A government-aided school in West Bengal’s Burdwan district has attracted the ire of parents after an illustration in one of its textbooks described dark-skinned people as “ugly”. The book is followed by the pre-primary department of the government-aided school- Municipal Girls High School, located in Burdwan city of East Burdwan district of West Bengal.
As reported by India Today, in the alphabets section, the book shows the image of a black person as an illustration of the word ‘ugly’.
As per a report in a local portal, the book is named ‘Child’s Study’ and is written by one Ruma Roy.
Parents protest
Parents of children studying in this school have shown concern over the issue and demanded that the book be withdrawn.
As reported by India Today, Sudip Majumdar, a teacher of Kolkata Bangbasi (Evening) College, said, “My daughter is studying in this Municipal Girls High School. I came across this subject while teaching my daughter. It is completely wrong to educate children by calling a black person ugly in this way.”
“This book should be withdrawn soon. In any case, such education will fill their tender hearts with inferiority complexes and will teach them discrimination based on skin colour. This is wrong,” he added.
India Today also reported that the District Inspector of School Primary Education, Swapan Kumar Dutt, who initially refused to comment, later said, “this kind of book is not an official book given by the school. We will still talk to the school about it. If needed the book should be changed.”
While the entire world is gripped in the clutches of the coronavirus pandemic, terms like quarantine, social distancing, and self-isolation have become a part of our lives. While these terms, from a medical perspective, may sound western to many, the concepts have been a part of our culture and rituals since centuries.
One of the best examples of these practices is the fourteen-day ‘Anasara’ ritual that is practised in the Shri Jagannath Temple of Puri, Odisha every year. Anasara means a 14-day period during which the three deities of the temple, Lord Jagannath, and his siblings Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra are confined to the sanctum sanctorum because they suffer from a fever after the festival of Devasnana Purnima.
Devasnana Purnima
The bathing festival – ‘Devasnana Purnima’ or just ‘Snana Yatra’ is a festival dedicated to Lord Jagannath. The much-revered tradition is observed on the Purnima or the full moon day of the Jyeshtha month of the Hindu calendar and is also considered to be one of the oldest festivals associated with the temple.
Devasnana Purnima is a ritualistic bathing ceremony of the deities of the Jagannath Temple, Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadra. This year, Devasnana Purnima or Snana Yatra was celebrated on Friday, June 5. The idols of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadra are taken out from the Jagannath temple and are brought to the ‘Snana Bedi’ or the bathing altar in a procession known as ‘Pahandi’.
The Holy Devasnana Yatra at Puri Jagannath temple in Odisha/ Image Source: Kalinga TV
A few rituals are performed by the priests just before the bathing ceremony starts. The deities are bathed with 108 pitchers of holy water, a mixture of herbal and aromatic water. The water, used for bathing is taken from the golden well or ‘Suna Kua’ inside the temple.
During the process, the priests cover their mouths with a piece of cloths to avoid contaminating the holy water. The priests purify the water with turmeric, whole rice, sandal, flowers and perfumes. The deities are then dressed up in Sada Besha after the bath.
At night, the three deities – Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra are carried back to ‘Anasara Ghara’ to keep them away from public darshan for about 14-days. As the belief goes, the deities, after the prolonged ‘Snana’ or bath, are ill with fever.
Anasara or Anabasara: The two-week isolation period
During this Anasara or Anabasara period, the devotees are forbidden from seeing the idols of the Lords. According to mythology, the three deities are believed to have developed a fever after the prolonged bathing on Devasnana Purnima day.
The deities, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath, are kept in the ‘Anasara Pindi’ where they are ‘treated’ with natural herbal medicines, and specially prepared oils. The ailing deities are only offered only fruits and water, mixed with cheese and ‘Dasamula’ (herbal) medicines while Daitapati Sevayats (the priests who carry out holy rituals) now perform secret rituals to cure them.
During the ‘Anasara’, “Patti Dian”, or the traditional Pattachitra paintings of the three deities are worshipped as a proxy to the original idols since the doors of the sanctum sanctorum are closed and devotees are forbidden from darshan. In the Pattachitra paintings, Shri Ananta Narayana is worshipped in the place of the Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra is worshipped as Shri Ananta Basudeva and Devi Subhadra is worshipped as Maa Bhubaneshwari.
Kalinga TV’s chief editor Soumyajit Pattnaik had today shared a video of the worship of “Patti Dian”, at the Jagannath Temple.
The three deities under ‘treatment’ in the Anasara Pindi will be offered ‘Pana Bhoga’by Pati Mahapatra to help them heal. The natural medicines and other herbs are also offered to the deities by the Daitapatis. A special oil ‘Phuluri Tela’ prepared for the deities, will be applied on the wooden idols on the eighth day or ‘Ashtami’ to protect them.
It is part of the faith that on the Dashami, the deities regain their balance and strength. The next day, the deities are painted in a new colour to protect the wooden idol from damage.
The Anasara ritual is, in a way an annual maintenance ritual for the wooden idols, because the wooden idols of the three deities are changed only once in twelve years, in another mega festival known as ‘Naba Kalebara’. The all-organic, all-natural oils and preservatives are a part of the twelfth-century shrine’s ancient traditions.
Artists painting the Pattachitra forms of the three deities that is worshipped during the ‘Anasara’ period, Image via Orissapost.com
Nabajoubana Darshan
On the Amavasya, the 15th day, the deities are dressed up in Nabajoubana Besha. During the Nabajoubana Darshan, the devotees are allowed to see all the three deities. These traditions bring an end to the annual quarantine of the deities, who are now believed to be cured from all illness and are back to their usual health and beauty. The deities are now prepared for a grand Rath Yatra.
Nabajoubana Darshan of the three deities at Puri/Image Source: Puriwaves
Two days later, on the Dwitiya of the Ashadha Shukla Paksha, the Puri Rath Yatra is celebrated with all the pomp and splendour. All the three deities, along with Sudarshana are brought out in huge chariots for the devotees to have Darshana or the holy view of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadra. The deities then travel to the Gundicha temple in the chariots drawn by devotees.
An invader comes to plunder a country. Then, settlers come along. They carry out bloody atrocities on the people who are already there. They impose their rule, their culture and their religion.
Sound familiar?
Below is a statue of Christopher Columbus in Boston, now destroyed by liberal protesters, apparently sympathizers of the Black Lives Matter movement. This is happening all over America right now.
Christopher Columbus statue toppled in Minnesota
And here, from Ayodhya in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, is the famous image from Dec 6, 1992. The demolition of Babri Masjid by karsevaks.
Babri mosque demolished
However, we know that the world reaction to these two events has been vastly different. In the case of Columbus statues, the reactions have ranged from benign neglect to silent support to active praise. In the case of Babri Masjid, there was near universal condemnation.
Why? Personally, I don’t take a position in either case. I would just like the well informed global elite to clarify the moral principle here.
Christopher Columbus came to America in 1492. Babur arrived in India around 1526. If Columbus is a villain, why is Babur a hero?
The parallels are obvious. Columbus was the first of the European invaders who massacred the Native Americans and plundered them. Around the year 1000 CE, Arab and Turkic invaders did much the same to India. Most famously Mahmud Ghazni and his plunder of Somnath Temple. During these invasions, Indian Hindus were massacred in large numbers.
Soon after the raiding and the pillaging, there came the settlers. The dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate and a few centuries later, the Mughals. In America, the European settlers arrived in ships around the year 1620. They set up their colonies along the east coast of what is now the United States.
Both Arab / Turkic settlers in India and European settlers in America were constantly at war with the original inhabitants. The American settlers pushed westward to gradually occupy the continent. In India, the settlers pushed towards the south and the east of the subcontinent. For both groups, this was a long and bloody process, stretched out over centuries.
No difference there.
And just as there were times of war, there were times of peace. The European settlers signed numerous treaties with Native American chiefs, allowing them to control large parcels of land, known as ‘reservations.’ Here is what the continental US really looks like, if you draw all the Native American nations separately.
Native American ‘reservations’ in US
Just like that, the Muslim empires in India have a complicated history. Many Hindu chieftains signed treaties and kept their sovereignty over certain tracts of land. This is how virtually *all* empires work. From Alexander’s empire to the Mughal empire, the British empire or even the Nazi empire. Or even the Soviet empire. No empire is absolute. Everyone has a number of vassal states who enjoy some form of independence.
What about the excuse of Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb? Our history textbooks tell this heartwarming story of Hindus and Muslims lived in mutual harmony in the medieval times. It’s probably true at the level of some individuals living closely together in one place such as a a village. It happened in America too. In fact, Native Americans welcomed the settlers and showed them how to survive in the New World. After a particularly successful harvest season, the settlers invited their Native American hosts to share in a great celebration. This was the first Thanksgiving. It’s a wonderful American tradition that is still thriving today.
But just because everyone in America loves Thanksgiving and just because everyone loves Sufi music, doesn’t mean that the broad contours of history are any different. The Native Americans were the oppressed and the European settlers were the oppressors. This is not hard to make out. Similarly, it is Hindus who paid Jaziya tax. Hindu temples were broken and plundered. It is not hard to see who is the victim here.
Finally, what of the argument that the Mughals and their descendants became fully “Indian”? Well, of course they did. The European settlers fought a bloody war of independence against Britain, following which they embraced a fully American identity. Their descendants today are 100% American, just as the descendants of Mughals are 100% Indian. Nobody can question that.
But that does not mean we have to reject the obvious history of which class was ruling and which class was subjugated. It is entirely possible to acknowledge the wrongs of history without being prejudiced or hateful against anyone today on the basis of race or religion.
The only difference I see is that American liberals are extremely sensitive to the wrongs of history, while Indian liberals want to suppress the wrongs of history. In the US, someone speaking up for the rights of Native Americans would never be vilified by the left. In India, anyone talking about Hindus becomes a target for the left and its global network.
This is true not just of America, but of many other countries. In New Zealand (another global liberal darling), white school kids are taught to embrace dances and other art forms of the native Maori people. But in India, liberalism is all about attacking “Bharat Mata ki jai” or “Vande Mataram” or someone for wearing a Hanuman shirt.
The stated objective of Indian liberalism is to curb Hindu expression, to further marginalize the historically marginalized Hindu people! To snatch away even more land from Indian Hindus than has been snatched already!
For a while now, Indian liberals have been urging Indians to learn from the Black Lives Matter movement. I agree. Let us press Indian liberals to clarify the underlying principle. How was Columbus different from Babur or Ghazni?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address of the 95th annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) through video conferencing today. PM Modi said that at the moment India is facing many challenges, including coronavirus, locust swarms invasion, gas well explosion in Assam’s Tinsukia, Cyclone Amphan and minor earthquakes across India. Once again hammering on self-reliant India, PM Modi said that India should convert these crises into a turning point towards becoming self-sufficient.
LIVE: PM Modi addresses annual plenary session of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). https://t.co/iQufQABlGe
North-East India found a special mention in PM Modi’s address. Quoting Swami Vivekanand as once saying: “The simplest method to be worked upon at present is to induce Indians to use their own produce and get markets for Indian artware in other countries’, Modi said that the path shown by Swami Vivekananda is an inspiration for India in post-COVID world.
The Prime Minister said that this is the time when India has to shun conservative approach and take bold decisions and make bold investments. We together have to revive the manufacturing sector in West Bengal, said Modi.We’ve always heard “what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow”, we have to take inspiration from this and move forward together and have to revive the historical excellence of Bengal in the manufacturing sector, said Modi.
Speaking further on the development of NE India, PM Modi said that like Siliguri, entire North-East India could become a hub for organic products. People in East and North-East India could become the biggest beneficiary of the reform in the agriculture sector. The country is running another mission to make the country free from single-use plastic. North-East should take benefit from this opportunity. Illuminating on how people, profit and planet can flourish and coexist together, Modi said that West Bengal has an opportunity in a single-use plastic ban.
Kolkata can act as a pivot for development of the East and Northeast
Recent decisions taken by Centre for farmers have freed the agriculture economy from years of slavery. Having said this, PM Modi furthered that West Bengal can now ramp up jute production and make the best of the situation. Kolkata can act as a pivot for development of the East and Northeast, said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister lauded the Indian Chamber of Commerce for its contribution towards the development of industries in the north-east and said its high time India becomes vocal for local.
I see people thinking kaash (I wish) we were self-reliant in medical equipment, solar energy, I wish we were self-reliant in manufacturing PPE kits, I wish we were self-reliant in defence production, electronic production, mobile manufacturing, I wish we were self-reliant in manufacturing all that we buy or consume. I see countless such kaash in Indians today. The solution to all this can only come from Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). India which today is an importing nation has to first rise up and become self-reliant and then move on to become an exporting nation. This is the vision that will take India forward, said PM Modi.
Time to take the Indian economy out of ‘command and control’ and take it towards a ‘plug and play’ economy
At this time we’ve to take the Indian economy out of ‘command and control’ and take it towards a ‘plug and play’ economy. This isn’t the time for a conservative approach. It’s time for bold decisions and bold investments. It’s time to prepare a globally competitive domestic supply chain, emphasised the Prime Minister, reiterating that self-reliant India is based on self-confident Indians.
The Indian government is speedily implementing the policies declared to make the country self-reliant, what the citizens need to do is work in the direction so as to make India an exporter of every product that the country needs. This is how the country would become Atmanirbhar, said Modi.
“While it true that coronavirus has slowed down our growth, India has now left the lockdown behind and has entered unlock phase 1. So in a way, we have already started getting our growth back. India took the right steps at the right time. When we compare our country to others, we can realise how the lockdown has helped us,” said PM Modi.
“This is the time to recognize opportunity, to try oneself and to move towards new heights. If this is the biggest crisis, then we should take full advantage of it, while learning the biggest from it”, said the Prime Minsiter, urging India to move ahaead towards becoming self-reliant.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party Janat Dal (United) posted a birthday wish to Lalu Prasad Yadav on his 73rd birthday in a different way. The political party put up a poster listing the details of 73 properties of Lalu Prasad Yadav on his 73rd birthday which were allegedly acquired illegally by him and his family members.
Bihar: Poster put up by RJD leaders, wishing Lalu Prasad Yadav on his birthday, & another poster put by JD(U), claiming to be a list of 73 properties acquired by him & his family using political influence, seen side-by-side in Patna.
The poster read as, “The list of properties acquired by political influence is still being compiled.”
The poster was standing right next to the poster of Rashtriya Janata Dal’s poster which was wishing its leader on his 73rd birthday in Patna.
Lalu Prasad Yadav is the ex-CM of Bihar who is accused in several scams worth crores. Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced for three and a half years in the Deoghar treasury case, and he has already spent more than one and a half years in jail. RJD chief was serving his term in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi. Nowadays he is out on bail on some cases while he is undergoing treatment in Ranchi hospital as a prisoner.
Other than the Deoghar case, the RJD chief has been sentenced to five years in jail in Bhagalpur treasury fodder case, five years in jail in Chaibasa treasury fodder scam, and 14 years in jail in Dumka treasury case, while several other fodder scam cases are still being heard by courts. He has already got bail in the Bhagalpur case. Other than the fodder scams, he is also facing a probe in the Indian Railway tender case, disproportionate asset case, tax evasion, and Benami properties case, Patna Zoo soil case, etc.
The poster war between JDU and RJD is going on since last year. This came in light of the assembly election for the Bihar assembly elections that are expected to take place in this year-end.
Amid coronavirus lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared the good news about the majestic Asiatic lions in Gir forest. He mentioned in his tweet that the population of Asiatic Lions has increased by 29% in the last five years. Also, the distribution area is up by 36%. The tweet was based on the recent report submitted by the Gujarat Forest Department in which they noted that the population fo Asiatic lions in the state is 674, up from 523 in 2015.
Two very good news:
Population of the majestic Asiatic Lion, living in Gujarat’s Gir Forest, is up by almost 29%.
The count is not based on the Census but on Poonam Avlokan (full-moon night estimation exercise) that is a population observation exercise. Once in every five years, the forest department conducts a Census of the Lions’ population that was due on 5th and 6th June this year. However, the department has to postpone it amid coronavirus lockdown that was announced on 24th March. The government deployed 1,500 forest guards, range forest officers and foresters to ensure lockdown is in place in the Gir forest.
Every year the forest department takes support from experts, NGOs and wildlife enthusiasts for the Census to ensure transparency. However, there were reports that a tigress in Bronx Zoo, New York, got infected with novel coronavirus and Forest Ministry decided not to take any risks this time.
Poonam Avlokan and the methodology behind counting Asiatic Lions
Poonam Avlokan is a monthly in-house exercise that was developed in 2014 as a part of the lion Census 2015. It is carried out in every full mood. The officers and field staff spend 24 hours in their respective jurisdictions to access the number of Asiatic lions. This time the department initiated the exercise from Friday 2 PM to Saturday 2 PM. The exercise covered 10 districts and 13 forest divisions, including Surendranagar and Morbi.
Population and distribution trend of Asiatic Lions
In 2015 there were 2,000 officers, volunteers and experts involved in Census. However, this month the exercise was conducted by 1,400 forest experts along with a few experts. The census takes around two days to complete, which has two stages named preliminary census and final census. Instead of observing only the water points, the team kept moving in their jurisdictions. They made their estimates based on inputs by lion trackers and chance sightings. They collected data based on Time, GPS location, number of individuals, individual identification marks, radio-collar numbers, images & egujforest data, etc.
Observations made by the forest department under Poonam Avlokan
The forest department mentioned that the population of lions is increasing at a steady speed. There are 161 male adults, 260 female adults, 45 sub-adult males, 49 sub-adult females, 22 unidentified sub-adults and 137 cubs in the Gir forest that makes a total of 674 lions.
The distribution of lions in 2015 was across 22000 square kilometers that has increased to 30000 square kilometers this year.
Multiple strategies and interventions have helped the forest department in maintaining a steady increase in population and distribution.
Historian Ramchandra Guha, who now seems to have developed complicated relationship with history, today took to Twitter to claim Philip Spratt in 1939 had written that Gujarat, though economically advanced is backward culturally and Bengal while being economically backward, has been culturally advanced.
“Gujarat, though economically advanced, is culturally a backward province… . Bengal in contrast is economically backward but culturally advanced”. Philip Spratt, writing in 1939.
Guha had not provided citation source for the above quote and OpIndia could not independently verify whether Spratt wrote such a statement back in 1939. Spratt was a British communist sent to spread communism in India. He was the founding member of the Communist Party of India.
Guha cites Spratt’s 1939 quote where he claims that Gujarat, even though economically advanced was culturally a ‘backward’ province and compared to that, Bengal, though ‘economically backward’, was ‘culturally advanced’.
Gujarat as a state came into existence in 1960. In fact, part of what exists today as Gujarat was known as ‘Bombay Presidency’ and remaining were princely states like Baroda state, Kathiawar and Kutch.
And prior to that, Gujarat fell under the Delhi Sultanate in 1298 after Alauddin Khilji managed to invade the state. Perhaps the approximate 350 year of rule by the Mughal invaders left Gujarat ‘culturally backward’ as described by Guha citing Spratt.
Netizens pointed out the flaw in Guha’s comparison and the random quote by Spratt, which many had never even heard of before.
You talk as if Philip Spratt was your grandmother who was the authority on India or Gujarat or Bengal…. Only 3rd rate idiots have to depend on some foreign chameli quotes (that too some vague Spratt Vatt) for their stupid survival @Ram_Guha… https://t.co/MDLe0qBcLv
Gujaratis also explained how Gujarat has managed to survive and thrive despite the drawbacks it has had since centuries regarding water shortage and not being blessed with as much fertile land as other parts of the country.
People also pointed out the flaw in his argument. Gujarat does not have a strong communist presence because of the generally enterprising nature of people of the state.
Gujaratis didn’t allow commie agenda propagate so their culture is backward.. https://t.co/Y5gXR6gX9y
Lothal and Dholavira in Gujarat are proofs that Gujarat had been an important port of ancient India. Since time immemorial Gujarat has learnt to work to survive. If that makes the ‘culture’ backward, then so be it.
Many also wondered if Guha through Mahatma Gandhi, who is considered Father of the Nation and was a Gujarati too, was culturally backward.
Never thought that Mr. Guha would call Sri MK Gandhi culturally backward. https://t.co/BkTepdkRrp
Bengalis, too, were offended by the tweet who asked him to stop romanticising how communism has ruined Bengal and there are severe lack of job opportunities there.
STOP this romanticizing of lack of jobs and economic opportunities in Bengal. https://t.co/k2GVWQpc9H
Moreover, prior to independence, Bengal was a vast territory which comprised the modern day Bangladesh and West Bengal. It was historically rich on account of the existence of artisans and craftsmen whose hand-woven products were sought after across the world. When the British started cotton export from India, they faced tough headwinds from the products sold by the artisans from Bengal. To stop the bengal artisans from selling their produce, Britishers spliced thumbs of artisans, killed the dissidents, thereby economically depriving a vast section of population. Bengal was a bustling trade hub and it is one of the reasons why the East Company India was headquartered there and the Brits started their imperial conquest of India from there. The Britishers persecuted by splitting their thumbs, killing those who opposed their draconian taxes. This is what Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said in his book “An Era of Darkness”
This hatred for Gujaratis has peaked ever since Prime Minister Modi took oath back in 2014 after registering a historic win. Gujaratis are mocked at on social media and ridiculed. Not just by Guha but even by those who like to identify themselves as liberals and ‘culturally strong’.
TMC supporter Garga Chatterjee has regularly indulged in mocking Gujaratis, Biharis and Marwaris under the garb of Bengali pride. Similarly, ‘journalist’ Swati Chaturvedi has also referred to PM Modi and HM Shah as ‘dhokla mafia’ because casual racism isn’t racism if it comes from the ‘culturally advanced’ and ‘liberal’ lot.
On Wednesday, a local court in Bengaluru rejected the bail plea of ultra-left-wing activist Amulya Leona Noronha, who was arrested on the charges of sedition after raising slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ in a rally of AIMIM Chief Asadudin Owaisi.
While rejecting the bail, the 60th additional city civil and sessions judge observed that if bail is granted to Amulya Leona Noronha, she may abscond.
Judge Vidhyadhar Shirahatti in his order also said that Amulya Leona may involve in similar offences which would affect peace at large if she is granted bail.
The public prosecutor argued that the accused Amulya was trying to incite people to create a law and order problem. The prosecutor also mentioned before the court that the accused had involved in activities that caused hatred and disaffection towards religion and the government by holding a placard that stated “F##k Hindutva” during a student protest.
The prosecution also argued that the student, if released, may commit similar offences since cases were already registered against her.
However, in defence of the accused, her friends said that she was trying to convey a message of universal humanity by chanting zindabad in the name of all nations, including Pakistan and India.
Amulya Leona’s pro-Pakistan slogans
A ruckus had erupted at an anti-CAA rally of AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi in Bengaluru in February after ultra-left-wing protestor Amulya had burst onto the stage to shout pro-Pakistan slogans in his presence. The video clips of Amulya Leona chanting “Pakistan Zindabad” had gone viral across social media platforms.
Soon, she was arrested and was sent to 14-day judicial custody after a case was registered under the Section 124A (offence of sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.
During the investigation, the ultra left-wing protestor Amulya Leona Noronha had revealed that she was a paid protestor and had said how the anti-CAA protest organisers had been carrying her expenses ever since the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act started in December last year.
Amulya Leona was also spotted being interviewed by a Youtube channel a month prior to her arrest in which she was explaining the modus operandi of the left to endorse the seditious anti-India agenda. She had stated that they were paid and the speeches and slogans are prepared by a group of people who organised these ‘protests’.
On Wednesday, the Rajasthan Congress claimed that attempts are being made to destabilise the Congress-led government by luring MLAs ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. Following the scare, the Congress party has also shifted its 107 Congress and independent MLAs to a resort on the outskirts of Jaipur.
According to the reports, Chief Whip of the Rajasthan Assembly Mahesh Joshi has written a letter to the Director General of Anti Corruption Bureau claiming that attempts are being made to destabilise the government in the state on the lines of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat just days ahead of Rajya Sabha Elections 2020.
This political development in Rajasthan comes at a time when Congress MLAs in Gujarat have been resigning from the party ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. A total of eight MLAs of the Congress party have resigned from the party in the last three months in Gujarat.
The Congress leader Joshi also sought “strict legal action” against such persons for indulging in corrupt activities.
Congress moves its MLAs to resort
The Congress party has now moved its 107 MLAs and independent legislators to Shiv Vilas resort on the outskirts of Jaipur. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala also reached the resort later in the day and held a meeting with the MLAs.
The Congress party has 107 seats, including six MLAs who defected from the BSP last year in the 200-member Rajasthan legislative assembly. The Ashok Gehlot-led government also enjoys the support of all 13 independents while Subhash Garg, who was elected on an RLD ticket, is a minister in the Gehlot government.
3 Rajya Sabha seats to be filled
The Rajya Sabha elections are scheduled to be held for three seats in the state as BJP’s Rajya Sabha members Ram Narain Dudi, Vijay Goel and Narayan Lal Panchariya retired on April 9. The elections were supposed to happen on March 26 but were postponed in light of the coronavirus lockdown. The elections will now take place on June 19 and the counting will be held on the same day.
The Congress party is expected to win at least two seats, while opposition is expected to win one. The Congress party has fielded Rahul Gandhi’s aide KC Venugopal, Neeraj Dangi while BJP has fielded two candidates – Rajendra Gehlot and Onkar Singh Lakhawat.
In an exclusive report, India TV has revealed some shocking visuals of neglect and mismanagement from Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital. The COVID-19 dedicated hospital in the NCT of Delhi has been the centre of treatment and care for thousands of patients during the pandemic and the shocking visuals offer a glimpse into the crumbling health infrastructure of the national capital that is now one of the worst affected cities in India after Mumbai.
The visuals taken by India TV reporters inside the LNJP hospital showed a naked corpse lying unattended on the floor, with no hospital staff around to pick it up or move it. Speaking to India TV, LNJP hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Suresh Kumar claimed that the naked corpse may have fallen on the floor while doctors were trying to resuscitate a non-responsive patient with chest compressions. He informed that for CPR and chest compressions, the patient’s catheter, drips and clothes are usually removed.
However, the doctor could not offer any explanation as to why the naked corpse was left lying there on the floor.
No staff around to attend the patients
The videos also showed dead bodies left unattended in treatment wards, waiting areas and even among patients who are under treatment. The India TV report claimed that most of the patients did not have any saline drips and in most of the wards, no healthcare staff was seen attending the patients.
The video shared by India TV also showed some patient lying unconscious with no medical staffers attending them.
The report by India TV stated that while the reporters were inside for a considerable amount of time, no healthcare staff was seen around the patients and even the unconscious patients were left unattended. The report claimed that for several hours, neither any healthcare staff was seen monitoring the patients nor the dead bodies were moved.
Speaking to India TV, the medical superintendent claimed that the visuals are misleading and they have adequate facilities for the patients. He also stated that LNJP is currently the largest hospital in the country treating coronavirus patients and they have successfully treated over 3,000 patients so far.
Dr Suresh Kumar also stated that LNJP is a tertiary care facility and often they get patients who are already critical. He claimed that the hospital follows all protocols of treatment of patients and processing of dead bodies.
Delhi has recorded 1366 fresh cases of coronavirus on June 9. The total active cases are now 18,543. The death toll is at 905. The total cases so far are at 31,309. 11,861 people have recovered so far.
