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Uttar Pradesh: Complaint filed against quarantined members of the Muslim community in Mau for threatening and misbehaving with ASHA workers

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Complaint filed against quarantined members of the Muslim community in Mau for threatening and misbehaving with ASHA workers

A complaint has been filed against 19 members of the Muslim community kept in quarantine in Uttar Pradesh’s Mau for threatening ASHA workers with death after the latter advised them to follow quarantine norms.

About 7 days ago, a few youths in Bhatpara village of Muhammadabad Gohna region were sent into mandatory quarantine after having returned from Mumbai. All of them were held in a private village school which was converted into a quarantine centre.

While they were supposed to remain inside the quarantine centre for 14 days, many of them flouted the quarantine restrictions and were seen outside the facility playing cricket. When the ASHA workers in the area tried to convince the youths to remain inside the quarantine facility lest they possibly infect others, the quarantined members of the Muslim community started dishing out threats to the ASHA workers. ASHA worker Sharda Devi filed a complaint in this regard after which CHC Superintendent Dr AP Singh filed a complaint against 19 quarantined members at the Muhammadabad police station.

ASHA workers habitually subjected to assault

This is not the first time that members of ASHA had been subjected to assault. ASHA workers had been regularly attacked by the miscreants for advising them to follow lockdown and quarantine guidelines.

An ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker in Mysuru, Sumayya Firdose, was allegedly attacked by three men, Mehboob, Khaleel and Zeeshan, when she advised them to wear face masks and follow social distancing guidelines. She was reportedly on rounds at Haleem Nagar in Mysuru on Monday to check for Chinese coronavirus symptoms. An FIR was filed against the assailants and the accused were taken under custody after Firdose filed her complaint with the local police.

Earlier, despite DGP’s repeated warnings, miscreants from the minority community assaulted and misbehaved with ASHA workers in Bihar’s Darbhanga. ASHA workers who had come to seek information about the residents with a travel history in the village were subjected to a brutal assault by members of the minority community. Sarees of the female ASHA workers were pulled by the miscreants while the survey form given by them were torn into pieces. After being informed about the attack on ASHA workers, SP Babu Ram immediately dispatched a police team under the leadership of DSP Anuj Kumar reached the spot and tried to pacify the situation.

Most recently, ASHA workers in Odisha’s Rourkela, when they had approached the containment zone on May 4, were attacked and abused by the locals. The ASHA workers had sat on a Dharna on May 5, alleging that the residents of the containment zone had spat on them, and threatened to burn them with kerosene. The ASHA and Anganwadi workers of the Rourkela city had staged a protest demanding protection.

Sikkim govt asks Delhi govt to remove the offensive ad where it stated Sikkim as an independent country

OpIndia Staff
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Sikkim govt asks Delhi govt to remove the offensive ad where it stated Sikkim as an independent country

Sikkim Government has asked Delhi government to remove the offensive advertisement for recruiting civil defence volunteers where Sikkim was mentioned as a separate country along with Bhutan and Nepal.

Letter by Sikkim government to Delhi government

The letter was written by S C Gupta, Chief Secretary, Government of Sikkim, to Vijay Kumar Dev, Chief Secretary, Govt of NCT, Delhi on 23rd May 2020. “This is immensely hurtful to the people of Sikkim who take pride in being the citizens of our great country, ever since it became 22nd state of the Indian Union on 16th May 1975,” Sikkim CS said. He further requested immediate withdrawal of the offensive advertisement.

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang too took to Twitter to condemn the advertisement by Delhi government and requested the Delhi government to rectify the same.

Delhi government’s offensive advertisement

On 23rd May 2020, the Delhi government issued an advertisement to recruit ‘Civil Defence Volunteers’ in most of the daily newspapers. In its ad, however, the state of Sikkim was identified as a separate entity and placed alongside sovereign nations like Bhutan and Nepal.

The offensive advertisement by Delhi government

Sikkim, once a separate country, became an integral part of India in 1975. It merged completely with India to become the 22nd state of our country.

People like Rajdeep Sardesai – you are English media, not National media, stop blowing up your ego so much

S. Sudhir Kumar
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People like Rajdeep Sardesai – you are English media, not National media, stop blowing up your ego so much

In the year 2012, there were riots in Assam. The then editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN, Rajdeep Sardesai, wrote a bizarre article explaining that it was “tyranny of distance” that didn’t allow him to cover the Assam riots with the same intensity as Gujarat riots of 2002. What was his defence? That “No national channel has an OB van in Guwahati.”

“National channel” or “National media” has continued to be such a misnomer ever since. Rajdeep Sardesai continues to live under the distinct impression that he represents “national media”.

Just two days back, he put out a bizarre tweet that he received a “message” from “a friend”. The alleged message from the friend says that ‘national channels’ have less time for east coast than they do for west. Isn’t his “friend” merely repeating what Rajdeep himself told way back in 2012? In the same tweet this controversial man also calls the AmPhan cyclone as “Bengal cyclone”, conveniently forgetting that the cyclone hit Odisha too – but we digress, because there continue to be people who think any news is fit for coverage only if “national media” covers it.

It is still unclear as to when the Delhi based English TV media that covers news only from a few cities (with excessive focus on Delhi) started to assume that they are “national media”. How does one summon the consciousness to call oneself has “national media” when you have zero presence in capital cities of more than half the states in India? Leave the capital cities, how does one summon the courage to call oneself “national” when they find it difficult to even cover areas that are closer to their glitzy studios in New Delhi?

A twitter search of “national media” and “sardesairajdeep” reveals how periodically this man sermonizes on “national media” didn’t do this, didn’t cover that, should have covered this etc! The irony is never lost out on him – he considers himself as “national media” and then sermonizes to himself and yet makes zero attempts to correct himself.

Today’s discussions on the English TV media are more often than not a cacophony of voices vying to win the coveted prize of the best shouter! National media should imply that they have equal amount of coverage from each state of the country. National media should imply that they have panelists from all across India, every single day to discuss about the events happening all across India. National media should imply that they don’t come up with bizarre “Tyranny of distance” articles to justify their limited reach in the country.

Even in terms of sheer numbers, the reach of other language media such as Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada etc is much higher than the English media. The Indian Readership survey 2019 is proof. The BARC viewership numbers are proof. The regional language media (TV and Print) has footprint in almost every mandal of their respective states. The editorials of the regional media are more widely read, their classifieds are more widely popular, and their discussions are more widely watched. In fact, I think the district editions of some of the regional language newspapers are perhaps more widely read than these self-proclaimed “national media”!

Some of these news channels run 30-minute programs to cover news from South India. And then I always wonder why they don’t have a similar section for say North India, East India etc. It’s not like there is massive coverage on their channels for Jharkhand, Sikkim, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Punjab (I can go on and on!).  For example, www.ndtv.com/south exists. And you get a “Oops, there was a problem” error when you try to find www.ndtv.com/east. Go check the “North” page of https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north – all you get is “Here is your horoscope” stories but “South” page of https://www.indiatoday.in/india/south at least exists with some old stories.

It is therefore no wonder that readers/viewers from various cities are riled up when the English TV media conveniently choses to gloss over tragedies in many parts of the country – including in those where they have “OB vans”. The question of hypocrisy came up because these self-obsessed anchors began these strange claims that they represent “national media” and somehow are more superior to these lowly beings in the regional media.

Yet, English TV media is powerful. What gives them this disproportionate power? The only reason I can think of is that they sit very close to the power centres in New Delhi. Their immediate access to the multiple echelons of the Central government is what made them think they are invincible and yield this massive influence on policy.  Their editors occupy the position of President of Editors Guild (take a look at their past Presidents and see for yourself the disproportionate control of English media).

Their arrogance stems from the fact that Sonia’s UPA had given them so much access to so much insider information and even control over cabinet formation! In the words of Rahul Roshan, this is the “establishment” they conquered during its formative years itself. The advent of social media is when the dismantling of their halo had begun. Today, some of the once-most-powerful channels are reduced to merely trolling social media users. While the battle to dismantle this halo continues, it is important to yet again highlight the simple fact to the likes of Rajdeep Sardesai – you are English media, not National media. Stop blowing up your ego so much.  

Complaint filed against street vendors, shops in Bengaluru for putting up saffron flags

OpIndia Staff
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Complaint filed against street vendors, shops in Bengaluru for putting up saffron flags

A complaint has been filed against an individual running a Facebook page for allegedly putting up saffron flags in commercial places in parts of the Bengaluru.

According to the reports, a lawyer named Maitreyi Krishnan has registered a complaint on May 18 against a Facebook post by ‘Uttara Kannada Mandi’ and claimed that the Facebook had allegedly put out photos of people putting up saffron flags. The complaint has named one individual ML Shivakumar as the person behind it and accused him of spreading communal discord.

The lawyer had alleged that the people who put up saffron flags violated the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981, by putting them up on trees and poles in public places.

Citing the Karnataka Police Manual, the complainant said that the police should visit the place and try to pacify the place by talking to important leaders of various groups and non-controversial citizens. The lawyer reportedly had raised the issue to the inspector earlier, leading him to lodge a complaint.

According to the complaint, Bajrang Dal activist Shivakumar, in a series of posts and videos on his Facebook page, had posted images of his team putting out the saffron flags in Hindu owned/managed shops.

MM Bharath, Inspector of Vijayanagar police station had initially said that there was no violation as putting up of flags was all voluntary. Speaking to OpIndia, the inspector said that a petition was filed by the advocate, which was later turned into a complaint. He added that they are now carrying an enquiry over the complaint filed by the lawyer and also have sought clarifications from BBMP.

Yogendra Yadav’s 7-point action plan to revive economy post coronavirus pandemic has more twists and turns than an Abbas-Mustan movie

OpIndia Staff
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Yogendra Yadav’s 7-point action plan to revive economy post coronavirus pandemic has more twists and turns than an Abbas-Mustan movie

Multi-talented Yogendra Yadav’s 7-point action plan to revive the economy after the Chinese coronavirus pandemic is nothing short of a Bollywood potboiler. When the plan was unveiled on Friday evening, most people, including some of the people who had endorsed the action plan which even 14-year-olds could’ve written, were appalled. Hours after it started getting public backlash, Ramachandra Guha distanced himself from the so-called ‘action plan’ claiming he never agreed to it to begin with.

“All resources (cash, real estate, property, bonds, etc) with the citizens or within the nation must be treated as national resources available during the crisis,” the document stated, which drew a lot of flak, with people calling it authoritarian.

The ‘Historian’ Ramachandra Guha, wearing his ‘economist’ hat had signed the document. However, following the outrage, Guha chickened out initially to say that he did not approve the final contents of the document, creating more confusion over the real intention behind such intellectual dishonesty.

  • Ram Guha’s now deleted tweet
  • Ram Guha’s now deleted tweet

Ramchandra Guha took to Twitter to announce that the clause that was presented to him during the discussion and the clause that was finally printed were vastly different, referring to clause 7.1.

Guha further said that this version did not have the approval of many signatories and has a “taken the attention away from the many sensible suggestions made in the Statement”.

Following his rejection of the original content, social media users began to mock the intellectual dishonesty of the ‘historian’, leading Guha to delete his series of tweets all together.

Ashutosh Varshney does ‘social distancing’ with Yogendra Yadav’s idea of nationalising private properties

Another intellectual Professor Ashutosh Varshney, echoing similar sentiments as Ramachandra Guha, took to Twitter to make a flip-flop over his earlier endorsement to the draconian idea nationalising private property.

As celebrated leftist trolls, journalists raised apprehensions about his endorsement to nationalising private properties in the country, Varshney brought in his academic rhetoric to clarify that the original idea presented to him was different to the one which was released in the public and indirectly rejected making any endorsement to the idea of snatching resources from the public.

Prof Varshney distancing himself.

Varshney responding to tweet by Journalist Shekhar Gupta said that “the writers of the statement are returning to the original draft.”

Another flip flop by Varshney and Ramchandra Guha

After facing severe wrath from the public for coming up with so-called ‘action plan’, Yogendra Yadav came up with a new ‘reformulated’ version of the original document.

Taking to Twitter, Yogendra Yadav said that “Pt 7.1 has attracted undue attention & interpreted to mean a call for nationalisation/expropriation of private property. This was far from our intention.”

He added that now, the clause has been reformulated to state, “The government must explore emergency ways of raising resources going beyond the usual set of taxes and levies to cope with the problem of funding large relief packages”

Guha, who had earlier, distanced himself from the clause in the plan, said that the new point in the statement is now appropriate and that the controversy over this should be put at rest. Interestingly, Guha who had deleted his earlier tweet, jumped back into the scene to indirectly push the same idea, but with a different tone and tenor.

“The new pt 7.1 in the Mission Jai Hind Statement is extremely appropriate and all controversy should now be set at rest. I trust that fellow citizens shall focus on the many important recommendations in our plan and will urge Central and State Governments to implement it,” he said.

Guha approves of new and improved version

Intellectual Varshney, who had earlier rejected of endorsing the plan, returned back with much vigour to make a u-turn and claim that raising revenue to address mass suffering is the basic issue and the idea was not to expropriate. He too endorsed the new clause, which more or less endorsed the original idea of snatching away the hard-earned wealth of common masses, but now with a different approach.

Varshney also approves

The controversial ‘seven-point action plan’ was endorsed by ‘intellectuals’ like Abhijit Sen, Yogendra Yadav, Ramchandra Guha, Deepak Nayyar, Harsh Mander, Ashutosh Varshney, Bezwada Wilson and Amit Basole among others.

With Prof Varshney and Ram Guha on the same page as Yadav, we look forward to other signees to wake up and let us know about the latest twist.

21st Century belongs to Atmanirbhar Bharat: The new reforms will gear us to enter phase two of the rise of Indian economy after 1991 liberalization

Guest Author
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21st Century belongs to Atmanirbhar Bharat: The new reforms will gear us to enter phase two of the rise of Indian economy after 1991 liberalization

An optimist would say every cloud has a silver lining. On May 12 at 8 PM, when Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the nation, he had a similar approach and message for the citizens. The world is enduring the biggest catastrophe in a hundred years. COVID 19 is a new reality, a harsh truth that is slowly becoming a part of our everyday lives.

Successive lockdowns since March have wreaked havoc on the economic activity and the GDP of the country. The United Nations slashed India’s economic growth projection for the current year to 1.2 per cent, which still is second highest among major world economies.

The Prime Minister’s office and his Cabinet Ministers have been engaged in constant brainstorming with stakeholders and experts to lay a foundation for the new economic trajectory and came out with an ambitious plan of self-reliance: The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.

The messaging projected a need for localism and promotion of Make in India, launched in the year 2014 right after the BJP government took control. It’s an indicator for China, by first putting roadblocks to Chinese investments in the form of new FDI policy route and now this push for indigenous production to invite other prospective companies eager to shift base out China, which deceived the world by concealing the severity of the Virus back in December and also arrested the whistle-blower late Dr Li Wenliang who first intimated about the novel Corona Virus on a Chinese Social media platform.

For this self-reliance, the PM announced a historic stimulus package of INR 20 Lakh Crores amounting to almost 10 per cent of the GDP. The figure sounds like music to ears, especially for experts who demanded stimulus support of at least 5 to 6 per cent of the GDP. Though a few questions remain unanswered as to the source of this number and fiscal deficit balancing.

Majority of the economies worldwide are feeling the heat of the Corona Pandemic and have announced various support packages for their citizens. Japan’s COVID support amounts to 21.1 per cent of the GDP, The US gave support of 13 per cent, Germany gave 10.7 per cent, France 9.3 per cent, Italy 5.7 per cent, the UK gave 5 per cent and China, which was the home to Wuhan Virus gave only 3.8 per cent support.

The Finance Minister took the baton in her hand and on May 13, began series of her press conferences, laying the groundwork for the ambitious plan relying on five main pillars, i.e. Economy, Infrastructure, Tech-driven System, Demography and Demand. Apart from the new announcements, there is a slew of measures that the government took during the lockdown period to build the foundation for this Atmanirbhar Bharat.

There are about 63 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSME’s), which supposedly are the backbone of Indian economy contributing to 29 per cent of the GDP and will be major players in the Atmanirbhar Abhiyaan. They were a prime focus of the Finance Minister’s announcement, which dedicated six major steps for the same. The big one being, INR 3 lakh crores collateral-free government-backed automatic loans for businesses/SMEs, liquidity infusion of INR 50 thousand crores via funds of the fund, size definition liberalization and Global tender disallowance for govt projects of up to Rs 200 Crores, which in turn pushes Make in India. These efforts apart from addressing the investment and functionality issue would foster jobs and add to the pillar of infrastructure and demand.

Some major announcements were also made for the Employee Provident Funds, TDS and TCS cuts, Discoms, realty sector etc. Though widely extolled, they also met with criticism of not addressing the real problem of the downtrodden and the majorly affected migrant workers and small farmers.

Without giving much room for criticism, The Finance Minister reached Press Information Bureau within 24 hours with a support package for street vendors, migrants, small farmers and the middle class.

The second booster was no less powerful with revolutionary ideas in the form of technology-driven ‘One Nation One Ration Card’, addressing silos, leakages and food avail crisis. Affordable rental PPP mode housing was a sixer and so was the idea to support 50 lakh street vendors by credit facilities with an infusion of liquidity worth INR 50 thousand crores. Ground reports post these announcements showed a fall in the number of migrants walking back home.

The labour code modification is a step in the right direction to formalise the workforce, avert the job crisis and boost confidence. Special attention has been given to the right to health and women safety in these measures. Indian policy- making has been bereft of understanding women issues and adequate attention was missing. This pertinent announcement of making arrangements for night shifts with safety will address this missing piece of the puzzle.  

Liquidity support to farmers and rural economy post-COVID, like 63 lakh loans worth INR 86,600 crores approved show that the government is willing to strengthen every sector of the country to move towards self- resilience. Some claimed this idea to be old wine in a new bottle and fears of protectionism were raised. The right approach would be a mixed concoction of both pushing local production and enabling foreign investments to make the products in India. Demand will depend on the quality and viability as consumers have experience of world- class imported products and will not settle for anything less.

Some of these measures received an overwhelming response from industry experts, stakeholders and key players. They welcomed these decisions and are hopeful for a U-turn shift for the economic activity and regard them as a cornerstone for the self-reliance aim. Apart from pushing local production, it would enthuse the entrepreneurial zeal of local producers and service providers. In a time when pessimism is at a peak, such cushion support is the holy grail for reviving spirits and achieving aims. After 1991 liberalization reforms, if implemented well, these big bang reforms will gear us to enter phase two of the rise of the Indian economy.

The key lies with implementation, message percolation, system reformation and checks and balances. The ball is in the court of state players and administrative actors to take the baton from the hands of the cabinet and run successfully with the support of 1.3 billion citizens to the end goal of ‘The Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

Author: Sanya Dhillon, Public Policy and Political Communications professional

Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh stopped from visiting cyclone-hit areas, police claims he did not have permission

OpIndia Staff
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Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh stopped from visiting cyclone-hit areas, police claims he did not have permission

West Bengal BJP President and MP Dilip Ghosh on Saturday took to Twitter to say that he was not allowed to visit the cyclone-hit areas of the South 24 Parganas districts. Ghosh was on his way to Canning and Basanti, two of the villages worst afflicted by the menace of cyclone Amphan, to distribute relief materials for the victims. His car was stopped by the police at the Dhalai bridge near Garia area of the district.

“I don’t know why they have stopped me from carrying out the relief work in the region. The police doesn’t seem to stop the TMC leaders who are freely moving around and distributing relief materials to the cyclone-hit people of the villages,” Ghosh said.

Ghosh also threatened to organise a sit-in vigil if he was not allowed to carry out the relief work in the cyclone affected areas of West Bengal. “If the state government wants to pursue relief politics, they should get ready for a befitting reply from our workers,” he said.

Minor clashes broke out between the police and BJP workers accompanying Ghosh for the relief work. Police personnel were reportedly pushed by the saffron-clad BJP workers to pave the way for the Bengal President’s vehicle to move forward.

The police, on the other hand, stated that the West Bengal BJP President was stopped from carrying out relief activities in the cyclone-hit regions because he was not having the requisite permissions required to as per lockdown and disaster management rules.

Kolkata Mayor and State Minister Firhad Hakim accused the state BJP of doing politics over the distribution of relief materials.

The stonewalling of political opponents from carrying out the relief activities at the times of adversity demonstrates that the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in Bengal does not want its political rivals to win any kind of support from the people whom it had miserably failed in providing protection and security from the ravages of the cyclone.

Mamata Banerjee lied about PM Modi’s advance assistance to West Bengal

Yesterday, the West Bengal chief minister West Bengal unabashedly lied about PM Modi’s announcement of advance assistance package of Rs 1000 crore for the state to tide over the damages caused by cyclone Amphan. After surveying the cyclone-affected regions of West Bengal, PM Modi, in a video message, clearly and distinctly announced that he will be extending advance assistance of Rs 1000 crore to West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee was a short distance away from PM Modi when he declared the financial aid to the state.

However, subsequently, while talking to the press, Mamata Banerjee, in a bid to understate the centre’s help to the state, claimed that there was no clarity on the financial aid provided by PM Modi and she was not sure whether its an advance assistance or relief package.

Mayawati blames Congress for migrant crisis, says the videos shared by the party is less empathy and more drama

OpIndia Staff
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Mayawati blames Congress for migrant crisis, says the videos shared by the party is less empathy and more drama

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati today took to Twitter to call out Congress for its stand on the migrant crisis amid coronavirus outbreak.

Today, the migrant crisis which has arose in India amid coronavirus outbreak worsening the condition of crores of migrants is only because of Congress. Had they ensured enough employment opportunities in villages and cities for people, then they would not have to leave their states for better work opportunities. Similarly, the way Congress leaders are putting out videos trying to show empathy for the migrants in crisis looks more like a drama, she tweeted. Congress should’ve rather told us how many people it actually helped amid the lockdown. Mayawati further said that if the BJP ruled central and state government implements policies such that employment opportunities can be created in these states to make them self reliant, then such a situation may not arise in future again. Mayawati further appealed to BSP workers to help out those migrants in distress as it is only humane to do such.

Congress ‘bus’ controversy

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi had claimed that last week, the Congress had arranged for 1,000 buses for migrants but due to lack of permission from UP government, they are stuck at the border. Following that, the UP government accepted the offer and asked for details of the buses along with driver details. However, when the list was sent by Congress, many of those ‘buses’ were actually ambulances, auto rickshaws, private cars and even buses which were blacklisted over various irregularities with authorities.

Later the bus drivers who were arranged for by the Congress in Rajasthan chanted anti-Congress slogans over stale food served to them. The political slugfest turned ugly after UP government and Congress indulged in FIR war. UP Police booked Priyanka Gandhi’s adie Sandeep Singh and Congress UP chief Ajay Lallu for forgery and cheating. After that, Rajasthan Police filed a retaliatory FIR against UP Additional Chief Secretary (Home). Later on Tuesday, Lallu was arrested by Agra Police for sitting on a dharna amid coronavirus lockdown. However, Priyanka Gandhi then later recalled the buses claiming UP government was playing politics.

Congress’ Rae Bareli MLA Aditi Singh called out her party’s bluff and praised Yogi Adityanath for handling the migrant crisis in state amid coronavirus crisis. She was later suspended from Congress.

Yogendra Yadav and other intellectuals suggest taking over private property in war against Coronavirus, amend it after backlash saying they didn’t mean it

OpIndia Staff
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Yogendra Yadav and other intellectuals suggest taking over private property in war against Coronavirus, amend it after backlash saying they didn’t mean it

On May 22, leftist politician Yogendra Yadav had posted a statement issued by several ‘economists, intellectuals and activists’, calling for a 7-point plan of action of action to combat the situation arising out of Coronavirus outbreak. While some of the demands are already being taken care of by the government, and some are general leftist demands, one particular point in their proposal had attracted widespread criticism.

The point number 7.1 in the so-called ‘Mission Jai Hind’ had called for the government to take over all properties of private citizens and treat them as national resources. The point said, “All the resources (cash, real estate, property, bonds, etc) with the citizens or within the nation must be treated as national resources available during this crisis.”

The so-called intellectuals clearly said that govt should take over all cash, real estate, property, bonds belonging to private citizens and treat them as national resources to be used in the war against coronavirus. This is obviously a very dangerous proposal, and as expected received only few takers. Even people in the left-liberal eco-system didn’t agree to this.

After receiving wide-scale criticism, the group has now revised the point number 7.1 in their proposal. Now the point says, “The government must explore emergency ways of raising resources going beyond the usual set of taxes and levies to cope with the problem of funding large relief packages”.

This is a significant climb down for the leftists, who are usually not known to respect the views of others. But even while they changed their proposal, they didn’t leave this opportunity to peddle another lie. While posting the amended proposal, Yogendra Yadav said that the point 7.1 had attracted undue attention. He claimed that it was “interpreted to mean a call for nationalisation/expropriation of private property”, and it was ‘far from their intention’.

If it was far from their intention, then the ‘intellectuals’ write very bad English, because that is what their original proposal meant. If something is to be treated as ‘national resources available during this crisis’, it means those resources will have to be taken over by the government, either permanently or temporarily. It can’t mean anything else, and it does not convey any other message that Yogendra Yadav and his friends may be suggesting.

Even though only one suggestion attracted attention of people, it does not mean that other suggestions are very good. Even though they have modified the point number 7.1, they have retained the point number 2.2, which called for use of private infrastructure for free quarantine, and private hospitals, ICU beds and ventilators. Thereby, they are still proposing that govt should take over private hospitals and institutions for free Coronavirus treatment and quarantine.

It may be noted that coronavirus testing and treatment is already free in all government hospitals and facilities, and even in private hospitals the treatment is available for free for the poor under Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Some of their other proposals are also already being implemented. Their first proposal says bring migrants back withing 10 days without charges. The Railway ministry is already dozens of Shramik Special trains to bring migrants home, and already lakhs of migrants have already availed the services of these trains. They need not pay for travelling in the Shramik trains, as the cost is borne by the central govt and state govts. Their demand to complete this exercise is certainly not practical, as the number of people stranded in other states is huge, and it is not possible to transport such larger number of people in just 10 days. Prior to the lockdown, the number of people who work outside their states were not known. And after the special trains started, lakhs of people registered. Therefore, trains are being arranged as per the demand.

Moreover, the transport of migrants is being staggered on the request of several receiving states, as the incoming migrants need to kept in quarantine. As most migrants are returning from Coronavirus hotspots like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan etc, they need to be kept in quarantine before they can be tested.

Their suggestion for moratorium on interest on loan payment has also been already announced. Initially RBI announced a three-month moratorium, which have been extended by another three months until 31 August.

Shiv Sena puts Hindutva on a back-burner, says Ram Mandir in Ayodhya can wait

OpIndia Staff
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Shiv Sena puts Hindutva on a back-burner, says Ram Mandir in Ayodhya can wait

Ever since Shiv Sena formed an unholy nexus with political rivals- NCP And Congress to form a government in Maharashtra, it has evidently shunned its core ideological moorings of Hindutva and embraced appeasement politics of its newfound allies.

Keeping in line with this, the Shiv Sena party, which was once at the forefront of getting a magnificent Ram Temple to be built at the site of Ayodhya, has now put the issue on the back-burner and claimed that the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya can wait.

Refusing to comment on the Shiv Ling and several pillars that were excavated in Ayodhya, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut stated that all issues such as “India, Pakistan, Ram Mandir” can be put on hold now.

Speaking to the Times Now, the firebrand Shiv Sena leader, who was recently relegated from the post of Saamana editor, Raut said that the country is reeling under the unprecedented crisis of coronavirus outbreak and issues such as India-Pakistan and Ram Temple can wait until the pandemic recedes.

However, political analysts viewed these statements from Shiv Sena as further abnegation of its commitment to the cause of Hindutva.

Shiv Sena accused of betraying Hindutva

Ever since Shiv Sena broke its alliance with the BJP, the latter has accused it of trading its much-revered Hindutva ideology for the position of chief ministership. Shiv Sena severed ties with its erstwhile partner after being embroiled in a dispute over the rotational chief ministerial post.

While Sena claimed that the BJP had promised to have a rotational chief minister-2.5 years each before the elections, the BJP, on the other hand, claimed that no such pact was deliberated with Shiv Sena.

With the aim of installing a Shiv Sainik as the chief minister of the state, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party snapped its ties with the BJP and formed an alliance with the ideological rivals-NCP and Congress, sacrificing its support for Hindutva on the altar of chief ministerial position.

The first signs of Shiv Sena dropping the Hindutva issue came to fore when a Common Minimum Programme(CMP) was hashed out between the allies of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. It appeared that in their thirst for power, Shiv Sena had have given up on the Hindutva cause. In fact, there were speculations that the Congress and NCP wanted an assurance from Shiv Sena that their Hindutva agenda is going to take a back-seat once the government is formed.

After forming government with NCP and Congress, Shiv Sena has drastically toned down its demand for a Bharat Ratna for the Hindutva ideologue and Freedom Fighter Veer Savarkar, indicating that Shiv Sena no longer champions the cause of Hindutva with the same vigorous intensity it once did. Reservations up to 5 per cent for Muslims in Maharashtra was another such incident which demonstrated that Shiv Sena has abandoned the Hindutva cause.

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