Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his campaign for assembly elections in Punjab, farmers held a Lok Kalyan rally in Bathinda and other regions to create awareness among people about the policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that have shown little concern for welfare of the agricultural sector.

Punjab goes to polls on February 20, 2022. Party leaders have also jumped into action, visiting the poll-bound regions, including the BJP. However, farmers’ anger continues to simmer.

On February 16, hundreds of farmers demonstrated at the district-level and sub-divisional level in answer to the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) call asking people not to vote for the BJP. According to Punjab leader Jagmohan Singh, a group of 10-15 farmers carrying black flags was detained while some protesters went out on the road in protest. Since then, roads near the rally area have been blocked.

As reported by the Hindustan Times, Abohar town administration in Fazilka district announced a ‘no-fly zone’ for the duration of the rally as a “security measure”. While this is the first time Modi has come to Punjab since the January incident – where he was stuck at Ferozepur flyover for 15-20 minutes – this is the second time since Lakhimpur Kheri accused Ashish Mishra’s bail that farmers have come out in large numbers.

On February 14, farmers first demonstrated their ire in Bathinda and other parts of the state. Protesters were enraged on hearing about Mishra’s release at a time when many UP farmers were still facing FIRs for the same event. To condemn the BJP government, farmers burnt effigies on Monday. Even people at the village-level joined this protest and demanded the release of arrested farmers. Meanwhile, leaders observed the rally where it called upon people to unite and punish the BJP government. However, some leaders were put on house arrest while the PM’s rally continued.

Some farm leader of Punjab’s Doaba region under house detention amid PM Modi’s rally in Jalandhar.
Last time Modi had to cancel his rally in Punjab. pic.twitter.com/o0NqPoSVIH

— Sandeep Singh (@PunYaab) February 14, 2022

Earlier, farmer leaders resolved to undertake ground-level meetings and press conferences in all polling regions to tell the masses about farmer grievances and “punish” the BJP via people’s votes. Already, press conferences have begun in UP. Meanwhile, Punjab farmers said they will intensify their social boycott of BJP in Punab’s regions.

Related:

SKM focuses on Jhansi, asks what has the regime done to alleviate suffering in the drought-prone region?
Lakhimpur Kheri case: Farmers remain enraged by Mishra’s bail
Lakhimpur Kheri case: Ashish Mishra gets bail!
SKM denounces BJP manifesto

The post Punjab: Farmers begin Lok Kalyan rally appeared first on SabrangIndia.

I read with mixed feelings the announcement of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, that August 14 should be remembered as the “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day”. The Home Ministry was very quick to issue a notification to this effect.

I don’t wish to delve into the political compulsions that made the Prime Minister make such an announcement. Being a mediator by vocation, I was wondering how such a statement can be viewed from a conflict resolution perspective. But before that, let me give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt. Maybe his intention was to tell the people that “Look, it is important to stay united in order to avoid the horrors of the Partition.” The question is – if that was the intention, could it have been reframed in a better way?

Reframing conflict

Mediation is all about peace-making. In mediation, a mediator plays the role of a facilitator who helps parties in conflict to move from the past and focus on the future. The past would have been a time of great difficulty, turmoil, emotional trauma and pain. This leads the people in conflict to hate each other, to indulge in toxic communication and behaviour, to damage each other, to blame each other for all the mishaps and to generally think of the other as a monster or an ogre from the Grimm Fairy Tales. When they sit before the mediator, the atmosphere is usually one of tension, anger and other intense emotions. The mediator has a tough task to diffuse the tense situation and to get the parties to move from the past and focus on the future. The mediator uses the technique of reframing to change the terms of reference between the parties. Where, for instance, one party says that the other party is “lying” about something, the mediator would say, “Well, you have a different recollection of what happened.”

The technique of reframing is used effectively by the mediator to do what William Ury and Roger Fisher talk about in their seminal masterpiece “Getting to Yes”, viz.

(1) Separate the people from the problem and
(2) focus on their interests and not their positions.

For example, if one party says, “My partner is unscrupulous. He thinks nothing about misleading the customers and keeps making false representations about the product. He cares nothing about how this will affect the goodwill of our firm. I am tired of his crooked methods,” the mediator would reframe this as, “What I hear you saying is that, the reputation and goodwill of the firm is important and you wish to preserve that.” In one stroke, the mediator has shifted the focus of the parties to a future need to have honesty and transparency with the customers – an interest that is common to both.

In effect, what the mediator does through the technique of reframing is to draw the parties from their past unpleasant experiences, help them to understand what is good for them for their future and get them to work towards that goal. All that is toxic, negative and painful is reframed to something that is purposeful, positive and future-oriented. People in conflict tend to be entrenched in the past. They are unable to move beyond all the pain, anguish and suffering they have been through. Sometimes this pain and suffering is real and sometimes it is either exaggerated or, maybe, even imagined. But remaining in that state can be harmful. It creates a lot of toxicity, vitiates the environment and drives people to do things that may be potentially harmful for themselves and for others. The past is a lesson for the present and the future. It is not something you dwell on, wallow in, feel sorry for yourself, generate hatred towards others and make the present and the future worse for everyone.

Is conflict bad?

Most people think conflict is bad. When you say “conflict” it brings to mind strife, struggle, fighting, killing, war. But actually, conflict is not bad. What is bad is not managing it and resolving it. Allowing conflict to spiral out of control is bad. It is worse to perpetuate conflict and to keep reliving it. Conflict can have a positive effect as a harbinger of change. But for conflict, many important changes in the world would not have come about – emancipation of slaves, women’s rights, workers’ rights, freedom from colonial rule and so on. The world would be a victim of inertia described in Newton’s first law as “an object remaining in its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force.” Conflict is that external force that brings about change, provided it is managed and resolved peacefully. If not, it can cause tremendous damage or even total annihilation.

If we agree that conflict is not all bad but needs to be managed and resolved peacefully, then it is important to (a) not remain entrenched in the past but focus on the future and (b) work towards identifying, understanding and reaching common interests and goals. Nelson Mandela recognised this when he refused to succumb to the demand for the trial of the apartheid regime and opted for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission instead. Mahatma Gandhi chose the path of non-violence to secure freedom from British colonial rule, firmly refuting the belief that large struggles have to be violent. Great leaders and thinkers have always advocated the path of reconciliation and peace-making rather than revenge and recrimination. A great statesman is like a mediator. She plays the role of servant-leadership, helping people to navigate through their conflicts, find common grounds and work together to solve the problems of the present and to ensure a better future.

The partition is itself a lesson for us: that if you perpetuate hatred, distrust and animosity between communities, it leads to cataclysmic consequences in which both sides suffer. What is needed is to foster understanding, trust, love and harmony. What is important is to be liberated from the past and not to repeat it.

Can we positively reframe “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day”?

“Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” is replete with the imagery of the brutality and savagery that accompanied the partition of India. It does nothing to help the people to move on. It can only perpetuate hatred, animosity and distrust. Does it augur well for the nation? Certainly not! Where we should be focusing on education, health and progress, we would be thinking of revenge and recrimination. Could the Prime Minister have reframed “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” and, in the true spirit of statesmanship, designated August 14th as a “Partition Forgiveness and Reconciliation Day”? It is not too late. He can do it even now. Will it show weakness? No. On the contrary, it will show the strength and spiritual power of our hoary culture that has helped us to endure two centuries of foreign rule and yet remain true to our core values of compassion and inclusiveness. It is time that our leaders graduate from being politicians to becoming statesmen. As Yuval Noah Harari puts it, “Historians study the past not in order to repeat it, but in order to be liberated from it.”

*The author is a Chennai-based advocate, mediator and digital dispute resolution specialist.

Related:

PM Narendra Modi names August 14 “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day”

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The Indian Medical Association (IMA) will celebrate National Doctors’ Day on July 1, 2021 with a special program at its Delhi headquarters to pay homage to the medical fraternity.

The theme for this year’s event is “Save the Saviours.” Eminent doctors will receive Doctors’ Day Awards during the event. This will be followed by Safe Motherhood Week, starting from Wednesday.

“The IMA lost more than 1,500 eminent doctors during the Covid-19 pandemic. This sacrifice has added its shade of remembrance to the Doctors’ Day celebrations. It is dedicated to the innumerable medical practitioners, who sacrificed their lives while serving citizens and to those numerous professionals, still serving on the frontline,” said the IMA in a press release.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the event at 3 PM. Further, World Medical Association and IMA ex-President Dr. Ketan Desai, NITI Aayog member Dr. V. K. Paul, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria and IMA President Dr. J. A. Jayalal will also address the people.

Related:

EXCLUSIVE: PM must intervene, stop misinformation campaign, recognise Covid martyr medics: IMA chief
594 doctors died during second wave of Covid-19: IMA
Indian Medical Association seeks FIR against Ramdev
Centre’s paid vaccination policy for 18 to 44 years, prima facie arbitrary and irrational: SC

The post Save the Saviours! IMA’s theme for National Doctors’ Day 2021 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Union Government will give supplies of Covid-19 free of cost to all states, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, June 7. Private hospitals will still be able to directly procure 25% vaccines but will now be allowed to levy a maximum service charge of Rs 150 only, over and above the cost at which they buy it from the manufacturers.

Free Vaccines for all has been a demand raised by many states, and senior Opposition leaders including four CMs had been consistently asking the Centre to procure vaccines, start free mass vaccination, pause Central Vista project, give food to the poor, among other solutions proposed in multiple letters to the PM. The latest was on May 13, when 12 Opposition party leaders, including four CMs wrote to the PM asking the Centre to procure vaccines from global and domestic sources and begin a free, universal mass vaccination campaign across the country. Mass vaccination has globally emerged as one of the best ways to flatten the Covid-19 curve which continues to rise sharply in India. The massive vaccine shortage  however, had forced the vaccine for all programmes to be paused in many states across the country just days after it began.

On June 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally agreed to two of the three demands so far. PM Modi also announced free ration for the poor under Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana to be given till Diwali this year. He addressed the nation on Monday when many states ended the stringent lockdowns after months as finally a dip in new Covid-19 cases is being reported.

देश में बन रही वैक्सीन में से 25 प्रतिशत, प्राइवेट सेक्टर के अस्पताल सीधे ले पाएं, ये व्यवस्था जारी रहेगी।

प्राइवेट अस्पताल, वैक्सीन की निर्धारित कीमत के उपरांत एक डोज पर अधिकतम 150 रुपए ही सर्विस चार्ज ले सकेंगे।

इसकी निगरानी करने का काम राज्य सरकारों के ही पास रहेगा: PM

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 7, 2021

The PM said that the “Centre accepted the state’s demand on vaccine drive and changed policy in May,” though he still made a critical mention of politics being played over vaccines. Under this new centralised vaccine policy, the PM said that “25% percent of the vaccination work with states will now be handled by the Centre, and it will be implemented in the coming two weeks. Both State and Centre to work as per new guidelines in the coming two weeks.” 

From June 21, everyone above the age of 18 years will get free vaccines. He said supplies of vaccines will also increase in the coming days and a vaccine that can be administered via the nose was also being worked on. That once ready will increase the coverage net of the vaccination drive. The PM addressed the nation on a Monday, when Sunday’s low testing normally shows a dip in new cases, in the past 24 hours the number was 1,00,636, reportedly the lowest in 61 days. 

Listen to voices of science & sanity PM Modi.
Begin preparations now to face the inevitable next wave.
Abandon your obsessive self glorification efforts to protect lives.
Launch free universal mass vaccination drive NOW. pic.twitter.com/JpKuF9ceSO

— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) June 6, 2021

A‘U-turn’ in the vaccine policy 

The PM’s announcement of the ‘U-turn’ in the vaccine policy also comes just days after the Supreme Court bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Ravindra Bhat and Nageswara Rao also questioned the Centre on how it plans to manage the logistics and storage of vaccines when the Centre was not procuring them in the Phase III. The court cited various government reports to demonstrate the lack of access to the internet among the larger population, and how this will impinge their right to equality and right to health. The court sought clarifications from the Centre on how it plans to manage the logistics of vaccines. The court was certainly more inclined towards the Centre procuring the vaccine to ensure that cold storage facilities that are required to store vaccines are not overwhelmed. The court asked the Centre to provide the many clarifications on logistics involved including cold storage management for vaccines.

Related

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Covid-19: India’s Opposition leaders suggest solutions, will PM finally listen? 
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The post Covid-19: Finally, PM steers a U-turn on vaccine policy after SC seeks plan appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“There are so many Bengal cadre officers working for the Centre; if we confront like this, what will be the future of this country, Mr Prime Minister? Mr Busy Prime Minister, Mr Mann Ki Baat Prime Minister… what, do you want to finish me? Never, ever…. As long as people give me support, you cannot… 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, in response to the orders against her chief secretary issued by the Centre in Delhi.
 (The Telegraph Online, June 3, 2021)

Former West Bengal chief minister for more than three decades and CPM legend, Jyoti Basu, had once termed the BJP “barbaric and uncivilised”, soon after the Babri Masjid demolition at Ayodhya, led by the top leaders of the BJP-RSS and the sangh parivar on December 6, 1992. Some years later he was quoted in the Tribune on November 22, 1999. He had said, categorically. “Even now I say it (BJP) is uncivilised and barbaric.” Stating that his remarks were not in reference to any individual, he said “what do you say if at the end of 20th century you break up somebody else’s prayer house -Babri mosque…”  He said this at a press conference in New Delhi.

One of the multiple reasons why the CPM in Bengal has not picked up its scaffoldings from its mighty past has been the denial of the post of prime minister to Jyoti Basu when his name was floated by the leaders of a victorious umbrella coalition in Delhi in 1996. Not only the CPM as a party in Bengal, the whole of Bengal felt shocked, let-down and heart-broken that the party, led by a certain group of rigid and dogmatic hardliners, did not allow him to head that loose coalition government of Left and democratic forces in Delhi.

Indeed, it would have been the first time that a Leftist, and that too of the stature of Jyoti Basu, would have become the prime minister of India. The Left, under his leadership, could have initiated a different kind of national and international discourse — secular, egalitarian and progressive, and initiated much-needed radical reforms in crucial social sectors like the economy, health, education, labour, agriculture, women’s issues, the justice system, human rights, among other areas, it was widely argued.

Both the Central Committee and the Politburo of the CPM overwhelmingly opposed the proposal that Jyoti Basu should head the United Front government. The CPM then had 32 MPs in the Lok Sabha of 1996, and this was considered too small a number to provide a CPM prime minister the clout or power to undertake crucial initiatives. Years later, Jyoti Basu called this party diktat a “historic blunder”.

Most of Bengal and large sections of progressive and Left supporters agreed with him, then, as they would agree with him even now, retrospectively. And this would perhaps include sections of even those who would politically disagree with Jyoti Basu and his party, as vehemently as ever.

After his death, when the entire city of Calcutta and its neighbourhood poured out on the streets in mourning and homage to their leader, Sitaram Yechury was quoted in The Economic Times (January 18, 2010), explaining the two versions behind the decision. (Since they had very few MPs) — “We would have to implement many things that we had opposed. Credibility would suffer. This was the argument by those not inclined in favour of Basu becoming PM,” Yechury said. “On the other hand, those in favour had argued that even with small numbers, but Basu as PM, the party could fashion many pro-people initiatives. Left’s credibility would have gone up,” Yechury cited the other point of view.
 

This angst and the memory are resurrected, because Jyoti Basu was never really a lackey of Delhi’s power structure, nor did he have any interest in the goings-on in its power corridors. Of the three decades plus in unilateral power at the Writers’ Building in Calcutta, he led a party and Left front, with all its apparent mistakes, which overwhelmingly and consistently exercised its constitutional federal autonomy, and independence. With Congress and Indira Gandhi ruling the roost in Delhi and most of India, Jyoti Basu stood as a strong symbol of defiance when it came to the Centre. He was, also, therefore, an important icon in the opposition alliance against the Centre and the Congress. The BJP was a weak player at that time, restricted to certain urban areas in the Hindi heartland and Gujarat, and almost treated like a pariah in the national mainstream for its communal politics.

The Centre-state conflict thereby always played its role in the political dynamics of the state, and despite 40 per cent plus vote share, the Congress just could not break the CPM citadel – despite the repeated allegations of “scientific rigging, muscle power and extra-constitutional structures, often violent, ruling the roost in the interiors of Bengal”. The anti-establishment, anti-Centre plank almost always played a big role in electorally defeating and out-manouvering the Congress in West Bengal.

In the current circumstances, post May 2, 2021, after a protracted, tiring and hard battle in the heat, amidst the distress and despair of the pandemic, the Modi-Shah regime in Delhi has once again played into this archival cycle of old memory, anger and angst, giving Mamata Banerjee just the handle she wants to counter what she repeatedly calls the ‘autocratic’ (referring to Hitler and Stalin) power apparatus of the ruling party in Delhi.

The elections itself became a kind of referendum between Didi, as a mass woman leader and street fighter on a wheel-chair, and the prime minister and his best buddy, the union home minister, who had literally parked themselves in Bengal, pumping in muscle, money, media, and pomp and show as a ritualistic public spectacle, while eating into the party structure of the Trinamool Congress with organized defections of its leaders. That the BJP did not have a cadre, or ground-level organization worth its name, or a credible and popular regional leadership, was exposed from day one.

The Trinamool campaign that ‘outsiders’ driven by hate politics and a sectarian agenda are out to capture and destroy the revolutionary, progressive, spiritual, pluralist and secular cultural and intellectual inheritance of Bengal, struck a decisive chord from the beginning in the political consciousness of Bengal. This factor played a crucial role as the campaign played out.

That the BJP was targeting Didi unilaterally, a secular mass leader, twice elected chief minister, and the only woman chief minister in India, was apparently taken with a big pinch of salt in Bengal, especially by women, especially women in rural Bengal, as the results have clearly proved. In popular perception, here was a secular street fighter who defeated the might of the CPM arising from the mass movement of ‘Ma Maati and Manush’ from Nandigram and Singur, and who has created an enduring and worthwhile social welfare infrastructure in rural and urban Bengal in just about 10 years as the chief minister; that she was being attacked day in and day out by the two men from Gujarat, obsessed with their one-dimensional and absolute power,  plus Yogi Adityanath from UP with his hate politics, was not really appreciated by the largely secular people in Bengal.

The more Narendra Modi and Amit Shah targeted her, the more Suvendu Adhikari used misogynistic and hate language, the more they communally polarised and created non-existent, existential phobias, the more the collective sense and instinct in Bengal united against the BJP and its two supremos on their helicopters. Not done, was the simmering feeling. They don’t understand Bengal. They are outsiders. They will ravage the peaceful state with its communal politics and destroy its historic and progressive culture, was an underlying feeling on the ground, unexpressed, but, nevertheless, moving in an invisible spiral. The success of the ‘Not one Vote to the BJP’ campaign only signified this uncanny and restless political unconscious across the urban and rural landscape.

Hence, the targeting of the state and its chief minister and chief secretary, post May 2, earlier followed by the arrest of two of its ministers and two senior leaders, is being seen as part of the same method in the madness. The whole state and the country are now aware of the script which had been played out at Kalaikunda post-Cyclone Yaas.

Mamata Banerjee has clearly stated her version in graphic detail, caught as she was in the midst of serious administrative relief measures soon after the cyclone. Micro details of the event, what followed it and preceded it, the arrival and departure of the aircrafts etc, the delay and hassles in flight control and timing, etc, the presence of a BJP MLA and the governor in the PM’s meeting with the chief minister – all this is becoming an uncanny script in public folklore. Legalities are being invoked, aspersions are being cast, the fear and threat of punishment, to the topmost bureaucrat in Bengal, has been circulated as a hypothesis and as law– even as he was on the verge of his retirement. 

The entire episode reeks of bad faith in bad taste – what could otherwise have been smoothly resolved within an amicable, flexible and consensual paradigm, with an aim to find the best solution for the state and the nation. That, obviously, did not happen; nor did it seem was the intent.

So much so, sensing the mood in the state, the CPM and Congress leaders too have criticised the manner in which the chief secretary is being humiliated/hounded. Even within the BJP, there are apparently serious rumblings in the manner the Centre is botching up its public image in the state. Among other former IAS officers and veteran bureaucrats, several have voiced their astonishment and unhappiness at the turn of events – after all, the chief secretary of West Bengal was only following the orders of his chief minister!

Speaking to The Indian Express, former Home Secretary G K Pillai said that the episode sets a bad precedent and would demotivate civil servants. “This is perhaps the first time in the history of independent India that a Secretary-level officer is being posted at the Centre one day before retirement. The order is totally irregular. And to say that a Secretary-level officer must report to Delhi by 10 am (on a particular day) is just unheard of. The joining time is normally six days plus travelling time for all bureaucrats. That the DoPT Secretary agreed to issue such an order says a lot about the state Indian bureaucracy is in.”

On her part, Mamata Banerjee has not been mercurial or confrontational. She has stated her version and it is widely assumed that her version is correct. She has, indeed, appealed to the prime minister repeatedly: “I humbly request you to withdraw, recall, reconsider your decision and rescind the latest so-called order in larger public interest. I appeal to your conscience and good sense, on the behalf of the people of West Bengal,” she said in her letter to the PM… “With unilateral and non-consultative orders being issued, the federal system is gravely endangered and severely undermined. If a chief secretary of a state can be asked to be relieved like this how can the lower bureaucracy take, obey and implement orders in their letter or spirit from the chief minister, other ministers and officers… I presume and hope that you do not want to damage the federal amity… and destroy the morale of all the All India Service officers working in various states…”

Indeed, the politeness and rationale logic, mixed with her defiant and stoic resilience, makes a heady cocktail in Bengal politics. Certainly, the best and only card the Modi-Shah duo can and should play in Bengal right now is to let things cool down and let the chief minister get on with her job in such difficult times. That would be strategically an ideal and wise choice. Or else, undoubtedly, she will yet again inherit the legacy of Jyoti Basu, and this time it will be many times potentially more powerful and popular than what it was in the distant past.

Surely, in contemporary Bengal, Mamata Banerjee knows her mind: “We will fight the battle. Ours is a pro-people government, they cannot stop us from working for the people… They have no idea about us: we were born and raised in struggle, forged in mass movements…”

(Concluded)

Related:

Bengal Redux: BJP’s Revenge Card Boomerangs
Battleground Bengal: It’s Indian democracy at stake!
Battleground Bengal: Is BJP’s Poriborton Yatra failing to take off?

The post Bengal Redux: ‘They have no idea about us: we were born and raised in struggle, forged in mass movements…’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

More that 594 doctors across India have died in the line of duty after being infected by Covid-19 during the second wave, these are official figures released by the IMA. The highest number of fatalities were reported from the national capital Delhi at 107, followed by 96 deaths in Bihar and 67 deaths in Uttar Pradesh. These are numbers that are unfortunately on the rise, as there may be more cases which have gone unreported from remote corners, and even more of those doctors in private practise or those working as volunteers.

On the IMA’s website, around 864 modern medicine doctors sacrificed their lives as healthcare workers dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic last year. Then there are attacks on doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers which are on the rise, the IMA has written to Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, seeking a law ‘against healthcare violence’. On top of all that, there is targeting of doctors and associations who speak up against misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. The IMA has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urgently intervene. 

SabrangIndia: Why have so many doctors succumbed to Covid-19? What measures is the IMA demanding?

Dr JA Jayalal: The reason for so many doctors’ deaths is, first the time duration which they have to work is more, demands are high, there is great mental and physical stress. They are exposed to various densities of viral load exposure. Manpower augmentation is the first thing that has to be done. Second, an assurance has to be given that when a doctor is having even a mild symptom they will be tested and comprehensive treatment will be provided at any cost at the nearby government or corporate hospital. Comprehensive healthcare should be given, and doctors, healthcare workers who have died, the government should recognise them as Covid martyrs. Now, the increasing incidents of violence against doctors is making them more tense, that is the situation where the viral infection is more  active in their lives. 

Many announcements have been made for such schemes, what has been done so far?

Nothing has been done, it is only on paper. Through insurance sectors some schemes are there, but with many bottlenecks. Out of the doctors who died last year only 163 families could even apply for that to get approved. So much of red tapism is horrible for people to deal with. Yesterday I met a family in Tamil Nadu where both the husband and wife died on duty, their child is a second medical student who is handicapped, has no support and has a handicapped sibling also. We can’t ask that family to go apply for insurance etc, it is our responsibility to provide support to them. An ex gratia payment from the government must be given. Many states are doing that, Delhi CM has announced, Tamil Nadu CM has announced, but it should be done at a national level by the central government, it is not uniform now. The health ministry has a wing called the central bureau of health intelligence, it will not take them long to identify the people and give aid quickly.

The IMA is keeping records of medics lost to Covid, has the government sought the data?

They are not asking for it, but we are sending them the data, yet they are not responding to it. In the second wave there has been no response. I don’t want to cast aspersions on why they are not doing that, but at least some acknowledgement will help boost the morale of doctors. The IMA does not want to make it political or sensationalise the deaths. It is a responsibility that the government should realise and understand. Everyone’s life is precious, and these are the people in the ward who are dying, frontline soldiers who are taking care of patients. 

What is the reason behind IMA being trolled and targeted by the right wing?

This is to divert attention from the main issue. The IMA has a 93-year-old legacy. It was set up in the period of the Independence struggle by Indian doctors, the first people to break away from British association and start one for Indian doctors. We do not need any certificates from them [right wing trolls]. We are an association, we have not endorsed any products, we have a scientific committee, a constitution, a legal department, we are registered under the societies act, our funds are audited. Whenever an advocacy role is there, we speak up. Now so much assault is happening [on doctors/nurses], we are also prioritising our work. Assault has become a big issue in the last few days, this is happening throughout the country. For example: Delhi, Karnataka and Bihar. 

Has communal targeting against health workers, including you, been seen before?

It has never happened before, and it shall never happen again. The country is going through [a lot]. When your conscience is clear, I don’t think it is worth thinking about it [the targeting]. 

Are you not planning legal action?

We are not planning anything, but they have filed some cases. I have no intention to talk on this petty issue, we have more important issues, people are dying, post Covid complication is going to be another big challenge. People are coming with a lot of respiratory problems, cardiac problems, fungal infections. India cannot be comfortable and say that the number of Covid-19 cases are coming down. There are big challenges ahead to focus on.

What is the status of the Ramdev case? Is IMA against ayurveda or homeopathy?

That is a legal battle. The case is there in the court, we are not against any system of medicine that is good for the country. Every comfort cannot be given by modern medicine, something may be better in the ayurveda system. We are opposing mixology, we will oppose it tooth and nail. The Ramdev case is a police complaint so far, I am not sure the government will be able to convert it to an FIR. We will study the situation and move the court if needed. We have written to the Prime Minister twice as his policies are being questioned. Vaccination is his policy, protocols are central government policy. if someone is objecting it is the government’s responsibility to clarify that we are going ahead with our recommendations. We will write again to the prime minister to intervene and stop this misinformation campaign. Vaccination is the only option in front of us. If someone is spreading misinformation on vaccination that is not good for the country, neither will it help anyone. 

Related:

594 doctors died during second wave of Covid-19: IMA
Indian Medical Association seeks FIR against Ramdev
Centre’s paid vaccination policy for 18 to 44 years, prima facie arbitrary and irrational: SC
Deaths certificates should clearly state Covid-19 as the cause: SC
Covid-19: Which Indian states failed miserably in tackling the pandemic?

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Some of India’s most respected scientists have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for access to granular data collected by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) over the past year as this can not only help them study the disease and better understand the highly virulent new Indian variant of the Coronavirus.

The News Minute reports signatories to the letter include Prof LS Shashidhara (Professor of Biology, IISER Pune and Ashoka University) and Prof Partha Majumder (National Science Chair, Government of India). The scientists say that this granular data will help them understand the geographical variations in the pattern of the infection spread. They also requested to be granted access to clinical data, with appropriate safeguards to the patients’ privacy, as this could help them in analysis and forecast and to estimate the need for essentials like oxygen, ventilators, ICU beds etc.

Meanwhile, scientists also raised concerns about the genome study. The suggested rate of data collection for the study that is seen as playing a key role in understanding and eventually finding a cure for the disease was 5 percent of all infected patients. However, at present the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) is only able to sequence the virus from 1 percent of the infected population. INSACOG was set up in January this year.

In their letter, the scientists also requested the government to increase the amount of genomic sequencing. According to The Telegraph, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked each state to send 150 Covid positive samples for genome sequencing each week. The health ministry guidelines say 15 samples each should be sent by five labs and five hospitals in each state every two weeks. This works out to just 150 samples every two weeks, whereas a need for 5 percent sequencing would translate into studying thousands of sequences from Maharashtra alone.

Not only is the sample size inadequate, it is also proving to be a hindrance in understanding the spread of different variants. Though some information has been gleaned even from this limited pool of data. According to The Telegraph, B.1.117 which is a fast-spreading UK variant, appears to be dominating samples sequenced from Punjab, Delhi and Haryana. Meanwhile, B.1.617 accounts for 35 to 40 percent of the samples from Maharashtra, and B.1.618 makes up roughly 20 percent of the samples in Bengal.

They also complained about the bureaucratic hurdles in scientific studies brought about by the PM’s pet project of Atmanirbhar Bharat. TNM quotes an excerpt from their letter as saying, “The “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” policy has made importing of scientific equipment and reagents an extremely tedious and time-consuming process, requiring approval at the level of the Secretaries of Ministries or Departments. This has reduced our ability to scale up testing by developing new testing platforms and has impaired our ability to sequence viral genomes for surveillance rapidly and accurately. Adequate encouragement and support by the Government are required for our country to become Aatmanirbhar in the future. Such restrictions, at this time, only serve to impede our ability to deal with Covid-19. We request the withdrawal of these restrictions.”

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Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University students on February 11, 2021 unequivocally rejected the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Chief Guest of the Centenary Convocation stating that “his ideas cross the line into hate speech and communalism.” Students demanded that the university administration uninvite the Prime Minister and stand with the arrested Jamia students.

“We demand Jamia administration to uninvite Prime Minister Modi and the Modi-regime unconditionally release arrested Jamia students along with all political prisoners,” said All India Students’ Association (AISA) members in a press release.

Students said that the Jamia administration has shown its “authoritarian and anti-student tendencies” by inviting Modi instead of standing with the arrested Jamia students in this moment of crisis and demanding an intervention for the same.

In response to students’ anger, restlessness and unhappiness with the workings of the Modi-regime, the AISA appealed to the Jamia community to reject the Modi government’s design of communalism, curbing dissent. It appealed to students to uphold the constitutional principles of secularism and justice.

AISA members said that the university has come under attack from the central government for many years. By arbitrarily inviting as the Chief Guest, they alleged, the university administration negated the history of the institution. Moreover, they warned that a failure to comply with the above-mentioned demands will force the organisation to boycott centenary convocation.

“We are witnessing an organised and calculated attack on the idea of JMI by the fascist state and politically inclined administration. Students have unequivocally rejected the invitation. Its acceptance would be a gross disregard of the legacy of our founding fathers, a brazen subversion of the nationalist spirit of Jamia Millia Islamia and the courage of our comrades who have been languishing in jail under UAPA for raising their voice against injustice,” said the AISA.

Earlier, the Delhi Police booked student activists Meeran Haider, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha and AAJMI President Shifa Ur Rehman under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for dissenting against anti-student and Islamophobic state policies. The Jamia administration has remained silent on the incident.

The union went on to list further acts of violence against students such as Modi’s speech in February 2020, wherein he launched a scathing attack by saying, “Protests in Seelampur, Shaheen Bagh and Jamia over CAA are no coincidence but an experiment.” On January 30, 2020 a Godse Bhakt shot at JMI students marching towards Rajghat, injuring one student of the varsity. The firing came days after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anurag Thakur gave inciting speeches, encouraging the crowd to shoot protestors. On December 15, 2019 – during anti-CAA protests – students were brutally lathicharged, tear gassed and library and reading rooms were vandalised.

Significantly AISA pointed out that Modi has still not apologised for his speech in 2008 after the fake Batla House encounter where he claimed the university “publicly announced that it will foot the legal fee of terrorists involved in the act. Go drown yourself. This Jamia Millia is being run on government money and it is daring to spend money on lawyers to get terrorists out of jail. When will this vote bank politics end?”

Students said Modi must apologise for this statement about the university.

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Macabre Reality! Delhi police says it assaulted students to safeguard them

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Former Chief of the Naval Staff L. Ramdas penned an open letter to President Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 29, 2021 his deep concern and anguish regarding the turn of events on Republic Day.

Among a slew of grievances, the distinguished retired Admiral lamented the manner in which the peaceful and orderly farmers procession, comprising 90 percent of the protestors, was almost totally unreported in mainstream media on January 26 and January 27.

“What was reported and repeatedly shown on channels and in the print media too, was the incident of a flag being hoisted after the ‘occupation’ of the Lal Qila, by a small group of young men apparently led by one Deep Singh Sidhu. There were also false reports about the tricolour being brought down and displaced by a ‘religious’ flag,” said Ramdas in the letter.

As a service officer, Ramdas said he is aware of the adequate security arrangements at the Red Fort especially on days like August 15 and January 26. He argued that it is by no means easy or possible for any unauthorized person or group to climb right up to the space just below the ramparts. There are many barriers and gates to be negotiated on the way in which are kept locked.

“The Army battalion which is normally housed inside the Fort appeared to be missing ? Clearly this was a major security lapse and this needs an immediate and thorough inquiry to establish reasons for this serious breach of security,” he said.

He also blamed the media and certain government sources and political leaders for the one-sided narrative that resulted in open accusations of protestors insulting the Nation and the National Flag, inciting and indulging in violence, being anti-national and anti the Republic.

Ramdas expressed distress at the fact that a large number of FIRs were registered by the Delhi police against farmers, farmer leaders, well-known journalists and others on serious charges such as sedition.

The letter also acknowledged reports of apparent collusion by security forces, a small rebel farmer group and some individuals with high-level political connections to disrupt the farmers parade are serious security lapses. However, rather than blaming the farmers, Ramdas defended them.

“In an earlier message, I have also pointed out that in almost every Kisan home there is a Jawan, who guards the frontiers and returns to the land after his tour of duty. This relationship should never be forgotten. Antagonizing kisans and therefore jawans, can have serious fall outs and the implications on national security cannot be overlooked,” said Ramdas.

He stated that farmers are only requesting due consultations in matters concerning their livelihood; a consultation that was not done while making the three new farm laws. Moreover, he pointed out that farmers and agricultural experts alike, fear that the laws in their current form will favour corporate interests and go against the interests of the farmers.

As such he argued that the situation called for utmost sensitivity while listening to farmers demands regarding Minimum Support Price (MSP,) Mandi system and unfair pressure from very large private interests.

“Mr. President, as my Supreme Commander, I urge you again to kindly take note of the issues raised in this letter and to take action urgently on a matter which deserves utmost priority. Already over 170 farmers have laid down their lives for this cause over the last two months. “They have truly awakened the entire Nation,” he said.

Ramdas said that the official’s unique position allows him “to stem the tide of this terrible divide between kisans, jawans and our people” and so he should use his title to bring back justice and peace as a “great service to the people of this land and beyond.”

The complete letter may be viewed below:

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment of Kerala agriculture exposes his ignorance and attempt to mislead people, said the All India Kisan Sabha on December 26, 2020.

Responding to Modi’s question as to why there are no APMCs and mandis in Kerala, the AIKS explained that the state never passed an APMC Act in its Assembly (like Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur) due to the predominance of spices and plantation crops in the cropping pattern.

“Kerala agriculture primarily revolves around commercial crops which occupy about 82 percent of the cultivated area. Crops like coconut, cashew, rubber, tea, coffee, different spices like pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon etc are grown by farmers,” said AIKS President Ashok Dhawale in a press release.

Further, he said these crops have had their own specialized marketing channels sponsored by the concerned commodity boards under the Union Ministry of Commerce. Different Commodity Boards like Rubber Board, Spices Board, Coffee Board, Tea Board, and Coconut Development Board and a system of auctions are in place in Kerala.

Prices of these crops depend on the world market prices. Moreover, barring copra (Dry Coconut,) the central government does not even announce their Minimum Support Price (MSP.)

AIKS General Secretary Hannan Mollah said that despite auctions and a marketing system, different central governments over the last three decades have been diluting and systematically dismantling Commodity Boards though these crops earn huge foreign exchange.

“Proper funds are not allocated, appointments are not made and there have been instances of even Directors not being appointed for a long time. Defunding these Commodity Boards by different central governments has led to a situation where they are rendered ineffective,” he said.

The organisation thus argues that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (Congress) governments have entered into unequal Free Trade Agreements like the India-ASEAN FTA putting farmers lives in danger by allowing dumping of cheap produce leading to price crash. Moreover, the implementation of neoliberal policies has accentuated the crisis leading to many farmers committing suicide in Kerala earlier. AIKS said that such deaths stopped only after the Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power in 2006 and set up the Debt Relief Commission, waiving loans of distressed farmers.

The extent of marketed surplus of other crops like paddy or fruits or vegetables was never significant enough to require large and regulated wholesale markets like the mandis under the APMC Acts. Yet, there are also a large number of such markets, wholesale and retail governed by market rules notified by the state government.

“Kerala procures paddy at Rs. 2,748 per quintal that is Rs. 900 per quintal more than the central MSP of Rs. 1,848 per quintal. A royalty of Rs. 2,000 per hectare was also announced for rice cultivators spread across 2.05 lakh hectares. The state government announced base prices of 16 vegetables including tubers and is the only State to have done so,” they said.

Addressing Modi, the AIKS statement said that “rather than indulging in lies and deceit [you] should first try to match these steps and answer why the Commodity Boards are being rendered ineffective and why the Centre without consulting state governments is entering into unequal Free Trade Agreements.”

They also questioned why rice cultivators in BJP-ruled Bihar – that did away with APMCs in 2006 – are forced to make distress sales at Rs. 1000-1200 per quintal.

“Lies and deceit cannot mislead farmers any longer. Kerala farmers are also on struggle against the anti-farmer Acts with indefinite dharnas at state and district levels. Struggles will intensify if these Acts are not withdrawn,” said the AIKS.

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Are the new farm laws constitutional?

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