On May 12, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) permitted Bharat Biotech to run phase 2 and phase human clinical trials on 2 to 18-year-olds, reported news agency ANI citing sources.
Subject Expert Committee (SEC) gives nod to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials on 2 to 18-year-olds: Sources#COVID19pic.twitter.com/0FD1y3IGYh
If the trials of Covaxin proves the efficacy of the vaccine in children, it will boost India’s vaccination drive to eliminate the Covid-19 pandemic from the country. As of now, the vaccine is only permitted for the age groups above 18 years of age.
Presently, there is no vaccine available for Children anywhere in the world. Just a day ago, FDA had approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine to be administered to children between the age of 12 years and 15 years. The permission came after the announcement made by the companies in late March that the two-dose vaccine was found to be 100% effective in a clinical trial of more than 2,000 children.
Covid-19 third wave expected to be dangerous for children claim experts
Experts believe that the third wave will soon hit India. During the third wave, only children under the age of 18 would not have been vaccinated, they may become an easy target for the virus, and the age group under 18 might be most affected during the possible third wave. Cardiologist Dr Raghavendra Parashar, Senior Consultant, Jaipur Golden Hospital, while talking to India Today, said that the behaviour of the virus must be studied, especially in children, to avoid the spread of the infection.
Rumours of Covaxin approval for children 12 and above
A few days back, there were some rumours floating around on social media platforms that PM Modi has approved Covaxin for children above 12 years of age. However, it turned out to be a fake forwarded message. The trials have not been conducted for the vaccine on children; thus, the possibility of such approval was ruled out. Once the trials are done, only then the expert panel of the Government of India would give permission to vaccinate children under 18 years.
Covid-19 in India
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India reported 3,48,389 new cases on May 11, slightly more than the previous day. There are 36,99,661 active cases in the country. 4,198 people have lost their lives due to Covid on Tuesday. 3,55,389 people recovered on May 11, making it the second day in a row with more recoveries than new cases.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called up other Muslim leaders to discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict and urged them to take a stand against Israel. As per reports, he spoke to with the rulers of Qatar and Malaysia and also vowed to take a concrete action against Israel. He spoke to the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Malaysian King Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
On Monday, he also spoke to leaders in Jordan and Kuwait.
Earlier, Erdogan had reportedly sought to intensify the conflict as he promised Palestinian authority as well as Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas that Turkey will put its weight behind the Muslim world to ‘stop Israel’s terrorism and occupation’.
Speaking to Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, he condemned the attacks and said he would always be a supporter of Palestine and stand with them. Many Palestinians also believe that Erdogan is their only ‘saviour’.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed their Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to speak to his counterparts in Turkey and Saudi Arabia to discuss on how to ‘collectively respond’ to Israel. Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas has unleashed massive terror strikes against Israel on Tuesday evening, firing hundreds of rockets inside the country.
On Wednesday, Israel stepped up its attacks on the Palestinian terror group Hamas inside Gaza Strip. The Israel Defence Forces carried out airstrikes on targets in Gaza in response to continued attacks by Hamas against Israel. During the retaliatory strikes on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike struck a high-rise office and residential building controlled by Hamas.
Earlier on Tuesday, at least five Israelis were killed after Hamas launched hundreds of rockets from the Gaza Strip. In response to the rocket attacks, the Israeli army has struck some 140 targets in the coastal enclave after Hamas openly joined Palestinian terrorists to intensify the clashes between the two sides.
In a statement, Hamas had said that it was “in the process of firing 110 rockets towards the city of Tel Aviv” and 100 rockets towards the southern town of Beersheva, “as reprisal for the restarting of strikes against civilian homes”.
Israel’s Iron Dome defends the country against Hamas rockets
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has also released a video of deploying its Iron Dome air defence system to intercept the continuous barrage of rockets targetting Tel Aviv and central Israel Tuesday evening.
The IDF has posted a series of video of its defence of its country. The IDF posted videos of Iron Dome intercepting a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas.
RAW FOOTAGE: This is the moment the Iron Dome intercepted a barrage of rockets over Tel Aviv and central Israel. pic.twitter.com/8jl8OTgWCl
Here is another video of IDF launching defensive operations against continued attacks by Hamas against Israel.
VIDEO: Dozens of rockets fired from Gaza are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. pic.twitter.com/DbKUkpCp6u
The high-tech ‘Iron Dome’ is a short-range air-defence system designed to intercept rockets, artillery, and mortars. The surface-to-air missile system has been deployed by Israel Defence Forces since 2011 and has helped reduce casualties from rocket attacks against Israeli cities. The air-defense system was developed by the Israeli defence firms Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries with support from the US.
The Iron Dome air defence system is considered one of the world’s most advanced, with a reported success rate of more than 90%. However, some rockets have made it through and resulted in deaths in Israel due to the sustained rocket launches by Hamas.
The long-standing territorial-control issues between Israel and the pro-Palestinian forces have once again escalated, resulting in large scale violence and attacks. The eviction of illegal Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in east Jerusalem has now stoked tensions and sparked fresh violence in the region.
Prior to the latest exchange of fire, Israeli police were attacked by Palestinians inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. The Israel police had come under severe attack by Palestinians, who pelted stones and unleashed heavy attacks on them inside the Al-Aqsa compound. More than 21 officers were wounded after attacks by Palestinians during the attacks on Monday.
Pakistani actress Veena Malik on Tuesday misattributed a quote to German dictator Adolf Hitler glorifying genocide of Jews as the Israel-Palestine conflict broke out on Friday.
Veena Malik’s tweet (image courtesy @mrandyngo on Twitter)
In a tweet, the reality show turned Twitter troll attributed a quote to Adolf Hitler and quoted ‘I would have killed all the Jews of the world… but I kept some to show the world why I killed them.”
While there is no authenticity whether Hitler said those words, some or the variation of the quote is often used to endorse the Holocaust and/or hatred towards Jews and Israel.
Malik has since been glorifying the attack on Israelis and cheering the death and destruction.
In her subsequent tweets in Urdu, she urged Muslims to not be disheartened and said that if they are truly ‘believers’, then they would be proud.
Veena Malik’s tweets
She further added that those who are fighting have the permission to do so because it is ‘self defence’ and Allah is with them.
The Pakistani actress has time and again cheered, endorsed and hailed violence. She had sort of lost her mind even during the Balakot Air Strike the Indian Air Force carried out against the terror camps in Pakistan.
Veena’s tweet endorsing genocide of the Jews got a lot of criticism, after which she seems to have deleted the tweet. However, she has not yet apologised for the same.
Veena Malik’s Twitter account has been withheld in India owing to a legal demand.
Israel-Palestine conflict
Tensions escalated between Israel and Palestine with both sides ramping up their attacks with rockets and airstrikes. On Tuesday, Hamas fired 137 rockets in just 5 minutes to overwhelm the Iron Dome missile defence system in Israel. From Monday through Tuesday, 630 rockets were fired at Israel of which 200 were intercepted by the Iron Dome. In retaliation, Israel too bombed across Gaza killing 28 and injuring 152 more. The conflict has escalated owing to impending eviction of dozens of Palestinians from East Jerusalem neighbourhood who are set to be evicted from Sheikh Jarrah to be replaced by Jewish Israelis.
The Federal Government had arrested a 38-year-old man in Southern California named Mustafa Qadiri for misusing $5 million of the federal Covid-19 relief funds. Qadri was arrested last week for scheming to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program of the US government. He was slapped with numerous charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
Mustafa Qadiri was later released on a $100,000 bond. His trial is scheduled for June 29. He and his lawyer were reportedly unavailable for comment.
According to reports, the accused had fraudulently obtained millions of dollars as a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program of the US government, which the government launched to help small businesses tide over the economic losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
After getting the loan amount, Qadiri used it to buy himself luxury cars like a Ferrari, Bentley and a Lamborghini. Besides, he also used a part of the PPP loan on lavish vacations and other personal expenses.
The prosecutors in the court contended that Qadiri submitted fraudulent loan applications to three banks based on companies that were found to be non-existent. Moreover, the papers he submitted included forged bank records, fake tax returns etc.
According to media reports, Qadiri also used someone else’s name, social security number and signature to apply for one of the loans. Following his arrest, authorities had seized the Ferrari, Bentley and Lamborghini cars along with the remaining $2 million from his bank accounts.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has lauded Uttar Pradesh model of door-to-door Covid surveillance on its website and social media pages saying that “Uttar Pradesh going the last mile to stop COVID”. In an article posted on May 7 on its website, the global health body wrote how Yogi Govt has taken proactive steps and complimented them for the same.
WHO quotes UP model of door-to-door Covid surveillance on its website
It praised the Yogi Government’s initiative of house-to-house active case finding of Covid-19 in rural areas to contain Covid-19 by testing people with symptoms, disease management and contact tracing.
In #India‘s ?? most populous state Uttar Pradesh, the state gov. has initiated house-to-house active case finding of #COVID19 in rural areas to contain transmission by testing people with symptoms for rapid isolation, disease management & contact tracing ?https://t.co/pbDi98UByQpic.twitter.com/7H2yXcU0if
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 10, 2021
WHO said on Twitter that “the Uttar Pradesh government has deployed 1,41,610 teams and 21,242 supervisors from the state health department to ensure all rural areas are covered with this Covid-19 case finding activity”.
In a drive that kick started on May 5, teams formed by the Yogi Adityanath government are going door to door in rural areas to contain the transmission. “Those who tested positive are isolated and given a medicine kit with advice on disease management. All contacts of those who tested positive are quarantined and tested,” wrote WHO, adding that it is supporting Uttar Pradesh government in training and micro planning.
The global health body said that its field officers are on the ground to monitor and share real-time feedback with the government for immediate corrective action to ensure quality.
“On the inaugural day, the field officers monitored over 2,000 government teams and visited at least 10,000 households. It is also supporting the UP government on the compilation of the final reports”, wrote WHO in its Tweet.
Yogi Govt takes proactive steps to contain Covid in remote hamlets of Uttar Pradesh
The Yogi government, which has taken proactive steps to contain the spread of the deadly pathogen in the state of Uttar Pradesh, started the campaign on May 5 with teams moving across 97,941 villages in 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh. Each monitoring team has been assigned two members who visit homes in these remote villages to test everyone with symptoms of COVID-19 using Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) kits. Those who test positive are being quickly isolated and given a medicine kit with advice on the disease.
The contacts of those who test positive are being quarantined and tested using an RT-PCR at home by a rapid response team.
The Yogi Government has advised the monitoring teams to constantly monitor the system of medical kit distribution and also asked them to provide the name and contact numbers to those receiving the medical kit to ICCC which in turn would revise the list.
The Govt has also asked the teams to make a copy of these names available to the local public representatives through the District Magistrate so that MPs/MLAs can get medical kits and communicate with the people. By doing this, the govt would also be able to cross verify the system. Every person with suspected symptoms must have an antigen test, clarified the state government.
Further, the government in the state has said to have allocated two vans to each block within a district in the state to test people with symptoms. This is being conducted along with routine sample collection and testing in community health centres.
Special arrangements for the health protection of children
The Yogi Government is further ensuring that special arrangements for the health protection of children are made in all districts. For this purpose, the Yogi Govt has instructed his specially formed Team-09, set up to manage Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, to prepare pediatric ICUs with a capacity of a minimum of 10-15 beds in all district hospitals and 25-30 beds in medical colleges. The govt instructed that there should be a minimum 100-bed pediatric ICU at Divisional Headquarters and all necessary medical equipment, medicine, etc. should be made available on an urgent basis. Moreover, physicians and other staff should be trained immediately in this regard.
Ventilators and oxygen concentrators should be operational in all districts
The State Government has made all necessary arrangements to ensure that ventilators and oxygen concentrators are provided in all districts. Yogi Adityanath, instructed that ACS Health and the Principal Secretary of Medical Education should ensure that these devices are operational in each case. He asked the authorities to contact the concerned districts and get their problems resolved in this regard.
The CM added that if the ventilators or the oxygen concentrator in any district is not reported to be functional, then the onus of the same would lie on the concerned DM/CMO.
Arrangement of life-saving drugs like Remdesivir
The State Government also instructed that all arrangements should be made to ensure that there is enough supply of life-saving drugs like Remdesivir in the state at all times. He confirmed that in the State Government COVID facilities drugs like Remdesivir was being provided absolutely free. While it is being made available to private hospitals by the DM/CMO as per requirement.
UP Administration has been instructed to ensure that whenever a patient being administered this injection, a doctor should be present there along with the nursing staff.
The govt asked authorities to maintain a detailed record of the demand, supply, and consumption of this life-saving medicine.
State providing vaccine safety cover to all citizens
The Yogi Government informed that to protect the citizens against the Coronavirus, the state government is providing vaccine safety cover to all citizens. It informed that Uttar Pradesh is by far the most vaccinated state in the country with so far 1,39,08,152 doses already administered.
Vaccination of the 18-44 age group is now being conducted in 18 districts. On May 10,50,157 people in this age group were inoculated. Thus, more than 1.66 lakh people aged 18 to 44 have been vaccinated in the state. Vaccine waste is also declining in this age group, currently, it is 0.6 per cent, informed the state administration.
The UP govt further ordered the state administration to speed up the process of selection and appointment of medical/paramedical final year, interns, youth who have completed training, retired experienced people to increase the medical human resources, which the govt believes is paramount to tackle the future challenges. It asked the Minister of Medical Education to undertake a detailed review of this recruitment process.
‘Trace, test, and treat’ mantra yielding positive results
State administration has informed that Covid sample testing work has been going on uninterrupted in the state. In the last 24 hours, 2,33,705 sample tests were conducted, of which 1,10,000 tests were conducted only through RTPCR. So far, 4,34,04,184 crore tests have been conducted in the state. It said that the state is taking action expeditiously as per the mantra of ‘Test, track and treat’.
In the last 24 hours, 20,463 new Covid cases have been confirmed in the state, while 29,358 people have recovered and have been discharged during the same period. The govt said that the COVID situation in the state is satisfactory as new Covid cases are decreasing, while the recovery rate is getting better.
The Administration confirmed that its policy of trace, test, and treat are yielding good result. It said that the active Covid cases which stood at 3,10,783 on April 30, reduced by more than 95,000 as of today due to continuous efforts.
“At present, there are 2,16,057 active Covid cases in the state. The state’s recovery rate is continuously getting better. So far, over 13.13 lakh people have successfully won the battle with Corona”, the Govt informed.
Global tenders issued for the availability of cryogenic tankers
Providing information on how the state government has been battling oxygen crisis in the state, the govt said that global tenders have been issued for the availability of cryogenic tankers. Moreover, with the help of the central government and Reliance Industries, the number of tankers have rapidly increased in the state, which has helped the state to further improve its oxygen supply.
Giving information on how medical oxygen is being efficiently made available to all districts in the state, the Govt informed that in the last 24 hours, 1,011 metric tonnes of oxygen has been distributed in the state. Of this, 632 metric tonnes have been supplied to refillers and 301 metric tonnes to medical colleges.
“Oxygen availability is getting better in larger and higher transition rates districts like Varanasi, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur. Today a new train of 08 tankers is coming, while Jeevanakshak Express with 10 tankers is parked in Lucknow”, said the state govt asking authorities to properly distribute the procured stock within the district so that none of the areas in the state remains uncovered.
The Govt said that special attention needs to be given to the districts with low infection rates. It asked authorities to make a separate action plan pertaining to the distribution of oxygen supply to all the districts.
Well-being of daily wagers in these testing times paramount
The state asked administration to keep the well-being of street hawkers, vendors, construction workers and labourers are their top priority. It said that since a partial lockdown has been implemented in the state to beat the surge, proper arrangements should be made to take care of these daily wagers.
The state has started more than 350 community eateries in the state and efforts should be made to further increase this number. The state govt has asked the administration to make sure that such community kitchens are operational in every district of the state and to ensure this materialises the Govt suggested that cooperation from private voluntary organizations could be sought.
Cleanliness, medicine, hardness
Following the mantra of ‘cleanliness, medicine, hardness’, a campaign of state-wide sanitation, sanitization is being carried out in the state. The state govt informed that as a part of this initiative sanitation, sanitization, fogging was done in 63080 villages yesterday. It asked authorities to spread awareness and the need for cleanliness and hygiene amongst the citizens and continue to implement the Corona curfew effectively to curtail the spread of the virus.
Other measures
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had previously directed the COVID management team to ensure that the oxygen generated by the sugar mills is supplied to the nearest CHC (Community Health Centre).
All necessary efforts are being made to increase the availability of oxygen. In view of future needs, oxygen plants are being set up in all districts of the state by the central government, state government as well as private sector for the availability of oxygen. Various PSUs are also setting up plants at their level.
Uttar Pradesh CM gets on the ground to boost people’s confidence
Along with various measures, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is making sure to be personally available for his citizens to boost their morale in these testing times. According to reports, Yogi Adityanath himself visited homes of people in Muradabad on May 8 (Saturday) and inquired about their health amid the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
He also visited Bareilly where he instructed the administration to be prepared for a third wave of the pandemic. He instructed the officers to ensure that the beds and oxygen supply is increased. He said that the third wave of the pandemic could be a reality and hence they should not let their guards down. The UP CM also added that the state government and the central government are working together to deal with the second wave of coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to the media, Yogi Adityanath informed that in past eight days, over 65,000 active coronavirus cases have been reduced in the state.
The charity commissioner in Ahmedabad, Gujarat has ordered the freezing of the back account of NGO ‘We The People Charitable Trust’, Times of India has reported. The order comes after MLA Jignesh Mevani was collecting funds in its name. A show cause notice has also been issued to the NGO.
The charity commissioner has pointed out that an NGO already existed under the name ‘We The People Charitable Society’ and demanded to know why action should not be taken against the Trust for registering itself under a name very similar to the one that already existed.
The authority said that similar names lead to confusion and the matter has been with in the Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. Jignesh Mevani had sought funds in the name of the Trust for an oxygen pant and oxygen concentrators.
An enquiry revealed the Mevani is not a trustee of the organisation. A reply has been sought from the Trust on whether Mevani was authorised to make such an appeal but a response has not yet been received, as per the report.
Highlighting the fact that many illegalities have been committed in connection with Remdesivir injections and oxygen cylinders, an inspector has been ordered to investigate the documents, reports and resolutions passed by the Trust.
Jignesh Mevani, meanwhile, has alleged political persecution. “The trustees have not yet received any notice and without granting an opportunity of hearing, the bank account was sought to be frozen,” he was quoted in the report as saying. He added, “There is something fundamentally wrong with the intentions of the authority. The trustees are being targeted because they are helping me.”
Earlier, we had reported how fundraisers by the Hemkunt Foundation, Rana Ayyub and Jignesh Mevani were possibly violating FCRA laws in the country.
After playing petty politics over the oxygen crisis in the national capital, the AAP government has begun diverting attention from its poor vaccination efforts by shifting goalposts. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday slammed the central government for not providing them with the number of ‘ordered’ jabs making it difficult for them to carry out the inoculation process smoothly.
Sisodia claimed that the Delhi government ordered for 1.34 crore doses of vaccine from the manufactures for people in the 18-44 age group but the Centre allotted only 3.5 lakh doses to them for the month of May.
Sisodia parroted the claims made by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal that when the central government decided in April that states can directly place orders with vaccine manufacturers, the Arvind Kejriwal government ordered 1.34 crore doses for the people in the 18-44 age group.
कभी चुनाव, कभी कुम्भ और कभी विदेशों में वैक्सीन बेचने के चक्कर में देश का बेड़ा गरक करने वाली भाजपा के झूठे प्रोपगंडा का जवाब- ⁃दिल्ली सरकार ने अप्रैल में ही कंपनियों को 1.34 करोड़ वैक्सीन का आर्डर दिया था। ⁃जवाब में केंद्र सरकार ने कहा कि दिल्ली को मई में केवल 3.5 लाख वैक्सीन pic.twitter.com/bRHX2qhZeA
Tweeting the copies of the letter, he said the Centre has now told them that Delhi can have only 3.5 lakh doses in May.
In his Tweet, the Deputy CM of Delhi lashed out at the Centre saying that the “BJP is practising politics of lies and falsely accusing the Delhi government of ordering 5.5 lakh vaccine doses only”.
The deputy CM maintained that the central government has refused to provide them with the ‘ordered’ dose of vaccines.
BJP hits back at AAP govt for its petty politics
In response to these allegations, BJP hit back saying that the Delhi government was resorting to blatent lies to wriggle out of the quandary. They accused Kejriwal govt of being responsible for the “unparalleled Covid-19 crisis” in the city. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also shared the copies of the two letters to prove that the claim being made by the Kejriwal government is indeed false and merely an attempt to malign the central government.
He said that in the letter, the Delhi government had in clear words expressed only its intent to procure the vaccines from the two manufacturers.
Patra said that the letter dated April 26 to the Govt of India clearly stated that the Delhi Govt plans to procure 67 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin from Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech respectively. It no where talks about placing the orders for the vaccines, cleared Patra.
“Read both these letters released by AAP Govt, carefully, you would find that these are not ‘letters of placing the ORDER’ of 1.34 crore vaccines as said by CM Kejriwal. At best these letters are “Letters of INTENT” ( …we are planning to procure) Can’t pass these as orders!” said the BJP spokesperson.
A closer look at the letter makes it evident that what Sambit Patra said is indeed correct. The letters mention that the AAP Govt in Delhi is “planning to procure”. No where does it mention that they have placed an order with the manufacturers, as they are now claiming.
Letter written by the Delhi Govt to Bhsrat Biotech on April 26
Letter written by the Delhi Govt to Serum Institute on April 26
Interestingly, when Manish Sisodia shared the above screenshots, he underlined ‘procure 67 (Sixty Seven) lakh doses of Covaxin and Covishield’, but conveniently left out the word ‘planning’, which elucidates that the Delhi govt had not placed an order with the manufacturers of the vaccines but were mulling over it.
“Right after our order, the Centre sent us a letter saying Delhi can get only 3.5 lakh doses in May including 92,840 doses of Covaxin and 2,67,690 doses of Covishield. The vaccine companies had not responded by then. BJP is lying that we ordered only 5.50 lakh doses. We had ordered 1.34 crore doses,” Manish Sisodia claimed, despite the letters written by the Delhi Govt speaking a different story altogether.
Arvind Kejriwal’s shenanigan over medical oxygen
It becomes crucial at this point to recollect, how, Arvind Kejriwal and his party had made a major hue and cry about oxygen supplies in the city, pinning the blame on the centre for the crisis. The matter was taken to such extremes that the Delhi HC and then the Supreme Court had to intervene.
For a good amount of time Kejriwal maintained that Delhi needed a daily supply of at least 976 MT of oxygen to emerge out of the crisis in the national capital. It accused Centre of not providing them with adequate medical oxygen. When central government requested an audit to know the real demand for Oxygen in Delhi, the Kejriwal govt turned down the request.
But after the city-state was supplied with 730 MT of oxygen following court orders, the CM suddenly took a U turn and said that national Capital’s oxygen shortage problem was resolved and that they have enough oxygen to open thousands of new oxygen beds.
Chanchal Chowdhury, a National award-winning actor in Bangladesh, was abused and bullied on social media by Islamists after they learnt that he is a Hindu by faith. He has acted in several films such as ‘Debi’, ‘Aynabaji’, ‘Monpura’, ‘Rupkothar Goplo’ and others.
On Sunday (May 9), the critically acclaimed actor had updated his profile picture on the occasion of International Mother’s Day. He had posted a heartwarming picture with his mother, accompanied by the caption “Maa… (heart symbol)’. Islamists were quick to spot the vermillion mark on his mother’s head, a distinct feature that distinguishes Hindus from Muslims.
It must be mentioned that several Bangladeshi Muslims bear Hindu names. At times, the Hindu names are prefixed with words such as ‘Mohammed’ to signify a Muslim identity. The surname of ‘Chowdhury’ that is suffixed to the actor’s name, for instance, is used by Hindus and Muslims alike. The surname in question was given to the landlords during the British era. As a result, many Muslims believed that Chanchal Chowdhury followed the Islamic faith.
Islamists abuse Hindu actor, ask him to convert to Islam
However, on learning that he is a Hindu, the rabid Islamists did not shy away from spewing vitriol against him. While some Muslims expressed surprise after discovering his religious affiliation, others asked him to convert to Islam. Some Islamists even resorted to the choicest of expletives and attributing vile names to his mother. “If I wouldn’t have seen this picture, then, I would have remained under the impression that you are a Muslim,” wrote one Al-Sady Prial.
Abuses that the actor got
“I won’t give a heed to actors such as you after learning that you are a Hindu. I did not know earlier that you are a Hindu,” wrote another Islamist.
Abuses that the actor got
Another Islamist named Entazul Haque remarked, “Everyone is born Muslim. But, when their forefathers start worshipping idols, they become Hindus. Islam is the only true religion. Everything else is fake. Carrying the burden of such a religion is nothing but foolishness.”
Abuses that the actor got
Chanchal Chowdhury speaks out after being abused for being a Hindu
Following the barrage of hate comments (many of which stand deleted), the Bangladeshi actor pinned his own comment. It read, “Brothers and sisters, what is your loss or gain if I am a Muslim or Hindu? The biggest identity of every individual is that he is a human. Distasteful questions about religion and discussions must be stopped from all quarters. Come, let’s become humans first. “
Screengrab of the pinned comment by Chanchal CHowdhury
On Monday, he took to Facebook yet again to recite a poem titled, ‘Dhormo (religion).’ “Who has given you the right to ‘save’ religion? Why do you commercialise religion? All religions speak of serving humanity. Do you feel superior after commercialising yours?” Chanchal Chowdhury read an excerpt from the poem.
After the controversy came to the public limelight, several netizens in Bangladesh came forward to show solidarity with the Hindu actor. With hashtags such as #stopcyberbullying and #hokprotibad, the progressive minds came together to counter-attack the regular harassment by Islamists on social media. Director Chayanika Chowdhury said, “Chanchal Chowdhury is my brother, our brother. I am seriously having doubts about our conscience as a nation. This is enough.”
Actor Fazlur Rahman pointed out, “Ignorant fanatics always go too far in the name of religion.” Another actor Rawnak Hasan remarked, “I condemn those who make these radical and obscene comments. I demand exemplary punishment of these cybercriminals.” A victim of cyber attacks, Ashna Habib Bhabna lamented, “Our silence has been their strength.”
Rising hatred against Hindus in Bangladesh
During the official 2-day visit on PM Modi to Bangladesh, Islamists attacked Hindu Temples to protest against him. Violent protests have been underway in Bangladesh over the visit by the Indian Prime Minister and some protesters have died during attempts by the police to enforce law and order.
At the same time, three rooms of the 400-year-old Paruarkul Ashtagram Maha crematorium and Radhagobind Ashram were burnt down by unidentified miscreants in Mohammadpur Upazila of Bangladesh’s Magura district. Parts of three houses, chariots and idols were also reduced to ashes in the fire which was later brought under control.
Earlier, it was reported that Facebook services were down in Bangladesh in light of the violent protests. Border Guards have been deployed to enforce law and order on the streets. The Hefazat-e-Islami is a hardline Islamist organisation, whose members have been accused of persecuting Hindus in the past.
World has understood that vaccine is humanity’s only saviour against the deadly Coronavirus along with Covid appropriate behavior. India is among a handful of countries in the world which have developed their own vaccines and running world’s largest vaccination drive. India is the fastest country globally to administer 17 crore vaccines to its citizens.
This number is equivalent to vaccinating half of America’s population and 2.5 times of UK’s population. Uttar Pradesh’ Yogi government has contributed significantly to this number. As of today, Yogi government has administered 1.37 Crore doses, including 13.6 lacs dozes in 18+ category through its 6076 vaccination centers across all the 75 districts.
In the first and second phase of vaccination, hesitancy and doubt created around the vaccine caused wide-spread fear around the Covid vaccination. Akhilesh Yadav, the president of Samajwadi Party, in a press conference sent a very irresponsible and unscientific message to his followers, that this is ‘BJP’s vaccine’ and ‘I will not take this vaccine’.
In the 2017 assembly elections, 3.5 crore voters of Uttar Pradesh voted for the BJP and around 1.8 crore voters voted for Samajwadi Party. By his irresponsible political statement around the Covid vaccine, Akhilesh Yadav has played with the lives of crores of people.
Following the footsteps of his leader, Ashutosh Sinha, an MLC from Samajwadi Party went a step further and said, the vaccine may cause impotency and no worker of Samajwadi party should take this vaccine and no citizen of Uttar Pradesh should take this vaccine.
On one hand Yogi government is making all the possible efforts to vaccinate a sizable population of Uttar Pradesh, which can lead to heard immunity, Akhilesh Yadav and his party are working hard to create doubt and hesitancy around the vaccine. But Citizens of Uttar Pradesh have sniffed the dirty smell of politics in Akhilesh Yadav’s anti-vaccine statements and shown their anger on social media.
Speaking on Covaxin, India’s home-grown Covid-19 vaccine, Dr Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser and America’s top pandemic expert commented that Covaxin can neutralise the B.1.617 variant of the deadly Covid virus. As per Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), only a miniscule 0.02% to 0.04% people got infected after taking first and second dozes of the vaccine respectively.
Doctors have widely commented that, the patient who tested Covid positive, even after the 1st doze of the vaccine, got very mild symptoms in most of the cases, as the vaccine teaches our immune system to make antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. But these scientific facts bear no importance in front of the politics of Samajwadi Party, whose leaders are calling upon citizens of Uttar Pradesh NOT to take the vaccine.
Good news is that even after Akhilesh Yadav’s and other Samajwadi Party leaders’ repeated attempts to create doubt about the indigenous Covid vaccines, youth of Uttar Pradesh are registering on the CoWin app with full enthusiasm since the 18+ category was opened in the third phase of the vaccination drive and vaccination slots are getting booked rapidly. Simultaneously Yogi government is taking all the required steps to make up for this increased demand by floating a global tender for 5 crore vaccines for the state of Uttar Pradesh, over the vaccines being supplied by the central government for the states.
In the past Rahul Gandhi and other Chief Ministers of the Congress ruled states also tried to create doubt about the indigenous vaccines and that has created vaccine hesitancy among people in phase 1 and phase 2 of vaccination, which is proving detrimental in the second wave of Covid now. It’s unfortunate that many politicians see the tragedy as a political opportunity and don’t leave any chance to create confusion, panic and misinformation.
As soon as Yogi Adityanath recovered from Covid-19, he is on the run – personally checking availability of beds, oxygen, medicine supplies in hospitals, visiting the vaccination centers across the state and creating solutions with local, national or international help as needed.
When people of Uttar Pradesh are in trouble, Akhilesh Yadav has locked himself comfortably in his palatial house in Lucknow and just peddled negativity through social media. If you check the Facebook or Twitter wall of Akhilesh Yadav, his every post is cashing on the pain of the Covid patients. After being rejected repeatedly by the people of Uttar Pradesh in the 2017 assembly elections and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Akhilesh is dreaming of a better performance in 2022 state elections, riding on the miseries of the Covid Patients. And that’s why probably he does not want Covid situation to improve in Uttar Pradesh and hence he and Samajwadi Party want to derail the Corona Vaccination drive in Uttar Pradesh.
But people of Uttar Pradesh are wise enough to imagine their miserable condition if a non-serious and un-scientific politician like Akhilesh Yadav would have been heading the state in such times. Mainstream media may never concede but UP’s fightback against Covid has been phenomenal in last very difficult 10 days. Another state in similar situation – Maharashtra was out of control for over a month, when its population is almost half of UP and historically it’s a resourceful state.
