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After their trial by fire, BJP needs to frame the narrative in Bengal without playing into Mamata’s hands

Abhishek Banerjee
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After their trial by fire, BJP needs to frame the narrative in Bengal without playing into Mamata’s hands

To say that the BJP is in a tough spot in Bengal right now would be an understatement. On the one hand, there is large scale violence on BJP workers unleashed by the TMC. Of course, liberal bias in media will ensure that state-sponsored violence in Bengal never gets the kind of saturation coverage reserved for every crime in say BJP ruled Uttar Pradesh. But can the world’s largest party really afford to look like they cannot even protect their own workers? What message does this send to BJP workers and supporters everywhere?

Add to this the fact that much of the public, including large numbers of BJP supporters, are unhappy with the handling of the second wave of Coronavirus. Could it get any worse for the BJP?

Unfortunately, it does. Like any scenario in game theory, the opponent is aware of the BJP’s dilemma and will play their hand accordingly, to take full advantage of it.

Fundamentally, the BJP has two kinds of options. The first kind consists of being proactive. At a most basic level, it could be party leaders speaking out all across the country against atrocities in Bengal. At its most extreme, there are “power moves” such as imposing President’s rule. The second kind are passive options, playing the role of a typical opposition party. In real terms, this means letting grim fate playout for the hapless BJP workers across the state.

But Mamata Banerjee knows what to do should the BJP try to get proactive. She doesn’t really care all that much what the rest of India thinks of her. She just needs to keep Bengalis convinced that there is a conspiracy by “outsiders” to malign the legitimately elected Chief Minister and by extension, the culture of Bengal. After 70 years, Bengal does not have much to show except for obsessive self-admiration. They will guard that fiercely.

Right now, with BJP leaders across India holding dharnas, BJP supporters fuming on social media, it all plays out exactly the way Mamata Banerjee would have wanted. The outsiders are attacking Bengal. See?

I am not saying that the path of outrage is wrong. I am just saying that it will serve no purpose. We have to contend with regional sentiments. We cannot wish them away.

After losing miserably in the 2012 Assembly elections, Congress began a nationwide campaign to shame the Gujarat model. It made the party deeply unpopular in Gujarat. In the next two Lok Sabha elections, all 26 seats in the state went to the BJP. Now, BJP supporters might be enraged by the comparison. But perception is everything. Right and wrong come much later.

If such an approach did not work for Congress, it would work even less for BJP. The Congress has long made peace with its shrinking footprint. Even in the UPA years, it made no serious attempt to expand its presence across India. So Congress strategists in 2012 probably did not even mind the prospects of losing all 26 seats in Gujarat. For the Congress, it is about one family staying in power by cobbling together just over a hundred seats from across the country. In Kerala this time, they did not even try. They handed the state on a platter to the CPIM. But is that how the BJP approaches elections?

Not at all. The BJP has just acquired huge stakes in Bengal. Once the euphoria fades, even the bhadralok will have to contend with a 75 plus contingent of opposition BJP MLAs in Bengal. The BJP leads in North Bengal and controls entire swathes of territory stretching from the border with Jharkhand to deep inside Bengal. The BJP even had a healthy show in Muslim dominated Malda and Murshidabad regions of Central Bengal. The nucleus of the TMC’s win is the Greater Kolkata region, where they won 99 seats to the BJP’s 9. The BJP faces stiff resistance here. But surely they hope to make headway here, not beat a retreat. They could ill afford to ruffle the delicate ego of Bengalis.

Moreover, the BJP has nothing to gain by attacking Mamata Banerjee’s image in the rest of the country. Because her image is terrible anyway. In fact, if Mamata Banerjee wants to lead the opposition as a PM candidate in 2024, it would be a huge positive for PM Modi. It would make Congress jealous of its regional allies and the regional parties jealous of each other.

So all the “proactive” options for BJP seem kind of pointless and self-defeating. But, in a classic game theory style riddle, Mamata Banerjee understands this too. If the BJP stays passive, she can just crank up the violence till the BJP is no longer able to tolerate it. If the BJP still does nothing, she gets to destroy the morale of BJP workers and supporters everywhere. And in Bengal, she can get BJP workers to leave the party in droves if only to save their lives.

In other words, there are a number of ways in which Mamata Banerjee can win. The BJP has very few. This imbalance comes from the fact that success means two different things to the two groups. For the TMC, holding on at the state level, even incurring small, manageable losses, is a victory. Anything beyond that is just gravy. The BJP, on the other hand, needs to expand massively in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Everything else is defeat.

There seems to be just one way for BJP and it isn’t easy. It has to criticize the TMC government aggressively but through Bengali voices and Bengali accents alone. It may feel like the Bengal BJP is not sufficiently powerful yet for the criticism to make an impact. That is exactly what makes it so hard. But it is the only way. In Bengal, the TMC sets the rules. The BJP will have to play by them and defeat the CM in her own den.

Amid all the doom and gloom, you cannot take one thing away from BJP. They have just been through trial by fire. Their leadership, much of it acquired from other parties, is new to the ways of the party. But they can settle down. Already the people of Bengal have left a door open by defeating the sitting CM in Nandigram. This is not something that happens everyday. It is for the BJP to buckle down in Bengal and refuse to give up. That is what Mamata Banerjee did decades ago.

This was the BJP’s first real election in Bengal. The shock and awe tactics did not work. The hard drilling begins now.

Gujarat: Somnath Temple Trust steps in to help ease the oxygen crisis amid coronavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Somnath Temple Trust steps in to help ease the oxygen crisis amid coronavirus pandemic

Shri Somnath Temple Trust will be donating Rs 50 lakh for setting up oxygen plant in Prabhas Patan based community health centre, reports online portal DeshGujarat. The plant will come up in the local state government hospital and be up and running in three weeks’ time. The plant is expected to offer about 51 oxygen cylinders daily.

Shri Somnath Temple Trust has also given up its Lilavati Bhavan to the government to run as COVID care facility. As per the report, the trust is also running a kitchen and tiffin service to help the needy during the pandemic.

Hindu temples rise to the occasion amid the pandemic

Hindu temples across the country have risen to the occasion and helped the needy with food, shelter, COVID facility as well as donation. Swaminarayan temples in Gujarat have converted part of their premises into COVID care facility which also has oxygen and ICU facility. Similarly, Puri’s Shree Jagannath Temple Administration has decided to convert its Nilachal Bhakta Nivas into a Covid-19 Care Centre. Shri Mahavir Temple Trust in Patna is also providing oxygen cylinders free of cost.

Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra’ has also announced the setting up of an oxygen plant at an estimated cost of Rs 55 lakh in view of the Coronavirus crisis.

Gujarat has till now recorded 6,33,427 coronavirus cases of which 1,48,124 are active cases. 7,912 people have lost their battle to COVID.

West Bengal: Mamata govt to use over 2.75 lakh ‘quack’ doctors to fight Covid in rural areas

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Mamata govt to use over 2.75 lakh ‘quack’ doctors to fight Covid in rural areas

The newly elected West Bengal government, under the leadership of third-time Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has decided to use 2,75,000 quack doctors as the first line of defence against the second wave of Covid-19, as per a report in Hindustan Times. As per official stats, the number of cases has risen by 5-8 times in rural regions of Bengal compared to last year’s peak. Reports suggest that the state health department will soon issue a dos and don’ts list for the quacks to handle Covid-19 patients.

Hindustan Times quoted a senior health official of West Bengal, saying, “Even when the state was witnessing the peak of the first wave in October 2020, the cases in rural Bengal were under control. But now, cases have shot up almost 5 – 8 times in the districts with more than 50% rural population.”

During the first surge, West Bengal reported 4,157 cases in a single day on October 22, 2020. During the second wave of Covid-19, the state has already reported over 18,000 cases in a single day. Based on the data of rural districts including Birbhum, Murshidabad, Hooghly and Nadia, the cases on October 22 were 82, 110, 225 and 194, respectively. On the other hand, these regions reported 722, 500, 986 and 869 cases, respectively, noting around 5-8 times more cases.

Quack doctors have ‘helped’ West Bengal during last wave

The official further added that the state had been utilizing ASHA workers to fight against Covid. But now, they are planning to use quack doctors as they are available in almost all villages. “It is a huge workforce which we want to rope in because villagers visit them regularly for treatment. The state health department is coming up with a guideline in the form of dos and don’ts for this purpose,” he added.

If needed, these doctors can be given crash course training by the block and sub-divisional hospitals on handling Covid-19 patients and what steps to take if they come across a critical patient. It has to be noted that this is not the first time West Bengal is using quack doctors to fight Covid-19. During the first wave, the quack doctors reportedly ‘helped’ in keeping the infection at bay.

According to a report published in BBC in July 2020, over 100,000 such doctors helped the West Bengal government control the disease. The report suggested that since 2008, a Kolkata-based organization has been providing training to such ‘doctors’ and now the West Bengal government also provide such training at over 30 centres.

Who are quack doctors?

Often known as informal healthcare providers, quacks are basically those unregistered or unqualified health practitioners who do not have formal training in medicine. While some quacks treat the ailment with the help of home remedies, others use the knowledge they have gained after working with a registered qualified doctor over the years. These are similar to “non-physician clinicians” in Africa.

Covid-19 in West Bengal

The first phase of assembly elections was held on March 27 in the state. At that time, the state was reporting under 1,000 cases per day. However, as time passed by and the state was done with the eight phases of the assembly elections, the state was reporting over 17,000 cases per day.  Based on the latest stats provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, West Bengal has reported 18,102 cases on May 5. There are 1,21,872 active cases in the state. 103 people have lost their lives between May 4 and May 5 due to complications associated with Covid-19.

Another life lost in West Bengal violence as RSS worker Balaram Majhi lynched to death by TMC workers: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Another life lost in West Bengal violence as RSS worker Balaram Majhi lynched to death by TMC workers: Reports

Another youth has become the victim of ongoing attacks by TMC workers against opposition party workers in West Bengal. 22-years-old RSS worker Balaram Majhi, who was mercilessly beaten by TMC goons on Tuesday, succumbed to injuries later in that day.

According to sources, TMC workers had attacked Majhi on Tuesday night at his residence in Sripur village in the Ketugram Tehsik in East Bardhaman district. Apart from beating him badly, his house was also vandalised by the allegedly Muslim goons. Balaram Majhi tried to escape from the attack, but he was nabbed by the attackers. He was pinned to the ground and beaten badly, and he was left by the attackers in a very serious condition.

After the attack Majhi was admitted at the local hospital, but as his condition was serious, he was shifted to a nursing home in Bardhaman town. But he could not be saved and he died later in the night.

Balaram Majhi was an active Swayamsevak of the RSS and was involved in the various activities of the organisation in the area.

Following the news of the death, situation became tense in the Ketugram area. A large police force has been deployed in the areas to prevent any untoward incident.

Balaram Majhi is the latest in the list of victims of the post-poll violence by TMC workers after the party won the assembly elections in West Bengal for the third consecutive time. Several other BJP and RSS workers including Shobha Rani Mandal, Uttam Ghosh, Avijit Sarkar, Horom Adhikari, Momik Maitra, Gaurav Sarkar, Arup Ruidas and others have lost their lives in the attacks.

As a result of such attacks, thousands of BJP workers have fled their homes along with their family members, and have taken shelter in neighbouring states like Assam.

Islamist org that collected and routed money to India after anti-Hindu Delhi riots banned by Germany for funding terrorism in Syria and elsewhere

OpIndia Staff
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Islamist org that collected and routed money to India after anti-Hindu Delhi riots banned by Germany for funding terrorism in Syria and elsewhere

On Wednesday, Germany announced that it was banning the Islamist organization Ansaar International, for financing terrorism worldwide through its donations. A German government spokesman said that “The network finances terrorism worldwide with donations,” and quoted Germany’s Interior Minister saying, “If you want to fight terror, you have to dry up its sources of money.” The banned organization had also solicited donations in the name of post-CAA riots.

The Germany-based Islamist organization is accused of sending funds to multiple terrorist groups abroad including the Al-Nusra Front in Syria, the Palestinian Hamas (which is on an E.U. terrorism blacklist), and Al-Shabab in Somalia. Interestingly, The banned organization had also solicited donations in the name of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots. On their website, they had mentioned that they were soliciting funds for Muslims of India after these riots and had also admitted that they were providing local help to Muslims.

The German Interior Ministry has claimed that some of the money donated to Ansaar International also went to projects that can be counted as “directly within the sphere of activity of one or another of these terrorist organizations.” This claim means that it is certainly possible that any donations Ansaar International collected in the name of anti-Hindu Delhi Riots could have gone to fund international terrorism.

Raids against Ansaar International were conducted all across Germany on Wednesday morning, in ten different states to be exact.

Ansaar International’s website says that its humanitarian projects help “people in need at home and abroad,” with projects in Lebanon, Sudan, and the Palestinian territories advertised. The Islamist organization has also distributed some relief materials to Indian Muslims affected by the anti-Hindu Delhi riots, with the materials carrying the tagline, “Wake Up Ummah!”

Image obtained from the Ansaar International website

German authorities had carried out a major raid on the Ansaar network two years ago in April 2019 during which extensive materials were seized, prompting a series of investigations that have now resulted in Ansaar International being declared unlawful.

According to the German Interior Minister, Ansaar International “spread a Salafist world view and finance terror around the world under the guise of humanitarian aid.”

Germany’s domestic intelligence said in the 2020 annual report that the country’s number of Salafists had increased to an all-time high of 12,150 in 2019, listing them being “Islamist extremists.”

According to the report, the number of Salafists had more than tripled since 2011 and the Salafist scene in Germany was going through a “consolidation stage,” with followers keeping a low public profile.

This is also a lesson for India and its intelligence/security apparatus to be more vigilant of foreign organizations or other assorted NGOs who don the cloak of humanitarianism but are instead funding terrorist groups worldwide.

As preparations for Eid-ul-Fitr begin, huge crowd seen in Hyderabad’s Charminar area

OpIndia Staff
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As preparations for Eid-ul-Fitr begin, huge crowd seen in Hyderabad’s Charminar area

In a shocking visual shared by the Executive Editor of India Today Shiv Aroor, large crowds can be seen flocking the markets at Charminar, old Hyderabad, flouting every single COVID-19 protocol.

It is not just social distancing that has gone for a complete toss, many can be seen roaming with no masks in the video dated May 05, 2021. The video has now gone viral on social media.

Currently, the business hours in the market extend up to 8:30 pm after which the city goes into a lockdown. 

Telangana High Court slams the state government 

The Telangana High Court on Wednesday ordered the state government to impose additional restrictive measures to flatten the curve in the state. The Court observed that stricter measures will have to be taken besides extending the night curfew and imposing a weekend lockdown.

Pulling up the state for intentionally reducing tests in the state, the division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy slammed the government saying, “Our instructions to the government for the last several weeks to show some heed and to increase Covid testing have been like water off a duck’s back. The government is continuously reducing testing since the last week from 92,000 to 70,000. This automatically shows a decrease in the number of infected persons. By that, you are saying there is a fall in Covid cases. This is not correct.”

Ordering the state to conduct one lakh COVID tests per day, the bench remarked, “Testing at private centres is static but is decreasing at government centres.”

Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao cited not enough people coming to the 1,100 testing centres across the state for getting tested as the reason for less testing numbers.

The court also instructed the government to limit gathering, however, it can be seen in the video that the orders have not been taken seriously.

Observing the violations of COVID protocols and spiritual gatherings at Nampally, Afzalgunj, Madina and Charminar, the court reiterated the need to keep a check on crowds. The police have been ordered to step in to control the gatherings and congregations by implementing stricter rules.

Second wave of the pandemic

This comes amidst the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic which has left the nation struggling with 3-4 lakh new COVID-19 cases being clocked every day.

Moreover, after the detection of the N400K variant of the novel coronavirus which was said to be 15 times more infectious and dominated cases till February, the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are also battling the double mutant.

The double mutant which wreaked havoc in Maharashtra since a little over a month has now tightened its grip around the Southern states of India.

Telangana reported over 6000 new coronavirus cases and recorded 52 deaths in the past 24 hours.

Preparations for Eid in Kolkata

The Calcutta Khilafat Committee (CKC) in Kolkata, which is responsible for arranging Eid-ul-Fitr Namaz in the city every year, is awaiting the state government’s nod for conducting the same on Red Road this year. The occasion records a gathering of over two lakh every year.

The Red Road gathering is said to be the biggest congregation in the nation to offer special prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul- Fitr.

Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan’s convoy attacked in Bengal, was on his way to meet BJP workers attacked by TMC goons: Watch

OpIndia Staff
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Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan’s convoy attacked in Bengal, was on his way to meet BJP workers attacked by TMC goons: Watch

Following Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) victory in West Bengal Assembly polls on Sunday, there have been reports of widespread violence in West Bengal. Many BJP offices and workers have been targeted reportedly by TMC workers. In another such incident, Union Minister of State for External Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan’s convoy was attacked by TMC goons on Thursday afternoon. The incident took place in the Panchkhudi area of West Midnapore.

The Union Minister of State was on his way to meet the families of BJP karyakartas and supporters who lost their lives in the incidents of violence unleashed by TMC goons post the Assembly elections results being announced.

The Minister shared a video of the alleged attack on his official Twitter account. He informed that his car’s window panes were broken and his personal staff was attacked by the TMC goons. The Minister said that owing to the attack, his trip to West Midnapore had to be cut short.

“TMC goons attacked my convoy in West Midnapore, broken windows, attacked personal staff. Cutting short my trip,” Muraleedharan tweeted.

The video shared by Muraleedharan showed a number of people surrounding his vehicle with sticks in their hands. They can be seen attacking the vehicles in the convoy of the BJP leader. While the driver attempts to reverse the car, attackers break the car’s windowpane with a log of wood.

The vehicle after it was attacked
The vehicle after it was attacked

Though the Minister escaped unhurt, his driver and several others suffered critical injuries in the attack.

Speaking to India TV, the Union Minister confirmed that the attack took place in front of the police who merely stood there like mute spectators. He said that the Mamata Banerjee government has turned a blind eye towards the unbridled violence that is being unleashed by her cadres in Bengal.

“TMC goons were involved in the attack. We will file a police complaint,” he said.

West Bengal marred with bloody post-poll violence by TMC workers

Multiple reports of brutal killings, arson, loot, rape and vandalism have come forth from different parts of the state since May 2, when Trinamool Congress (TMC) rose back to power for the third consecutive term in the state. As a result of the violence, hundreds of BJP workers and their families have crossed over to Assam from the Cooch Behar district in north Bengal, where they are being housed in several camps.

MHA forms four-member fact-finding team to probe post-election violence 

Concerned over these incidents which claimed several lives and left many injured, the Union Home Ministry has constituted a four-member team to find facts and look into reasons for the post-election violence that has emerged in West Bengal in the last few days.

The team, which would be led by the additional secretary of the ministry, would have to assess the ground situation in the state and submit its report on post poll violence in the next 48-72 hours to the Union Home Ministry.

Turkish govt-owned news portal publishes misleading photograph with Indian Covid stats

OpIndia Staff
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Turkish govt-owned news portal publishes misleading photograph with Indian Covid stats

Turkish state-owned news agency Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT World) has recently published a report on the rising number of Covid cases across the world with an emphasis on India. In a report titled “India sees record daily rises in virus infections, deaths”, TRT World penned down how India has reported over 400,000 cases. While publishing the information about the crisis India is facing, TRT World had used a photograph of burning pyres from Nepal as a featured image.

On both TRT World and TRT World Now (the agency’s account that shares the latest updates) published the said photograph without mentioning that it was from Nepal.

Screenshots of tweets posted by TRT World

Even in the news report, Nepal was mentioned only once under the image. In the rest of the report, there was no mention of Nepal which raises the question over the intention of the editorial team of the Turkish News Agency.

News report by TRT World with same image

The image source was noticed and exposed by a Twitter user codenamed ‘Counter Propaganda Division’ who wrote, “MISINFORMATION ALERT! @TRTWorldNow releases images of Kathmandu crematorium, meaning to depict the Indian death toll. Editorial oversight or deliberate distortion?”

The original source of the image was news agency Reuters. The image was first published by Reuters on May 5 in a gallery titled “Nepal overwhelmed by surge of COVID infections”. The photograph depicted workers wearing PPE extending the crematorium amidst a rising number of deaths due to Covid in Kathmandu, Nepal. It was clicked by photojournalist Navesh Chitrakar.

Screenshot of original gallery by Reuters

Obsession of Western Media with cremation pictures

Since the surge of Covid-19 cases in India, the unsettling obsession of the western, and even Indian mainstream media towards the death and destruction caused by the infection has come to light. The reports in international media are filled with photographs of cremation grounds. As a cherry on the top, the news agencies are selling these photographs for hundreds of dollars (Rs.23,000) on stock image websites. The biggest contributors for such images were Hindustan Times, AFP, Nur Photos and others.

21-year-old college student raped and murdered in Medinipur district in West Bengal, 3 including a woman arrested

OpIndia Staff
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21-year-old college student raped and murdered in Medinipur district in West Bengal, 3 including a woman arrested

Amidst several reports of post-poll violence in West Bengal, an incident of rape and murder has come to the fore from the state’s West Medinipur district. A second-year college student belonging to the SC/ST community, has reportedly been brutally raped and murdered in Jamna village in Pingla block, Kharagpur subdivision of the Paschim Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal.

According to local news reports, the 21-year-old student of Debra College in West Medinipur had gone missing on Monday (May 3) afternoon. When she did not return home until evening, her family members started looking for her. After much searching, the girl’s body was found in an abandoned mud house adjacent to a newly constructed house. According to the reports, the girl’s body was found half-naked.

The family of the deceased alleged that she was killed after being brutally raped.

After learning about the incident, Pingla police reached the spot and sent the body of the deceased for post mortem.

Based on FIR filed by the victim’s family at Pingla police station, the local police arrested two masons and their female aide, who helped in the construction work of the house behind the deceased’s kaccha house. They have been identified as Bikash Murmu from Belda, Chhotu Munda from Jharkhand and Tapati Patra from Sabang.

According to reports, additional SP, Kharagpur, Rana Mukherjee said that the accused have confessed to the crime. While Bikash and Chhotu raped the girl, Tapati kept a watch outside to door. The autopsy report has confirmed rape, said the IPS officer, furthering that the police are reconstructing the crime scene to investigate the case.

Ever since the incident came to the fore, locals in the area held a protest demanding justice for the girl. Youths organised a sit-in protest carrying placards and banners saying demanding justice for the victim.

Following the incident, some social media users claimed that the girl was a BJP supporter, and her rape and murder was part of ongoing TMC violence against BJP and other opposition parties. But so far no evidence supporting that claim has emerged.

Scroll journalist mischievously shares misleading, old report to insinuate that union govt is funding a trial of using Gayatri Mantra to treat Covid-19

OpIndia Staff
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Scroll journalist mischievously shares misleading, old report to insinuate that union govt is funding a trial of using Gayatri Mantra to treat Covid-19

Even as the country is fighting a deadly pandemic, the left-wing propagandists in the media are busy propagating misleading news reports to target the Modi government. In one such incident on Thursday, Rohan Venkat, who claims to be a ‘journalist’ for the far-left news website ‘Scroll’, resorted to peddling misinformation by sharing old and misleading reports to attack the Modi government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, Rohan Venkat took to Twitter to post a report published by another far-left news house ‘The Hindu’ to claim that the Union Science Ministry has funded a trial at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh to determine the effect of ‘Gayatri Mantra’ in treating Covid-19.

Sharing a news article titled, “Science Ministry funds trial on effect of Gayatri Mantra in treating COVID-19“, Venkat insinuated that the Modi government was funding research on the effects of Gayatri Mantra to find a possible cure for the Covid-19.

The Hindu report shared by Venkat is, in fact, is extremely misleading. The headline of the report suggests that the government is funding research on the effects of Gayatri Mantra on Covid-19. However, if one reads the full report published by the Hindu, the details of the report contradict their own headline.  

In the body of the article, it is categorically mentioned that the institute would be researching the effect of chanting Gayatri Mantra and performing Pranayama on Covid-19 patients in addition to usual treatment. However, the Hindu misled its readers by attaching a misleading headline to make its readers believe that the central government is considering using Gayatri Mantra as a stand-alone option to ‘treat’ Covid-19.

Interestingly, the report shared by far-left ‘journalist’ is not even a recent one. The original report, with a misleading headline, was published by the Hindu on March 19. However, Rohan Venkat decided to share the misleading report on his timeline on Thursday to create a wave of propaganda against the Modi government.

Within minutes of Rohan Venkat sharing the misleading post, the usual left-wing propagandists, trolls, alleged fact-checkers descended on Twitter to not only target the centre over its handling of the pandemic but also to discredit the Indian system of medicine such as Ayurveda, Yoga and Pranayama.

Maya Mirchandani, a former anchor at NDTV, sharing the misleading article claimed that she was speechless and said that the government had no scientific temper at all.

Raja Sen, who claims to be a film critic, also shared the misleading news report to ask whether Gayatri Mantra would help falling governments.

Ashok Swain, who has a history of a spreading fake news to abuse Hindus and its customs, took to Twitter to suggest that Science Ministry should be renamed as ‘Pseudoscience Ministry’.

At a time when the country is suffering from one of the greatest crisis in the recent history, the left-wing propagandists and trolls shamelessly used the opportunity to propagate misleading information against the government.

Outlook shares the misleading article

This is not the first time that the mainstream media outlets are resorting to such false propaganda against the Modi government to insinuate that they are considering using Gayatri Mantra to treat the pandemic.

Earlier in March, Outlook had published a news article titled ‘Can Chanting Gayatri Mantra Treat Covid-19? Govt Collaborates With AIIMS Rishikesh To Find Out’. 

Article published by Outlook on March 19, 2021.

Though in the body of the article it is mentioned that the AIIMS Rishikesh would be researching the effect of chanting Gayatri Mantra and performing Pranayama on Covid-19 patients in addition to usual treatment, the misleading headline suggested that the central government is considering using Gayatri Mantra as an independent treatment for the Covid-19.

Has government funded trial on effect of Gayatri Mantra in treating COVID-19?

Contrary to the claims of Rohan Venkat, the Science Ministry is not funding AIIMS Rishikesh to start any experiment to determine if the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra or performing the Yoga practice of Pranayama would be a cure for Covid-19.

In reality, it is not a stand-alone trial, but this will be done along with the regular medical treatment which is otherwise given to the patients suffering from the infection. In fact, the Hindu report, quoted by Rohan Venkat itself clarifies that the 20 Covid-19 patients with moderate symptoms have been divided into two groups and one will get the standard treatment, and the other group will be subject to a regimen of chanting and breathing exercises for 14 days, supervised by a certified yoga instructor, “along with the standard treatment”.

“Then the groups will be compared on whether those who have received the additional treatment show measurably improved markers for inflammation or cell-injury. Among the causes for severe COVID-19 is an exaggerated reaction by the body’s immune systems to the presence of the virus, which leads to severe cellular inflammation and damage that can prove fatal. While several experimental therapies exist, there is yet no specific drug proven to improve health outcomes,” reads the Hindu report shared by Rohan Venkat.

The Hindu report published on March 19.

Further, the body of the Hindu report states, “The latest study, however, will not test the effect of the intervention on severely ill patients. It will evaluate whether there are differences in the groups on the time taken to test negative, and the length of their hospital stay.”

Even though it is clearly mentioned in the report that the trials are not a stand-alone experiment to determine whether Gayatri Mantra and Yoga could be a possible cure for Covid-19, the far-left journalist indulged in the mischievous act of spreading fake news. In his attempt to target the Modi government, Rohan Venkat successfully created myths around traditional practices such as Yoga and Pranayama that have been proved extremely beneficial for strengthening human respiratory illnesses.

Yoga and Pranayama – a time tested practise to strengthen human health

It is a well-known fact that controlled breathing or Pranayama is a specific set of respiratory exercises within yoga that has been proved extremely beneficial for strengthening the lungs and fighting respiratory illnesses. Since Covid-19 infection directly impacts a person’s lungs, damaging the walls and linings of the air sacs in the lungs, it is only common sense that these deep breathing exercises will surely be beneficial for the patients fighting the COVID-19 infection.

Moreover, it has been specifically found that chanting of the Gayatri mantra elevates a person’s mind and soul to a higher level. The vibrations created by the chanting of The Mantra stimulate the penial gland, which helps in release Endorphins and other relaxing hormones in the body that helps keep depression at bay.

This again will prove effective to treat the various traumatic stressors, including anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other trauma- and stress-related disorders that the Covid-19 patient might suffer. Isolation, loss of income and fear are triggering mental health conditions or exacerbating existing ones in coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 can lead to neurological and mental complications, such as delirium, agitation, and stroke. People with pre-existing mental, neurological or substance use disorders are also more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection ̶ they may stand a higher risk of severe outcomes and even death. In such a situation, reciting Gayatri Mantra would only help these patients to fight stress and strain, making them more resilient.

Basically, the central government is not trying to replace the medical treatment of Covid-19 patients with Gayatri Mantra or Pranayama, as the likes of Rohan Venkat suggests, but is only trying to introduce it as an additional treatment, which might accelerate the recovery of the patients.

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