences, which would attract a 7 year prison term. There is a national Lockdown in place. We are now exposed to Social Distancing, Contact Tracing, Quarantine, Containment Zones in different colours as red, yellow and green, strange expressions now rendered so common. Nearing a lakh of lives have been lost in 188 countries, the world over and over a million have been affected by the Novelcoronavirus.
Most importantly, internationally renowned scientists are grappling with the virus, which knows no cure. Vaccine, they say is a year or 18 months away. We have no precedents to follow. Yes, there have been Bubonic Plague, Black Death, Spanish Flu and the likes, since 1620, almost on a century to century arithmetical accuracy. Reference to the past, suggests that we may be in the midst of an early onset of the viral Pandemic, which may make more rounds, on mutation, as seasons change. There is no guarantee that those afflicted by this virus and cured are immune to it. South Korea is showing ‘repeat viral symptoms’.
The whole world is attacking, battling, challenging, defending the natural catastrophe with a ‘trial and error method’. Even the lines of treatment for the impacted, are not consistent or uniform, as no one Standard Operating Procedure is in place. The WHO protocol is missing because Nature has trumped and bemused the experts, with its dance of death and destruction. The threat of an extended Lockdown is real, as Germany has reported ‘relapse of the viral spread’ upon even ‘guarded and stategised reopening of the economy’.
The above scenario is real and scary. Judicial dispensation of Justice in these times is literally under suspended animation. The temples of justice are on shutdown and the Blind Lady of Justice has been incarcerated. Digital route to dispense with justice has proved to be a poor cousin of the physical world. That has prompted the Chief Justice of India Arvind Sharad Bobde to concede that- “It is the duty of executive to deal with the situation and it is best, that rather than judiciary or any other organ of the State, executive takes action on the situation. He gave 3 M’s formula to deal with the situation and these 3 M’s mean money, men and material. Executive is best suited to decide on what to do, how to do and when to do. Role of courts here is to ensure rule of law so that people’s lives and properties does not suffer, but on ground executive has to function, courts can’t ensure that. He said that courts ensure rights provided by executive but in the current situation declaration of rights is not a priority. Courts can look into matter of validity of administrative or executive actions but in protecting rights, courts have little to do right now as compared to other times.”
Be that as it may, we have the ‘Liberals’ liberals’’ as Justice V R Krishna Iyer called his critics once, are bemoaning on the supposed loss of fundamental rights to citizens and the invasion of the right to privacy of the citizens. No one in his right senses would ever belittle the sanctity of the fundamental rights of the citizens. ‘Right to be left alone’ as Justice Louis Brandeis famously proclaimed in the US Supreme Court, is now a fundamental right in India thanks to Justice Puttasamy decision crossing over from M P Sharma and Kharak Singh days. It is an unexceptionable right. No one can argue or does seek to argue with it. But, in the unusual and extraordinary times we live in (extraordinary is extraordinarily mild a word to ascribe to the reality), it is just that ‘public interest’ may have to yield. The right of ‘individual’ which may be paramount at all other times has to take a back seat ,for it even survive as a living being.
Search for an answer to these dissenters and naysayers leads one to the famed and unique decision of the US Supreme Court dt. 20th Feb, 1905 in Jacobson vs Massachusetts (https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/). As the 20th century began, epidemics of infectious diseases such as smallpox remained a recurrent threat. A Massachusetts statute granted city boards of health the authority to require vaccination “when necessary for public health or safety”. In 1902, when smallpox surged in Cambridge, the city’s board of health issued an order pursuant to this authority that required all adults to be vaccinated to halt the disease. The statutory penalty for refusing vaccination was a monetary fine of $5 (about $100 today). There was no provision for actually forcing vaccination on any person.
Henning Jacobson refused vaccination, claiming that he and his son had had bad reactions to earlier vaccinations. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found it unnecessary to worry about any possible harm from vaccination, because no one could actually be forced to be vaccinated: “If a person should deem it important that vaccination should not be performed in his case, and the authorities should think otherwise, it is not in their power to vaccinate him by force, and the worst that could happen to him under the statute would be the payment of $5.” 18 Jacobson was fined, and he appealed to the US Supreme Court.
Constitutional issues arose before SCOTUS on the validity of the statute of the Massachussets State vis a vis the US Constitution and the 14th Amendment and the generic or common law precept and practice in the exercise of Police Power of a State in ‘general public interest’. It seems as though SCOTUS was answering the wails of our ‘liberals’ It is all so stylish and romantic to talk of right to privacy in academic and pedantic terminology. But, it seems so distant and divorced from the ground reality we are now facing. There are even characters damning the central and state governments for locking down and impugning the ‘constitutionality’ of the acts- that right to livelihood was as paramount as right to life itself. They make good and entertaining reading. But not practical or sensible choices. Learning the law is so different from being wise at law. We have trusted the Chief Justice of India as the custodian of the national institution. He has earned his spurs. And he believes that “Executive is best placed” in the present circumstances. Surely, as the head of Judiciary, a co equal branch in a democracy, he is not seen to be yielding a quarter. He is only yielding to pragmatism of the present.
Now, contextually, read Justice Harlan’s words of wisdom, which resonate in India, as much as it should and does in any other democratic polity of today. The exposition is so real and apposite that the wordings are a slap on the face of these usual suspects. It may suffice to extract those golden words, as they are, as we are least competent to tamper with or paraphrase it.
“The defendant insists that his liberty is invaded when the state subjects him to fine or imprisonment for neglecting or refusing to submit to vaccination; that a compulsory vaccination law is unreasonable, arbitrary, and oppressive, and, therefore, hostile to the inherent right of every freeman to care for his own body and health in such way as to him seems best; and that the execution of such a law against one who objects to vaccination, no matter for what reason, is nothing short of an assault upon his person. But the liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States to every person within its jurisdiction does not import an absolute right in each person to be, at all times and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint. There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good.
On any other basis organized society could not exist with safety to its members. Society based on the rule that each one is a law unto himself would soon be confronted with disorder and anarchy. Real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own, whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that may be done to others. This court has more than once recognized it as a fundamental principle that ‘persons and property are subjected to all kinds of restraints and burdens in order to secure the general comfort, health, and prosperity of the state; of the perfect right of the legislature to do which no question ever was, or upon acknowledged general principles ever can be, made, so far as natural persons are concerned.”
“The possession and enjoyment of all rights are subject to such reasonable conditions as may be deemed by the governing authority of the country essential to the safety, health, peace, good order, and morals of the community. Even liberty itself, the greatest of all rights, is not unrestricted license to act according to one’s own will. It is only freedom from restraint under conditions essential to the equal enjoyment of the same right by others. It is, then, liberty regulated by law.” In the Constitution of Massachusetts adopted in 1780 it was laid down as a fundamental principle of the social compact that the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for ‘the common good, ‘and that government is instituted ‘for the common good, for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people, and not for the profit, honour, or private interests of any one man, family, or class of men.’ The good and welfare of the commonwealth, of which the legislature is primarily the judge, is the basis on which the police power rests in Massachusetts.’
By orders dt. 31st March, 2020, Circuit Courts’ of Appeals in Alabama, Ohio and Texas have blocked orders banning non-essential medical procedures, during the Coronavirus outbreak, leaning heavily on the judgement in Jacobson judgement of 2005 vintage. There is every reason to believe that this issue may get escalated to the US Supreme Court and the decision in Jacobson come under the scanner once again.
Let us get real. Right to life and livelihood are far more fundamental to our very existence than possibly right to privacy. If we have a right to be left alone- then we need to be alive. If we are not alive, does right to privacy have a place. The Executive, both central and state governments, politics aside, is straining every nerve and sinew to keep us alive. Judiciary says that “Executive is best placed”. US Supreme Court had said in 1905- that Police Power may have to subsume our fundamental rights, for public interest. The times we live in are such that the right to privacy seems so esoteric though it may be too basic for a man in his ‘castle’, for the world and India are now in the midst of a war against a virus, to just live, in the first place.
(Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan- Author is practising advocate in the Madras High Court)
“Lynching”, a phenomena that occurred when mankind was in its primary stage of evolution, when mankind existed as barbarian and nomadic tribes. A time when the concept of society, family, culture, education and law did not exist in any formal manner.
This was an era in history, when humans were following the ‘law of the jungle’, that dictated the survival of the fittest.
With the passage of time, we as the human race learned to enrich our existence; ‘from being nomadic scavengers, to becoming agriculturist and farmers’, ‘from being ignorant and superstitious, to becoming logical and developing a sense of reasoning’, and ‘from existing in under the cloud of fear, to living under the umbrella of peace and harmony’.
It is this progressiveness that has differentiated humans from all other beings that exist on planet earth; this made humans as the ‘Superior Race’.
However, over the past few decades, we as humans have retarded in certain behavioral aspect, which were developed, cultivated and nurtured during the past several centuries of human evolution.
In today’s modern world, where we are envisaging of colonizing far extra-terrestrial planets like Mars, or sending our probes to the Sun, the heart of our solar system; we on the other hand interpolated and have resorted to certain medieval practices that have no place in modern and civilized society.
This research study, is focusing on one such medieval gruesome practice ‘Lynching’ that is once again being witnessed in certain section of society. Most human beings have progressed from the doctrine of the ‘Jungle Raj’, to the philosophy of ‘Live and let Live’, and this is the most widely accepted way of life. However, certain outliers still exist to the peaceful coexistence of mankind, possessing an ugly threat to the delicate bond of trust, harmony, tolerance and harmony within different sections of society.
The case study in this research is the most recent Lynching that has happened in Palghar, India on April 16, 2020. This is not only one off incident, but a part of ongoing such episodes, over the past few decades.
The attempt made in this research, is not to identify the persons who had in person committed this horrific crime; but to identify the reasons of their vulnerability that led them to commit such a brutal and barbaric act.
On investigating information available in public domain, the following points emerged:
The actual persons who committed the lynching were from the extremely backward section of the society. A section of society, where the day to day existence itself is a challenge for many.
These persons have been devoid of basic amenities like proper healthcare, education, meaningful employment. Making these people extremely vulnerable to propaganda. Where they can very easily be brainwashed and manipulated.
The modulus operandi, in which the crime was executed, required intrinsic planning, choreographed coordination, extensive logistic support, considerable finance, and privy to confidential / personal information. This clearly is was beyond the means and capability of the persons who committed this horrendous crime on ground zero.
Hence, there exists a module that planned, provided and controlled this entire inhuman happening.
By understanding the accrued benefits to different entities, as a result of this lynching, it is possible to get an understanding of the masterminds who are actually behind this entire episode.
By attempting to understand this entire incident in a structured and scientific manner, it is attempted to define a rough framework / method of analyzing any further such occurrences. Wherein the information can be constructively utilized in order to avoid, negate and disperse any false narratives that tend to circulate as a result of spontaneous backlash, while bring out the truth in its actual form, for justice to be done, and prevailed.
Prelude
Before one even attempts to unearth the unfortunate happening of the unmindful and unruly lynching, and subsequent murder of two holy men, holy Sadhu’s, and their unsuspecting innocent driver by a frenzied and instigated mob that will be documented in history as perhaps one of the most brutal and barbaric lynching and murder done in police presence in modern times; one needs to understand the background Palghar; Including its history, its formation, and dynamics that will encompass the political, social and economic dynamics.
Understanding of these parameters is essential, as it is these factors that have accumulated over a period of time and resulted in this latest condemnable mishap.
The Formation & Growth of Palghar
Palghar was formerly a part of Thane District, in Maharashtra, India. The primary reasons behind the demands for Thane’s division were its size and spread, which made administration quite a challenging affair (01).
According to the 2011 Census of India, Thane was the most populated district in the nation, with 11,054,131 inhabitants. Its population comprised of 9.84 % of Maharashtra’s population and its density was 1,157 persons per square kilometer.
With the separation of Palghar from Thane, on August 1, 2014 (02), Thane District now includes the rapidly-growing urban talukas of Thane, Kalyan, Murbad, Bhiwandi, Shahapur, Ulhasnagar and Ambernath.
Whereas, Palghar District comprises of the tribal-dominated, coastal talukas of Dahanu, Palghar, Talasari, Jawhar, Mokhada, Vada, Vikramgad and Vasai. The Government has dissolved the ‘Thane Zilla Parishad’, while the existing ‘Thane District Central Cooperative Bank’ continues to exist for both the districts.
Palghar District is spread across a geographic area of 9,558 square kilometers. The district has 24 Assembly seats (01).
Palghar has an urban population of 14,35,210, that is 48% of total population is living in Urbanized Area (02).
According to the 2011 census the population in Palghar District was 30,14,434 (03). The number of BPL (Below Poverty Line) families was 1,01,551. A data released by Census authorities has revealed that the average size of an Indian family is 4.8 personnel, and that of an Indian family in Maharashtra is 4.6 persons (04).
With 1.01,551 families living below poverty line in Palghar, the total population that lives below poverty line would be 4,67,134, roughly comprising about 15.5 % people living below poverty line. This is a healthy percentage considering the fact that in 2011, 21.2 % of Indian population was living below the poverty line (05).
In 20011-12, Planning Commission has reported that 25.7 % of rural Indians, and 13.7 % of Indians in the urban areas are living below poverty lines (06).
Based on which, a further breakup by extrapolating the above data reveals that in rural and urban pockets approximately 18.4 % and 10 %.
These statistics indicate that Palghar as a District, has performed well above the national average economic figures that have been revealed in 2011 census.
Why was Palghar made a Separate District?
In 2014, Palghar was made a separate district, dividing Thane district into two part, and putting an additional burden of Rs 430 crore on the state exchequer (01). The district has 24 Assembly seats, as mentioned above and they are key for the Congress-NCP alliance (01).
In 2009, the Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Seat was created for Palghar (15). ‘Balram Jadhav’ was the first Member of Parliament, followed by others:
Election
Member
Party
Until 2008
Seat did not exist
2009
Baliram Jadhav
Bahujan Vikas Aghadi
2014
Chintaman Vanaga
Bharatiya Janata Party
2018 (By Poll)
Rajendra Gavit
Bharatiya Janata Party
2019
Rajendra Gavit
Shiv Sena
Palghar has the distinction of having India’s first atomic power plant located at Tarapur (02). The industrial town of Boisar, in Palghar district, is also home to one of Maharashtra’s largest industrial areas (MIDC).
Some of Maharashtra’s largest fishing ports are located in Palghar district; Satpati, Dahanu, Arnala, Vasai and Datiware. Further, Dahanu and Palghar are the best known for their ‘Chickoo’ production.
This combined model of economic growth, wherein a mix of industrialization, fisheries and farm produce is tailor made to the population profile of Palghar. Wherein, the district has 59.7 % of Non-Indigenous, 37.4 % of Schedule Tribe and 2.9 % of Schedule Caste population split (07). The district can also boast of a healthy literacy rate of 77 %.
This combination is ideal for the manpower requirements of the industries and other developmental vehicles that are operating in Palghar.
Hence, it is obvious to question the incorporation of Palghar, as a separate district, when it was exceeding all national growth matrix and indicators, even as an integral part of Thane District.
Palghar, the Political Legacy
Palghar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 48 Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian parliament) constituencies of Maharashtra state in western India. This constituency was created on February 19, 2008 as a part of the implementation of the Presidential notification based on the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission of India constituted on July 12, 2002. The seat is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. It first held elections in 2009 (08).
The village Gadchinchale, where the horrendous lynching and murder took place is located in the constituency of Dhanu, which is a reserve Schedule Tribe Vidhan Sabha seat. As per Census of 2011, Gadchinchale has 248 households. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 30.42% (09).
The table below exhibits the lack of any formal education, or structures employment in this particular village. As published data is not available on the ratio of families that are surviving below poverty line in this village, it can only be estimated based on the above published literacy rate that a minimum of 70 % population is either living below poverty line, or very near about the poverty line.
Total
Male
Female
Workers (All)
637
313
324
Scheduled Tribe
1198
567
631
Scheduled Caste
1
0
1
Population
1208
572
636
Non-Workers
571
259
312
Marginal Workers: Others
17
4
13
Marginal Workers: Household Industry Workers
0
0
0
Marginal Workers: Cultivators
9
3
6
Marginal Workers: Agricultural Laborers
93
38
55
Marginal Workers (Total)
119
45
74
Main Workers: Other
44
20
24
Main Workers: Household Industry Workers
7
3
4
Main Workers: Cultivators
428
229
199
Main Workers: Agricultural Laborers
39
16
23
Main Workers (Total)
518
268
250
Literates
292
171
121
Children Aged Below 6 Years
248
119
129
In contrast, Boisar Constituency, which also has a reserved seat for Scheduled Tribes in the Vidhan Sabha, has a total of 20319 male persons and 15832 females and a total number of 4896 children below 6 years in Boisar as per report released by Census India 2011 (10).
Child Sex Ratio in Boisar is around 919 compared to Maharashtra state average of 894.
Out of total population, 14,372 were engaged in work or business activity, 12,312 were males, and 2,060 were females.
In census survey, worker is defined as person who does business, job, service, and cultivator and labor activity.
Of total 14372 working population, 89.32 % were engaged in Main Work while 10.68 % of total workers were engaged in Marginal Work.
Literacy rate of Boisar city is 88.49 %, higher than state average of 82.34 %.
According to the 2011 census, of total 36,151 population of Boisar are Hindus (83.84%) constitute the majority of the city population. Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 4.82 % while Schedule Tribe (ST) were 1.76 % of total population (10).
This is in sharp contrast to the split of the overall population of Palghar district (59.7 % of Non-Indigenous, 37.4 % of Schedule Tribe and 2.9 % of Schedule Caste population split) (07).
Although, both constituencies being reserved for Schedule Tribe candidates, a sharp contrast is evident in terms of socio, economic and political resultants.
‘Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi’ (English: Majority Development Front) is a political party in Vasai-Virar region of Maharashtra, originally known as ‘Vasai Vikas Aaghadi’; won the Vidhan Sabha elections from Boisar in 2009 (Vilas Tare), 2014 (Vilas Tare) and 2019 (Rajesh Patil) (11).
The party is headed by Hitendra Thakur, and has been gaining popularity ever since its first win in Loke Sabha elections of 2009, where ‘Baliram Jadhav’ became their first ever member of parliament (12). Currently, the party has its winning candidates as Vidhan Sabha members in three constituencies; Boisar (Rajesh Patil), Nalasopara (Khitij Thakur) and Vasai (Hitendra Thakur). Both, Nalasopare and Vasai, are non-reserved seats.
Unfortunately, the growth and development that have been witnessed not only by Boisar, but with both Nalasorara and Vasi, that have flourished with the real estate boom and the influx of the educated Indian middle class; Dahanu, the constituency that has the village Gadchinchale, has been left behind.
Traditionally, Dahanu had been a strong hold of Indian National Congress, with a power tussle with CPI (M) (13). In 2014, BJP had for the first time manages to win the Vidhan Sabha seat from Dahanu, but for whatever reason was unable to retain it in 2019, loosing to CPI(M)’s candidate by a narrow margin of 4,707 votes.
1962: Shamrao Patil, Indian National Congress
1967: Mahadeo Kadu, Indian National Congress
1972: Mahadeo Kadu, Indian National Congress
1978: Shankar Chavan, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
1980: Mahadeo Kadu, Indian National Congress
1985: Shankar Nam, Indian National Congress
1990: Shankar Nam, Indian National Congress
1995: Shankar Nam, Indian National Congress
1999: Krishna Ghoda, Indian Nationalist Congress
2004: Krishna Ghoda, Indian Nationalist Congress Party
2009: Rajaram Ozare, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
2014: Paskal Dhanare, Bharatiya Janata Party
2019: Vinod Bhiva Nikole, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
As of 2011 India census, Dahanu has a population of 50,287. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dahanu has an average literacy rate of 71%: male literacy is 77% and, female literacy is 64%. In Dahanu, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age (14).
Adivasis (Warlis, Dubla,Dhodi), Bhandari, Agri (Mangela) and Bari community people dominate the population of the town with significant amount of Jain, Parsis, and Muslims.
Detailed breakdown of Dahanu’s demography in terms of absolute numbers, is not readily available in public domain; hence it can only be inferred that between the two constituencies in Palghar district, their lies a stark contrast of development and social upliftment.
The Vidhan Sabha seat from Palghar is currently occupied by Shrinivas Vanga of the Shiv Sena, and the Vikramgad Vidhan Sabha constituency seat is held by Sunil Bhusar of the Indian National Congress (15).
Constituency Number
Reserved (SC / ST / None)
Name
Name of Incumbent MLA
Party
128
ST
Dahanu
Vinod Nikole
CPI(M)
129
ST
Vikramgad
Sunil Bhusara
INC
130
ST
Palghar
Shrinivas Vanga
Shiv Sena
131
ST
Boisar
Rajesh Patil
BVA
132
None
Nalasopara
Kshitij Thakur
BVA
133
None
Vasai
Hitendra Thakur
BVA
Palghar, as a district did come into local lime light for small notorious incidences taking place. However, nothing to the tune of the barbaric lynching and murder of two Hindu Sages, had ever taken place in the past.
The Current Political Equation
From the above history and present political scenario; a political equation can be attempted to be arrived upon, with an objective of establishing a motive for the above incident of lynching of Hindu Sages.
Kashinath Chaudhary a district panchayat member of NCP, along with CPI(M) panchayat members; Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar were present during the incident (16).
In the above sections it had been mentioned that ‘Rajendra Gavit’, who was a former member of the BJP, now with the Shiv Sena, is representing Palghar in the Lok Sabha, as its Member of Parliament.
Taking a top down approach, the following salient points have been noted:
Maharashtra Government, is currently a fragile collation of three parties (Shiv Sena, Indian National Congress & NCP), none of these parties in actual have common ideologies, or any common manifestos; apart for hunger of power, which in turn will enable each of their representatives to share the spoils of victory.
The portfolio allocation has been done keeping each parties and persons vested interest in mind.
In line with the above, the collation is headed by Shiv Sena, by appointing its founding father’s son, to the position of the Chief Minister
The next powerful portfolio, of the Home Minister has been gifted to NCP, who has been critical in the cementing of this dubious deal, along with the cash rich portfolio of ministry of finance
Congress, has got the extremely lucrative portfolio of ‘revenue’, accompanied by the porous portfolio of ‘Public Works Department’, or PWD.
The detailed portfolio distribution is a follow (17):
Party
Leader
Ministry
NCP
Ajit Pawar
Finance
NCP
Jayant Patil
Water resources (Irrigation)
NCP
Anil Deshmukh
Home
Shiv Sena
Eknath Shinde
Urban Development
Congress
Balasaheb Thorat
Revenue
Congress
Ashok Chavan
Public Works Department (PWD)
NCP
Chhagan Bhujbal
Food and civil supplies
NCP
Dilip Walse Patil
Excise and labour
NCP
Jitendra Awhad
Housing
NCP
Rajesh Tope
Health
NCP
Rajendra Shingne
Food & Drugs Administration
NCP
Dhananjay Munde
Social Justice
Congress
Nitin Raut
Energy
Congress
Varsha Gaikwad
School Education
Congress
Yashomati Thakur
Women & Child Welfare
Congress
KC Padvi
Tribal Tevelopment
Congress
Sunil Kedar
Dairy Development
Congress
Vijay Vadettiwar
OBC Welfare
Congress
Aslam Shaikh
Textiles, Ports
Congress
Amit Deshmukh
Health, Education & Culture
Shiv Sena
Subhash Desai
Industries
Shiv Sena
Sanjay Rathod
Forest
Shiv Sena
Dadaji Bhuse
Agriculture
Shiv Sena
Uday Samant
Higher and Technical Education
Shiv Sena
Anil Parab
Transport & Parliamentary Affairs
Shiv Sena
Sandipanrao Bhumre
EGS
Shiv Sena
Shankarrao Gadakh
Water Conservation
Shiv Sena
Gulrabrao Patil
Water Supply
With 9 portfolios being allocated to NCP, 9 to Congress, and Shiv Sena keeping 9 portfolios, excluding the Chief Minister’s birth.
The district Palghar, with its 6 Lok Sabha constituencies; (The 3 developed one Boisar, Nalasupara and Vasai are being represented by BVA. The 3 backward constituencies of Dahanu, Vikramgad and Palghar are respectively represented by CPI(M), INC and Shiv Sena)
It is to be noted, that no constituency has been represented by NCP, and for a brief moment would like to draw the attention to the past ‘Bhima-Koregoain’ violence incident
However, as per reports widely available in public domain the in November, the Maharashtra police filed a 5,600-page charge sheet at a Pune court. It went beyond the caste violence and alleged a ‘Maoist’ conspiracy to stage violent attacks, including a plot to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi (18).
Investigation by the police in the following months resulted in various arrests, such as that of ‘Rona Wilson’, in June 2018 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In August 2018 five activists, including ‘Varavara Rao’, ‘Arun Ferreira’, ‘Sudha Bharadwaj’ and ‘Gautam Navlakha’, were picked up in simultaneous raids across the country, the police alleged that the activists had ties to ‘Maoists’, apart from links to the Bhima Koregaon incident (19).
The Koregaon Bhima Inquiry Commission had summoned NCP chief Sharad Pawar to depose before it as a witness in the 2018 caste-violence case (20), which raises eyebrows.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLC ‘Prakash Gajbhiye’ had written to Maharashtra Chief Minister ‘Uddhav Thackeray’ seeking withdrawal of cases filed against Dalits in ‘Bhima Koregaon’ violence (21).
NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde also wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, demanding withdrawal of cases related to the Koregaon-Bhima violence, claiming the previous BJP-led government had slapped “false” cases against many including social activists and branded them as “Urban Naxals” (22).
It becomes pretty much evident from the snippets above that there is some kind of camaraderie / soft corner between certain leaders of the NCP and the Maoists
Referring back to Dahanu, which is represented in the Vidhan Sabha by a member of the CPI(M), and within his constituency a horrendous lynching of two Hindu Sages takes place, which subsequently lead to the death of both of the Sages and their driver; a district panchayat member of NCP, ‘Kashinath Chaudhary’; along with CPI(M) panchayat members; Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar were spotted and captured on camera, during the incident
This fact further strengthens the above hypothesis
The Wikipedia, page created on this incident, has a date stamp of April 20, 2020, its space had been reserved allegedly, on April 15, 2020; wherein the incident had occurred on April 16, 2020, by an unknown person registered as Pratap Pandit.
(To be verified, unable to establish a link and association of this image with the Wikipedia page on Palghar Murder)
Further, for Wikipedia page to appear on the web, a lead time of approval is required. Wikipedia, on its website, claims that it can be anything from 10 days to a several week; Link below
23 Bangladeshis were arrested in Palghar after the incident (23), how did they cross the entire country and land up in Palghar, which is controlled by CPI(M) / NCP
Considering these political inclinations and indicators, it is needed to establish a motive for the occurred crime. Who gains from it, and who gains the maximum?
Establishing the Motive
In a time when the entire world, not only India, is focusing on social distancing, and aggressively taking measures to implement ‘social distancing’, it is pertinent to find out who will instigate such a frenzied mob violence; blatantly braking the imposed lockdown, putting innocent lives at risk, and then attempting to destabilize social tranquility and peace.
BJP is in power in the center and has every reason to maintain peace and harmony, especially in this dire time of a global pandemic. Furthermore, it is ruling in 15 states in India. It only stands to lose if any unwanted incident takes place. Further, by advocating violence at a constituency level will not bring any gain to the ruling party, if it can, it will only create hardships for them. Hence, they hardly have a reason to be behind such a notorious plan.
Congress, which once use to be the ruling party, has lost its pan India control and is dependent on regional parties to maintain a meek pan India presence. In this tie up of Congress with regional alliances, Congress is more often than not been playing the junior partner’s role. With a collation government in Maharashtra, of which Congress is an integral part with 9 out of 27 portfolios; Congress will be desperate to make inroads in the state and strengthen its electoral base.
However, with only one out of the six constituencies under its stalwart ship in Palghar, and its fundamental lack of trust with both NCP and Shiv Sena both at a national and state level, Congress does not seem to have the required clout to undertake such a risky endeavor. The chances of Congress playing any active role in this incident are minimal. Although, the response to this incident from Congress has been very disappointing.
The Chief Minister, in the state of Maharashtra, being from Shiv Sena, definitely would not want his ruled state to break up in flames. That too realizing that he has to hold together a fragile collation government, whose long-term survival is not guaranteed. He would also be aware of the fact that an early exit of his government will spell an almost certain death for his party and his political ambitions. He also has to consider the fact that in the center his survival still depends on the ruling BJP, hence it is highly unlikely that Shiv Sena was knowingly a party to this conspiracy.
On the other hand, the NCP, once did harbor the desire to become a player on the national stage. But was never successful in realizing its ambition. This however did not dent NCPs rise to power a regional player, and command a certain amount of following and loyalty within the state of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra is divided into five geographic regions Konkan, Deccan, Marathwada, Vidarbha and Kandesh. Out of these five, Konkan, Kandhesh and Marathwada have traditionally NCP strongholds owing to the large number of Maratha population within these pockets.
NCP, shares certain similarities with Congress, within the state of Maharashtra. Firstly, it too is an integral part of the ruling collation government in Maharashtra, with a similar 9 out of 27 ministerial portfolios under its belt. Secondly, NCP has the all-powerful portfolios of ‘Home’ and ‘Finance’ under its control; making it extremely easy for NCP to avail the support of state security personnel, and to arrange for finance and logistics.
These elements are the key to the successful execution of any complex plan.
As mentioned earlier, their seems to appear a certain kind of nexus between NCP and the Maoists, with reference to the Bhima-Koregaon violence incidence.
Also, that the representative in Vidhan Sabha from Dahanu, is a member of the CPI(M), under whom a district panchayat member of NCP, ‘Kashinath Chaudhary’; along with CPI(M) panchayat members; Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar conducted this violent saga; points at a coordinated conspiracy deviously designed, supported and implemented by the NCP and CPI(M) combine.
Both NCP and CPI(M) have been losing ground on their own turf over several years.
The gains for both of these entities, are there for the picking, should this game plan succeed. Firstly, pin all the blame for all wrong doings and mismanagement solely on the BJP government in the center, as the resultant of this drastic episode. Secondly, leverage this incident to aggressively convert tribal into loyal vote banks by attracting them to the Maoist propaganda.
The unrest created would have been intended to primarily create communal tensions, which would have been further compounded due to the restrictions imposed by the lockdown owing to COVID-19. This would make it easy to convert the unaware, uneducated and naïve tribal population into their blind supporters.
Since, all parties involved in this, are well aware that they could be completely out of power, if not in weeks, but with a fair amount of probability, within months.
So, as it appears form the above analysis, the brain, financer, and logistics; was most probability provided by the NCP-CPI(M) combine; since both have a lot to gain, and hardly anything to lose.
Executing the Murderous Plan
Having established the ‘Satraps’ behind this malicious scheme, those who planned, finances and provided logistic support, it brings one to the point of analyzing how this plan was executed, and who all were involved in the execution of this plan.
For driving this plan to the desired conclusion, the following pre-requisites need to be fulfilled:
The time and location; where and when to attack the victim. This information needs to be obtained. It is rather unbelievable, that such an attack was spontaneous.
Arranging for 100-150 attackers. This activity too has to be executed in advance; one cannot amass blood thirty murderers in these numbers in an instant.
The mob needs to be armed, arms need to be arranged and shipped.
The mob needs to be assembled at a secure location without being spotted by the respective authorities. Which is especially even more difficult when an area is almost under a curfew like situation.
Prohibiting the above activities, is the sole responsibility of the local level intelligence and law agencies. However, as this incident took place, and the above lapses have been exposed; question marks are they’re on the failure of the local law enforcement machinery.
Further questions are to be raised where local police has been caught on camera handing over the Hindu Sages to the blood thirsty mob. The authenticity of this video has not been questioned, and has been telecasted live on national television on several occasions (24). The same video has identified, ‘Kashinath Chaudhary’, NCP District Panchayat Members, who has been spotted with CPI(M) panchayat members; Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar.
A list of 101 arrested members has been made public by the Maharashtra Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh, a minister from NCP (25). However, no information has been released as where they have been reprimanded, under whose custody are they kept and which detaining facility houses them. Why did the police commissioner of Palghar, claim that the police tried their best to protect the sages, where it is clearly evident that the police had escorted the sages to their death?
As a meek punishment, and as a futile pacifier ‘Niket Kaushik’, IGP, Konkan Range, Maharashtra Police, placed the two officers from Kasa police station in Palghar district under suspension (27). ‘Anand Rao Kale’, an assistant police inspector, and another sub-inspector have been suspended until an inquiry is conducted into the mob lynching incident that occurred on April 16, 2020 in Palghar.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Bharatiya Janata Party MP ‘Satya Pal Singh’ said that it was necessary to probe who provoked the villagers of Palghar to lynch three sadhus after labelling them as thief (26).
Singh said he was the Inspector General of Palghar tribal area a few years ago and there was no crime there but now attempts are being made to convert people in the name of social service.
The social, demographic, economic and political recipe of Palghar Murders, clearly is indicating and pointing fingers at a cabala between NCP-CPI(M)-Local Police. These are the masterminds, the others in question are the foot soldiers, who are like cannon fodder, and they as it is will be caught once the epicenter of this plot is crumbled. It is imperative to identify, prove and implicate these dangerous and devious plotters. And ensure that justice is served.
And from the video footage captures, the images surely have the signature of the brutality that has been exhibited in the gruesome killings done by Communists in Kerala and West Bengal.
And just a flash from history:
How many know about the ‘Bijon Setu’ massacre on April 30, 1982, when 17 persons, including 14 Monks and Lady Monk, of ‘Ananda Marg’ were lynched and burnt alive, in Kolkata, under the then Communist regime (28).
This is the list of the people who were killed on that day:
Name
Designation
Anandapraceta Acarya
Avadhutika
Ac. Adishivananda
Avadhuta
Ac. Artasevananda
Avadhuta
Ac. Balabhadra
Brahmacarii
Ac. Bhaveshvarananda
Avadhuta
Ac. Giirishananda
Avadhuta
Ac. Kamaleshananda
Avadhuta
Ac. Krpashivananda
Avadhuta
Ac. Mukul
Brahmacarii
Ac. Prashivananda
Avadhuta
Shrii Ram Raghuvir
Margii from Jaipur
Ac. Somnath
Brahmacarii
Ac. Subrata
Brahmacarii
Ac. Sutreshvarananda
Avadhuta
Ac. Venkateshvaranada
Avadhuta
Ac. Viirendra
Brahmacarii
Unidentified Margii
Body burned beyond recognition
They were killed by frenzied mobs, on frivolous accusations of child-lifting. They were dragged out of taxis and beaten mercilessly, before being set on fire. Police acted as silent onlookers, and didn’t lift a finger to save them. None of the real perpetrators of the crime have been brought to book till now, even though the massacre was carried out in broad daylight, in front of thousands of onlookers.
About
The author is professional manager with more than a three decades of experience across various functional domains like manufacturing, advertising, strategic planning and Information Technology.
Having worked with several large and multinational organizations like Dunlop India Limited, Euro RSCG (India), Datamatics Limited and Nucsoft Limited (Nucleus Offshore); handling businesses in US, Europe, APAC region, and as well as large corporate clients in India; holding positions at CXO levels. The author is able to leverage his past global and domestic business acumen, and apply the same to the current socio-political scenario present.
During the latter part of his career, the author embarked on academics and has been teaching taught in the capacity of Visiting Professor at several of Mumbai’s premium management institutes.
Having guided over several dozen of post graduate research thesis, and have published research papers on strategic management, the author has bought in his past experience to undertake this particular piece of research on socio-political behavior.
Having completed his graduation in Mechanical Engineering, from BIT Bhilai, and a MBA in Marketing, from ‘The Graduate School of Business’ RMIT University, Melbourne, the author has further pursued his PhD, in Management Sciences, that provides him with the academic know how to analyze these research findings.
Being a certified professional in SAP and SEO, the author is an avid student of military strategy, business maneuvers, and political ambitions; the author welcomes your feedback on the content of this research.
All the religions claim to preach peace, harmony, love and humanity, yet there is so much of disharmony, hatred and violence in the world in the name of religion. During medieval period millions of people were killed in the war for supremacy fought among the followers of various religions, and in their (un)holy quest to enlarge the strength of their followers by coercing the non followers to convert. Why had the followers of various religions resorted to large scale violence and genocide to spread the message of love, peace and harmony, in contrast with the ostensible pious teachings and preachings of their respective religions? (I presume that this question should be pricking the conscience of a large number of intellectually evolved people of modern scientific age)
To my mind, it’s because, most of the religions have been conceived, generated and perpetuated by the priestly class in connivance with the ruling class to create an army of followers, who could be subjugated to facilitate retention of power in the hands of it’s creators internally, and serve as fanatical soldiers of their masters to enlarge strength of their followers, by forcing conversion of followers of other religions, through violence, coercion and/or inducement. Millions of people were reportedly killed in various religious wars fought during the medieval period. Ironically,all these wars were ordained by the almighty to propagate their religion so that lasting peace and harmony could be established in the world.
In essence, religion was, is and will always remain a tool in the hands of rulers and religious leaders to acquire and perpetuate power. Religion and politics are intricately intertwined and linked , in almost all theocratic states. While, in the states having multi religious population, there is competitive,and sometimes, violent tussle among the followers of different religions to exercise control and power over the state . Politics and religion, are undoubtedly two sides of the same coin, whether a state is theocratic or secular. It is after all a source of fulfillment of innate and cardinal desire present among all living beings to dominate and control others.
Human beings, are no exception to this. In fact, it’s more intense and powerful among them.Darwin’s theory of genetics and the concept of “survival of the fittest”, bear testimony to it.
About one and half century back,religious wars for establishing supremacy had disillusioned and dischanted large population in certain parts of the world . That vacuum needed to be fillled up. It heralded advent of a new religion, called as “communism”. The ideology of communism, which proclaimed establishment of a new equitable and just social order, without a presiding deity and priestly class, soon captured imagination of a large population across the world. Since the new variant of supposedly people friendly religion, couldn’t be established without demolition and destruction of the existing system of governance drawing it’s power from religiosity , the preachers and practitioners of the ideology of communism resorted to mass killing of people,who weren’t willing for conversion to this new religion. Unfortunately, communism,too soon morphed into being a religion, both in character and essence, a copycat of the apparently inequitous and exploitative religions, it had sought to replace.
Much like certain existing religions, it also resorted to genocide of masses to retain its control and ensure it’s spread across the world. It generated new Gods, by the names of Lenin and Marx, who have had a series of avatars in the form of Stalin, Mao, Deng, Xi jinping etc. It differs from normal religions, only to the extent, that it avoids bestowing eternal and supernatural powers to the creator of this religion, except in case of N Korea, (where their dead leader is credited with possessing super natural powers). However, the supreme leader of the communist party- an euphemism for their own version of God, is perceived and regarded as a powerful and reverent force-just short of the unmanifested, but omnipresent God of other religions.
All religions, including communism, share one thing in common -their origin, development and expansion was realised through mass genocide of innocent people. In order to acquire power, while religions masqueraded their genocidal pursuits during medieval period as “holy wars”, communists branded it as a fight for establishing a just order, that would usher in respect for human life. Hypocrisy in both the cases stares so starkly, when the proclaimed saviour of life resorts to end another innocent life -ostensibly in pursuit of a higher ideological/divine purpose!
The quintessence of most religions is to acquire, retain and perpetuate power. It’s done differently in different political systems.
While in Mao’s communism, power flows from the barrel of gun, in a democracy, it flows from the ballot box. Therefore, in a democracy having multiple religions, it’s natural for each denomination to enhance its political power through enhancement of its voting power.
India, being the largest democracy in the world, has been suffering from the evil effects of this insensible struggle. There is a race among various religions to increase their voter base. Since it cannot be achieved through coercion current milieu, inducement of poor people to proselytise is often being practised by one religion, while another religious denomination has been apparently indulging in unbridled population growth as a means to achieve the same objective.
Burgeoning population has not only led to mass poverty, unemployment, poor law and order situation and depletion of valuable natural resources, but also created disharmony, suspicion and turmoil in our polity.
There is an urgent and inescapable imperative to address this burning issue with post haste, else the consequences of unabated population growth would prove to be disastrous for the nation, as well as for the advocates of unbridled population growth. Unfortunately,when the latter will discover folly of their moron strategy to secure power, it will be too late as they, too will be engulfed and decimated by the catastrophe. They will meet their end much before securing the “chimerical power” through adoption of this suicidal strategy. It’s, therefore, time to ponder and reflect on efficacy of strategy of securing power through forcing people to live in abject subhumanly conditions, without access to proper food, education and dignified life.
Finally, it’s relevant to quote Heinrich Heine, “In dark ages people are guided by religion, as in a pitch-black night, a blind man is the best guide; he knows the roads and paths better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however, it is foolish to use blind old men as guides.”
Indian banks have been written off 68,607 crore of top 50 willful defaulters including Vijay Mallya and absconding Mehul Choksi, according to an RTI filled by Saket Gokhale.
Various self proclaimed independent political journalists are trying to politicize simple banking exercise into a political tumult, blending technical terms and intentionally harming banking business model for their own political gain.
Write off is a general banking process to remove loss assets (bad loans) and associated provisioning from their balance sheets which improve their net profit. We should know how banks classify assets and set aside provisions for each category.
Standard assets are those loans which have not defaulted on repayment of principal and payment of interest. At standard asset, provision’s rate vary from sector to sector. Provision for agriculture, small and medium industries is 0.25%.
Substandard assets are those which remain non performing for 12 months or less and underlying collateral is not enough to pay back the loan. Banks need to create a 25% provision of the total outstanding in their books wherein 15% is made for the total outstanding and additional 10% for the portion for which there is no underlying guarantee.
An asset is classified as Doubtful asset if it has remained substandard for a period of more than 12 months.For such assets, lenders need to make 100% provision for the portion of the loan which is unsecured. For the secured portion of the loan, if the asset has remained non-performing for up to a year, then 25% is the required provision, 40% for between one year and three years, and 100% for more than three years.
Loss assets are assets which have been identified by either the bank or external auditors to be permanent non-performer and there are negligible chances of recovering the advance. Such assets should be written off from the books of the lender or else a provision of 100% should be made for them.
In previous quarters many banks posted fall in net profit and this was mostly attributed to the higher provisioning against non-performing assets. If banks remove provisions, net profit will increase.
After write off, banks can also write back these assets. SBI has written back 7,000 crore in Bhushan Steel case.
Write off will not affect in probing of economic offence cases against Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Other economic offenders.
We can’t deny the transparency issue in Indian Business sector. After the strict Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code and merger of ten banks, Govt should work on transparency in banking system, provide more authority to RBI and strict vigilance on economic offenders.
On 23 April, Editor-in-Chief and founder of Republic TV Arnab Goswami along with his wife Samyabrata Ray who is also senior editor at Republic TV was attacked by two Congress goons. What is interesting here is both the Congress goons were pretty vocal about their associations with Indian National Congress.
Who are those attackers?
Two Congress goons who attacked Arnab Goswami and Samyabrata Ray are Arun Borade who is President of Sion Koliwada Assembly of Indian Youth Congress according to his Facebook profile and Prateek Mishra who is also a member of Indian National Congress. There are numerous evidences of their association with Indian National Congress on social media accounts of both of them. Arun Borade can also be seen with senior Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge in a picture uploaded by him on Facebook.
Attacker Pratik Mishra with Congress scarf.
Attacker Prateek Mishra’s Facebook profile.
Attacker Arun Borade’s Facebook profile.
Attacker Arun Borade with senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
Now, Lets look at past :
Let’s see why Congress goons revealed their identity and their association with the Congress party. Answer lies in past of Congress party. Let’s see what Congress did in past , When something like these happened.
On 20th December 1978, Two Congress workers hijacked Indian Airlines flight 410 to demand release of Indira Gandhi from jail. Indira Gandhi was detained for breach of privilege and contempt of the Indian Parliament. The hijack was seen as one of the most shameful act observed by the Congress and dangerous contempt for the rule of law.
But later, Instead of sacking both the hijackers from party, Congress rewarded them. One of the hijacker, Bhola Pandey served as a Congress MLA from 1980 to 1985 and 1989 to 1991 from Doaba, Ballia and the other hijacker Devendra Pandey remained a member of the house for two terms. He also served the party as a general secretary of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) until recently. The case against the both hijackers was dropped by putting pressure on Charan Singh Government as existence of Government depended on support of Congress party and then Congress honoured both of them by giving election tickets.
Hijackers Bhola Pandey and Devendra Pandey
Why this article is important :
Writting this article was important since many from the left liberal brigade were misleading common people of this country by questioning the authenticity of this attack.
Now many people are discussing on social media about authenticity of attack on Arnab Goswami and Samyabrata Ray. Even a comedien who is often called a propagandist of left liberal ecosystem, Kunal Kamra has also questioned the attack on Arnab Goswami and Samyabrata Ray but in last episode of “Shut Up Ya Kunal”, he confessed that he didn’t hold any credibility and can be selective which explains his position on this issue. He ranted about this on twitter.
But many other Twitter users busted his propaganda and gave him a befitting reply.
Hypocrisy of Left Liberal ecosystem:
Many other members of left liberal ecosystem are also questioning authenticity of this attack but what is more surprising is a women was attacked at midnight but this people are asking for proof of the attack and when proof is provided they are just neglecting it. This are the same people who were celebrating acid attack on Rangoli Chandel after she criticized Tablighi Jammat for spreading corona virus in India and were also asking for more such attacks on her. This displays the hate they posses. If a women is wife of Arnab Goswami or is a acid attack victim who supports right wing of India; their life doesn’t matter to them. Feminism dies a painful and gruesome death here.
In this case too, both the attackers are given bail by the court and the real victim of this attack, Arnab Goswami was questioned by police in N. M. Joshi Marg Police Station on 27 April for 12 hours.
In the midst of the sufferings due to the pandemic COVID-19, where poor are the most heat bearers, the step of Converting the surplus rice to ethanol for sanitizers industry and petrol blending, has brought lots of criticism to government and its policy formulation amid COVID 19 pandemic, while, pressure groups, NGO’s and civil societies, sites a near situation of starvation in India.
Pandemic has left no stone unturned, in a developing economy, already facing slow down, decade high unemployment rate and now a prediction for a situation of starvation, is nothing more than a disaster, but is it really so, an agrarian nation which produces record food grains every year may go through starvation like condition, lets analyse the facts before we come to a conclusion.
What does pressure groups, NGOS, social scientists say, on government’s decision to use surplus rice for alcohol?
India already lags behind in global hunger index ranking 102 out of total 117 nations.
The Wire’s analysis shows that India has the stock of food grains needed to universalise PDS for at least six months. If from the estimated population of 1.37 billion, 1.1 billion are to be provided 10 kg food grain per month for six months, it will require 66 million tonnes of food grain.
Unemployment rate has jumped to 23%, further increasing pressure on FCI & PDS system
These issues raised by civil society and intelligentsia means a lot for country with more than 73 million living in extreme poverty and unemployment rate rising high at 23%, does this means that government is least bothered about poor? Or the government has enough expertise to handle the situation handle every citizen with equality.
FIRSTLY, The GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX scores are calculated on four indicators – Undernourishment, Child Wasting, the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition); Child Stunting, children under the age of five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition; and Child Mortality, the mortality rate of children under the age of five.
The share of among children in India rose from 16.5 per cent in the 2008-2012 period to 20.8 per cent in 2014-2018, highest in world, according to the report. While child stunting rate, 37.9 percent, is also categorized as very high, as per report. These are HIDDEN FORM OF HUNGER, so we can say that INDIA lagged behind largely because of hidden hunger for which government has already started producing and distributing fortified food grains, and other nutrients through PDS.
In case of current situation like this which is largely temporary if we fight altogether, most important thing is food to eat, irrespective of nutrition value to avoid any starvation like situation in near future for which government has already announced, subsidised food supply to 80 crore peoples, different state governments has already issued temporary ration cards too. Assistant professor at Ambedkar University Dipa Sinha, also said that around 65 million tonnes of grain would be needed to universalize PDS for six months assuming that the grain is provided to 80% of the population. India has sufficient amount of grains to avoid ant starvation like situation, IN addition to this metrological department has predicted a normal monsoon, government has already opened agriculture sector for production, RABI CROPS had been harvested, and kharif crops are being sown, and have deposited 2000 rupees through DBT under PMKISAN Yojana, which means India is all set to produce record food grain in next six months, around 300 Mn tonnes.
Secondly, importance of Sanitizer, as per WHO guidelines frequent washing of hands with soap and using 70% alcohol based sanitizer during non-availability of water is essential to keep the Virus at bay, alcohol based sanitizer are too costly in market and out of reach of a poor or a low income group people, because of higher prices of alcohol, government has already regulated the price, but when the lockdown ends, the need and frequency of sanitizer use will increase many fold, as the threat of getting effected won’t end soon, so it is the responsibility of government to provide cheap rate sanitizer to lower income group people.
Foresight the situation clears that, when sanitizer becomes an essential part of one’s life, most of the alcohol could be diverted towards this industry instead of distilleries for wine etc, the required amount of revenue could be generated through sanitizer industry, and it will be easy for sates to force complete ban on alcoholic drinks. This is the time when a new sanitizer industry needs a major push.
Thirdly, the industry could help domestic economy to revive in future, when predicted growth is below 2%,more over we must not forget that India is a mixed economy where major roll is played by market, subsidizing all the produced grains could result in crash of local market, also producing ethanol from surplus and blending it with petrol as per policy could result in reduced import bills in such situation of crisis. India is self-sustained in agriculture, and share of agricultural export in total exports is approx. 12% which may go down because of global recession, so producing ethanol for sanitizer and petrol industries from surplus food grains is never a bad idea in all the cases we are in win-win situation.
Largely this is a survival come revival plan, where the only important thing which matters is implementation, civil societies and pressure groups must come forward and keep a check over distribution system, what we have should be used judiciously, we have more then what is required, its only about proper distribution and to correct beneficiaries, recognizing the beneficiary is another hard task on which government must work, local authorities and local governments should be made accountable for equal distribution and supply.
Government should plan to distribute sanitizers too, through PDS to the poor and low-income group, for their safety as they are most vulnerable to the disease. The period after lockdowns will be most crucial, we all must stand tall with the government to protect each and every fellow Indian from the pandemic disease.
The havoc this pandemic has created in each one of our lives cannot be denied but the air we have breathed recently is the cleanest of this century. For those, who are keeping the world running, the essential services would have reached their work place with no traffic on the road and without first getting tired on the way, with all their energy to spend at work at hand. But the foremost, the extraordinary event has expanded the horizon of human mind. People would no longer live in denial of the fact that lives can change so dramatically in matter of weeks or days. Can all this be the opportunity for the phoenix to rise up from the ashes? Can the world re-design itself for the better?
The answer is that we have to. Whatever, less or more damage this virus would do, the possibility of going back to previous life without any alteration appears to be nil. Many aspects such as social distancing, less travelling would be echoing for years to come. But how it can be a blessing?
Let’s have a look at pre-covid life. Amit works in a MNC. On weekdays, most are heading to commercial hubs for work like he is and on weekends most are heading to malls or markets like he is. Thus, he ends up facing ferocious traffic congestions. He goes to office for 5-6 days a week depending on work load. He is neither giving sufficient time to his family nor for skill up gradation to keep him afloat for advent of artificial intelligence or other disruptions. He doesn’t even have time to spend money he earned. Many young Indians and millenials can relate to Amit in more than one way.
Indian population demographic is probably both, the biggest opportunity & serious threat for the Indian economy. India’s current work force is just little shy from half billion. In next 10-12 years, around 200 million of new young Indians would join the workforce. AI, Jobless growth, literacy standards have turned the odds dramatically against employing even half of these new 200 million restless minds. If we are able to channelize the potential of these 200 million young minds then India would become part of unprecedented growth story. Unemployed people neither pay taxes nor provide services nor contribute much to demand & consumption. They can be swayed easily to crime/chaos, thus make governance difficult. Therefore, if unemployment is not checked then India may fall of its own weight. Another dangerous issue standing on the doorstep is the number of people employed in logistics, tourism and hospitality as it is about to take major hit.
We have seen our elders to spend their whole life on one kind of skill/job/business & survived the advent of computers. We are unable to realize that we are in faster changing world than they were. A single skill may not last lifetime. The Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D printing would pose a severe threat to the generations of middle class if they don’t learn to train them to survive in future. The mighty Indian IT revolutionin the governance-for a spot check! Time has always been constraint for the ambitious great Indian middle-class. This is not a solipsistic disruption but an intrinsically adaptive pleiotropism of DNA of Indian economy. Things are bound to show these adaptations when extent of competition is going to be fierce day by day.
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” ― Henry Ford
The social distancing is here to stay for a significant time, may be even for years. Social distancing can only be achieved by reducing the population density which is hard to achieve in commercially active hotspots. So, dispersing population density across the space and time is the way to go. However, the good news is that the broadened horizon due to recent events can help us adopt methods which we may not just sometime back. Anytime to achieve something, first thing that gets changed is our daily routine. In this fast changing world, sticking to same 5 day work week may not be a smart idea anymore. Cost of not expecting an innovative outcome is grotesquely more than not allowing it to happen. And the innovation is The Shorter Work-Weeks or flexible work hours. Rather than getting the lot of work done by lot of people in less time, the idea is to disperse the work and people in 24 hour, 7 days a week. Economy should work round the clock for all days. The idea was conceptualized around 3 years back but would have been ridiculed at that time. But this world event has changed perspective globally and would now let people see the merit without preconceived notions.
The average work span of an individual is between 40-45 hours per week. Studies have already shown that 5 day 8-9 hour is not the most productive way. There exist atleast one way in which we can achieve the same productivity with more creativity and innovation in working only 3.5-4 days a week. In the same week, one can devote at least half-day a week to learn new relevant skills. If two persons work on the same spot for half week each then we can achieve 7 days a week economy. There should not be a distinction between weekday and weekend. Every day is weekday for one and weekend for other.
This may not only improve the current scenario for all the stakeholders such as employee, consumer, employer, producer and government in many ways but may have positive impact on employment, education, congestion, pollution, social engagement, and economic growth etc.
First, GDP would get a boost up when both consumption and economic activities increases by virtue of extra-time for both consumer and enterprise. Financial services, public services, markets etc. remain open 7 days a week for any prospect customer. All Indian commercial activities would be in full swing for all days of year as opposed to 5-6 days per week. Increased production would offset increased demand lowering the risk of inflation/deflation: a breather for Indian economy and hypothesis less result for Indian policy makers. Higher consumption will lead to higher GDP.
Second, India is a young country. Around 40% of the country is of age below 21 years. In the next decade, to employ the employable youth we need to create a little less than half of current capacity. Not engaging this new workforce is a serious threat to economic stability of nation. Probably, the Citizens who are settled or are beginning to settle in their life may have myopic view and may not be ready to give anything of their own settled ways to pave way to these new 200 mn young ones. Productive time will be added to people’s life span to spend more time with family which is a grisly issue in metropolitan life-style. The time spent on the road to commute to office per day would be saved by individual every week. Also Financial intermediaries, markets, government offices would be open round the week to service the citizens.
Creation of half week shift would result in immediate increase in employment. Further, AI would also need its development, maintenance, regulation and production. These would be high value addition jobs, if came to India would be positive in many ways. Opportunities such as Consulting and freelancing in areas of technology, creative and social skill would become abundant to relatively higher or multi skilled individuals. Therefore, citizens to find them in favorable position need time to upgrade themselves which would be duly accessible to them this way. Highly skilled citizens will not lose relevancy and therefore sense of security.
Third, 5 day work week concept is almost as old as the current schooling system. Probably the fallacy of current education content and whole system is beyond debate. Despite that the extant of its deep roots is still making it bloom. On the other hand, if citizens who would be constantly upgrading their skills and have first hand exposure of the industry interacts with mind sponge of young kids in schools would not yield less than wonders.
Fourth, bigger and diversified weekend may increase the tourism create better economies of scale for tourism and opportunities for Incredible India to emerge as global tourism destination. One of the industry which would be most affected is tourism, If this step not taken then Private investment for infrastructure developments for tourism will not remain viable and government may end up spending a lot to revive it which would have consequence of its own. However, because of more free time led increased tourism would solve this problem from root.
Fifth, If employees are to work in two batches then an organization can work for 7 days a week for more hours per day. Therefore, the infrastructure cost of the organization will come down because this is not challenging the constraints of existing infrastructure. The production capacity will increase while no additional capital investment. The only pain is that organizations would need to re-structure the management of resources, timelines but definitely this would not the only reason to re- structure it in coming years.
It will help in better capacity management by service provider. One of many examples is of a commercial mall. Commercial activity in shopping malls is low on weekdays but very high on weekends. This uneven demand is problem not only for seller but for buyer as well. This move will streamline the demand; reduce costs for both seller and buyer. It will also help in optimized use of public resources such as parking and public transport etc.
Sixth, Employees working in two shifts a week will reduce the traffic congestion with higher speed of movement of vehicles would result in lower wastage of fuel by virtue of better mileage. Thereby, lowering the pollution which has become great menace in metropolitans? It would also save our forex because of low consumption of Crude oil used for office commutation. Lower import bill, higher tourism and out sourcing of highly skilled citizens would certainly ease the forex reserve and ease the trade deficit.
Seventh, India as a nation has been a great admirer of family values. Studies have shown that higher working hours has lead to increased number of divorces. Individuals can then spend more time with their spouse, kids and parents.
Citizens with some free time at their hand should also be engaged in flagship programs such as Swach Bharat and Beti Bachao Bati Padao, teach poor kid in government schools etc. as per citizen’s skill and interest. Citizens who work in different industries would give first hand information to underprivileged. This way, we can truly include and empower the underprivileged to prosperous future. Feeling of patriotism through such an interface would empower citizens towards nation building.
Re-aligning of focus and energy for self improvement, sustenance and nation building is the target by optimizing the current work style and ecosystem and should not be misunderstood with lower work and responsibility. This policy measure has been designed to trim out the inefficiencies in our daily routine and make way for more efficient best practices. Each policy has many stakeholder, it is emphasized that every stakeholder should be all better except for some pain on the way.
All of this requires a modification of current work ecosystem through participation of all stakeholders. Undoubtedly, there will be concerns as well. Evolution has taught us that nothing is free from fault but the journey to create the apt ecosystem and pragmatic incentives to stakeholders should begin. Extreme team spirit needs to be encouraged from top to bottom for a great vision of 2022 of our Prime Minister.
Although, this may not be implemented in days and requires adaption, creation of ecosystem, debates and discussions among stakeholders. Nothing to lose but to try, the imagination of shorter workweek is phenomenally convincing!
The author is a government servant. However, the views expressed are personal.
In a one-of-its-kind situation that humanity is confronted with, no solution seems to come without its share of glitches. While the entire nation has its eyes glued to the proceedings in the field of epidemiology for combating the spread of COVID-19, it remains to be seen whether the much coveted vaccine will successfully put an end to the litany of woes of those afflicted with the pandemic.
Needless to say, social distancing and pharmaceutical interventions have, to a large extent, prevented covidial infection from turning into a full blown health crisis. While a fair proportion of population is pulling its weight by slaving beyond the calls of duty to contain the spread of the draconian virus, there are these behavioural illiterates who are continually turning a deaf ear to all the pleas pertaining to maintain social distance. Other manifestations of uncivilized conduct in this hour of crisis include misbehaviour with the frontline corona warriors.
It is said that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Looking at the imbecility that some covidiots are upto, by flouting the lockdown norms, it needs no clairvoyance to say that while a vaccine to immunize against COVID-19 will most assuredly hit the market within a span of few months, no vaccine can ever immunize anyone who chooses to get afflicted with an illness.
It might take just a sentence or two to declare that all those who are willfully violating the norms of lockdown are laying bare the pitfalls of administrative control. But, history is rife with examples of incidents, where more often than not, social unrest is the result of motivation by forces whose existence is premised on anti-social beliefs. These beliefs are so deep-rooted that at every occasion, their proponents are able to steer the course of status-quo to manifest the reality they want; and as these ‘values’ are passed on to the next generation, they become even more ingrained. It then becomes impossible for education to penetrate through this impervious core and engender the positive change it is expected to.
Even the educated elite class, upon whom the onus lies to awaken the society to a living guided by the logos, are ready to suspend their mental faculties when confronted with questions challenging beliefs based on superstitions. It is no surprise, therefore, that every crisis witnesses fissiparous forces who succeed in churning the belief systems of the unawakened and disrupt peace in the society.
It is as important, thus, to check the growth of divisive forces in the society, as it is to curb the spread of COVID-19. While the latter can be dealt with, by therapeutic interventions, the former requires an education system oriented towards social goals. Only then will all minds think like a man of the noblest possible moral character.
