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Coordinated​ marketing cannot hide the Coronavirus mess being created in Maharashtra: Here are some facts

Editorial Desk
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Coordinated​ marketing cannot hide the Coronavirus mess being created in Maharashtra: Here are some facts

The Coronavirus pandemic has turned everyone’s world upside-down. Other than being a pandemic and the obvious ramifications that come with the world grappling with millions affected and thousands dead, what the pandemic has revealed, however, are the hits and misses of our system of governance. Essentially, in a country of 1.3 Billion people, controlling a pandemic like this can be a near impossibility at worst, a nightmare at best. Amidst the chaos, the central government showed remarkable alacrity in its quest to control the virus. The sheer resilience of the medical workers, essential services personnel and the police force, that India often likes to criticise, rose to the occasion. In fact, until the Tablighi Jamaat case blew up, it almost seemed like India was fighting the pandemic with far more ease than the other countries. Even after the Tablighi Jamaat cases exploded, the decisiveness with which the central government and the state governments have acted in tracking, quarantining and testing, gives one immense hope.

However, in such dark times, while the collective mettle of a nation is tested, it is the gravity of leaders that is tested the most. In this regard, judging by the praise being showered, one state and one leader has emerged victorious.

Praise showered upon Uddhav Thackeray, the CM of Maharashtra

From actors to neutral journalists, if one reads their tweets, it would appear that Maharashtra has come out ahead of the curve and contained the Coronavirus threat, or at least, it is doing a remarkable job at it.

Now, mostly, dealing with an unprecedented pandemic of this proportion there are bound to be hits and misses. It would be foolish to imagine or to expect that any government world over would make no mistakes and deal with the pandemic with perfection. However, the mistakes become even more glaring when a marketing campaign is unleashed to project a state that stands at the cusp of a downward spiral as one that is managing the pandemic the best.

The Tablighi Jamaat fiasco and Maharashtra’s under-reporting, shielding and dog-whistling

The Coronavirus positive cases in India reached 4067 with most number of cases being reported from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, in that order. Maharashtra reported 690 cases with 45 deaths, Tamil Nadu reported 571 cases with 5 deaths and Delhi reported 503 cases with 7 deaths.

State-wise Coronavirus cases in India (source: MoHFW)

It is pertinent to note that Maharashtra has reported the most number of cases (690) and most number of deaths (45) as compared to any other state in India. Till this moment, that amounts to Maharashtra contributing almost 17% of the total cases in India and 41% deaths due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

While Maharashtra cases according to the Central Ministry website stands at 690, according to the Media Bulletin released by the Maharashtra government, the total cases have increased to 748 as on 5th April.

The obvious reaction to these statistics is to wonder if the Tablighi Jamaat cases contributed to the cases in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi ballooning to this level.

Until the 4th April, when the cases in Maharashtra were at the 490 level, there were only 7 cases related to Tablighi Jamaat reported.

Cases of Tablighi Jamaat state-wise until April 4th

As one can see, till the 4th of April, while Maharashtra reported 7 out of 490 to be Tablighi Jamaat related, the other two states, Delhi and Tamil Nadu reported 301 out of 445 and 364 out of 411 respectively.

Since then, news has surfaced that over 1300 people who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi are present in Maharashtra. It is unimaginable, that with such numbers and the number of cases in Maharashtra going from 490 to 690 (781 according to media reports) since April 4th and 1300 Tablighi Jamaat members present in Maharashtra, the cases of Coronavirus linked to the Jamaat would be low.

So why is the Maharashtra government tight-lipped on the number of cases related to Tablighi Jamaat and why is there no authentic report from the state government as to how many cases related to the Nizamuddin event have come to the fore in Maharashtra?

It was on the 4th of April itself that Uddhav Thackeray had announced that all cases linked to Tablighi Jamaat have been identified and traced. He also claimed that they have been isolated and quarantined. If one would take Uddhav Thackeray on face value, then the surge of case in Maharashtra since April 4th (of 200 cases) would make little sense.

Tweet by Maharashtra CMO on April 4th

However, doubts are raised when one realises that just a day before, on 3rd April, the Maharashtra Health Department had said that 1033 people out of the 1225 Tablighi attendees had been located.

Unless the Government of Maharashtra tracked and quarantined 200 people in a span of one day, there seems to be a dichotomy in the statements coming out of Maharashtra.

For a moment, even if we do assume that Maharashtra did track and quarantine 200 people in a single day and thus, all those who attended the Tablighi event were contained, in a strange update, Mumbai police tweeted today, on the 6th of April, urging those who attended the Tablighi event to come forward and call on the helpline Maharashtra had launched.

There are certain question that can be raised from the dichotomy in statements by the Maharashtra government:

  1. Did the Maharashtra government lie when it said all Tablighi attendees have been traced?
  2. Is Maharashtra hiding details of the cases related to Tablighi Jamaat
  3. Is there overall under-reporting in Maharashtra.

While the pandemic has taken mammoth proportions in the state, the Maharashtra government has single-mindedly focused more on “secularism”, or the false notion of it, at least, than actually fighting the pandemic. And this statement is corroborated by the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s own rants.

On the 4th of April, when the positive Tablighi Jamaat cases were reportedly only 7 out of 490 (which is 0.014%), the Chief Minister of Maharashtra tweeted, telling people to desist from spreading “communalism”.

Tweets by CMO

The tweet by CMO Maharashtra was craftily written. On first reading, one thinks that the CMO is slamming those who shared videos where Muslims were seen contaminating objects like current notes deliberately to spread the virus to “Kafirs”. However, once the tweets are called out, the CMO will also have an out to claim that the tweet was about Uddhav Thackeray saying that anyone spreading communalism could pertain to the Muslim man invoking Allah and trying to spread the virus to Kafirs itself was the ‘communalism’ being spoken about.

This tweet got unprecedented praise from the usual “secular” folks who think that calling out Tablighi Jamaat and several Muslims for their blatant hate for “Kafirs” and criminal irresponsibility in endangering lives is far more “serious” than them actually endangering lives.

Essentially, by clubbing the “videos like commodities or notes being smeared with saliva” with “fake news”, Uddhav Thackeray essentially sounded a dog-whistle to secularism where he tacitly marked the video as ‘fake’ and those sharing the video to raise awareness as ‘communal’. In reality, Nashik Rural Police had tweeted arresting the Muslim man who had smeared the note with his saliva to infect “Kafirs”.

Essentially, there are various aspects here related to the Tablighi Jamaat fiasco as far as Maharashtra is concerned:

  1. There were several dichotomous statements that were released earlier regarding the tracking and quarantining of Tablighi Jamaat members till the 4th. Later, the Maharashtra government appealed for attendees to come forward. The Maharashtra government must answer if it under-reporting the cases related to Tablighi Jamaat because either they failed to track them effectively, or because after their posturing about how they cancelled the Tablighi Jamaat event and thus, saved the state from the pandemic, they cannot admit that they failed.
  2. Till the 5th of April, only 12 cases were reportedly related to Tablighi Jamaat. 7 were attendees and 5 were their contacts. If Maharashtra is not underreporting, then what explains the spread of the virus where the cases have now ballooned to almost 800? And if Maharashtra really is mismanaging the pandemic, how is the PR helping?
  3. Why is the Maharashtra government not releasing the data of the number of Tablighi cases that have emerged since the 4th of April?
  4. Since the Government of Maharashtra is so concerned about “secularism”, is the under-reporting of cases so as to ensure that the sentiments of the Muslim community not hurt? It is pertinent to note that the Maharashtra government did meet the representatives of Tablighi Jamaat today saying that they will ensure that “communalism is kept in check”.

Evidence of mismanagement of Coronavirus pandemic emerges from Maharashtra

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the cases in Maharashtra may be under-reported, especially, due to the sheer incompetence of the Maharashtra government.

A video that went viral suggested that a family of 10 who was infected with Coronavirus were not even quarantined or tracked by the government. In fact, another death of suspected Coronavirus was not even reflected in the government data and the government simply turned away till prodded.

This is what Mumbai Mirror reported regarding the case of Coronavirus positive cases of the family of 10.

News via Mumbai Mirror

It was said that despite 10 positive cases, the BMC did not bother to set up a containment zone and that has endangered several people.

It is perhaps this irresponsibility that the number of hotspots in Maharashtra increased from 4 to 8 overnight. Worli G South ward has 68 patients. E, H East, P North, M West wards are the new hotspots.

There is, of course, no confirmation how many of these cases are due to Tablighi Jamaat cases or other cases because the Maharashtra government has refused to release that data. What is obvious, however, is that the Maharashtra government is not doing a very good job of containing the spread.

Interestingly, the majority of positive cases that have emerged from Maharashtra have been from the capital city of Mumbai. According to the press release by the govt, Mumbai accounted for 458 total cases and 35 deaths.

If we assume that the Maharashtra government has not under-reported the cases of Tablighi Jamaat to preserve ‘secularism’, one has to ask what the government is doing (or failing to do) to become the state with the most positive cases in the country.

The explanation that the size of the population is vast is one that will not hold water. Uttar Pradesh is far larger and is the most populous state of India, however, they have managed to limit their cases largely. According to the Ministry website, UP has reported 227 cases with 2 deaths so far.

Delhi, which was hauled through the coals for allowing the Tablighi event to take place, and rightly so, has reported most cases from the Tablighi event itself which does not seem to be the case with Maharashtra. In fact, CM Kejriwal was questioned by giving the example of CM Uddhav Thackeray saying that if he could disallow the Tablighi event, why did Delhi not follow suit. While that criticism is completely valid, in terms of the numbers, Delhi seems to be handling the pandemic far better than Maharashtra. In fact, every state seems to be handling it far better than Maharashtra.

In such a scenario, empty PR stunts would not help as much as an honest evaluation of what is going wrong in Maharashtra. The truth must prevail not only for the sake of lives but also because the misreporting from one state could adversely impact the reporting overall of the Coronavirus pandemic in India. While there are several things that the Maharashtra government has done right, for example, its outreach program to keep its people calm, there are several issues that have clearly come to the fore as well. The need of the hour is to transparently report and discuss what is going wrong rather than getting celebrities to whitewash the image in the face of a pandemic.

Surat: Neighbours squabble over pet dog, doctor alleges she was being harassed because of coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Surat: Neighbours squabble over pet dog, doctor alleges she was being harassed because of coronavirus

A video has gone viral on social media where a man can be seen abusing a woman who has been identified as a doctor. The man, who is the doctor’s neighbour, allegedly misbehaved with her and called her names as he tried to physically attack her.

In the video, a man in pink t-shirt can be heard hurling abuses to the lady and questioning her “so what if you are a doctor?” At one point he even lunges at her and tries to throw away the phone on which she seems to be recording the incident.

However, the reports are now coming which say that the altercation started over the doctor’s pet dog that attacked the neighbour. The man in the pink t-shirt is identified as one Chetan Mehta and the doctor is one Dr Sanjivani Panigrahi. According to the neighbours, on Sunday evening when Mehta’s wife was stepping out, Dr Sanjivani’s pet dog started barking at her and attacked her. Mehta’s wife then started fighting with the neighbour and soon Chetan also joined in. At this point, the doctor video recorded the entire incident and informed the MLA about it. Following this, Adajan Police rushed to spot and arrested Mehta.

Mehta’s wife has alleged that the arguments which started over pet dog were taken all the way to coronavirus. As per the report, Mehta had earlier questioned Dr Sanjivani over her contacting the Chinese virus as she is a doctor at civil hospital. On 25th March, the two neighbours had a fight over this. On Sunday, when Dr Sanjivani’s pet dog attacked Mehta’s wife, Mehta came to her rescue following which the pet dog went back inside the house. Mehta’s wife has alleged that Dr Sanjivani dragged the matter to coronavirus in the viral video.

Chetan Mehta’s wife has accused that the doctor shot the video and made it viral to defame her husband.

Powerloom in Malegaon found operational amidst coronavirus lockdown, police officials who took action face administration wrath: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Powerloom in Malegaon found operational amidst coronavirus lockdown, police officials who took action face administration wrath: Report

Even as the entire country diligently followed PM Modi’s directive of observing complete lockdown to tame the Wuhan coronavirus, there were some who continued to operate unabatedly, in flagrant violation of the nationwide lockdown restrictions. Powerlooms in the Maharashtrian town of Malegaon carried on its operations unhampered amidst the coronavirus lockdown in the country, said a report broadcasted on ABP Majha.

As per the report, despite the nationwide lockdown called upon by PM Modi, power-looms in Ramzanpura neighbourhood of Malegaon operated unhindered. When police officials reached a functioning power-loom in Ramzanpura, the gates and windows were closed but the continuous rumbling of the machines inside the power-loom made the officials suspicious that something is going on in the midst of curfew in the town. When enquired, police found that the power-loom was operational with more than 10 employees present at the facility.

In addition, the police officials also found that a restaurant adjoining the power-loom was also operating covertly and meals were being prepared for the employees working at the facility. When the police officials accosted the workers and questioned about the functioning of power-loom amidst curfew, the workers claimed that the power-loom had remained operational daily for 3 hours from 9AM to 12PM.

However, the report says that the duty-bound police officials who went to the power-loom to act against the workers are now facing the wrath of the administration for taking action against the employees and the power-looms that breached the lockdown restrictions and continued running their operations. It is now alleged that the action against the police officials is initiated at the behest of Malegaon MLA Mufti Mohammad Ismail of NCP who is known to have close relations with the power-looms owner.

Rajasthan: Stones pelted at a Temple in Jhunjhunu district when locals tried to light diyas, one arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Stones pelted at a Temple in Jhunjhunu district when locals tried to light diyas, one arrested

An incident of stone-pelting has been reported from the Jhunjhunu District in Rajasthan on the 5th of April when people were lighting diyas and candles across the country honouring the Prime Minister’s call for a demonstration of social solidarity. As per reports, people were attacked when they were lighting diyas and candles at the local temple by those from a different community. Some people have reportedly been injured. Police had to reach the spot quickly in order to bring the situation under control.

The matter soon escalated into a communal flare-up and both parties started pelting stones at each other. However, the Police reached the place before things could deteriorate any further. An investigation is currently underway into the whole incident. One person has been arrested by the Police in connection with the matter.

On Sunday night at 9 PM, Indians came out on their roofs and balconies and lit up lamps, torches and candles to show solidarity in this fight against Chinese coronavirus. While the lighting of lamps may not scare away coronavirus, it did give billions of Indians a hope that we will sail through.

Tamil Nadu: Over 100 people who had participated in burial of coronavirus patient put under quarantine, hospital denies negligence charges

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Over 100 people who had participated in burial of coronavirus patient put under quarantine, hospital denies negligence charges

On April 4, the Stanley Hospital in Tamil Nadu came under the scanner after the swab test result of a 70-year-old man who died on April 2 was found positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus. The patient was a resident of Chennai and had recently travelled to Dubai. He died within 2 hours after he was admitted to the government hospital.

As per a report in the New Indian Express, the family members said that the authorities kept them uninformed about the likelihood of the patient dying due to the pandemic. As such, no precautionary measures were taken. 101 people who had attended the funeral, including family members, have now been kept under home quarantine in Ramanathapuram.

The family took the body of the deceased via an ambulance to Keelakarai in Ramanathapuram on the same night of his death. His body was buried the following day around 10 am. A family member claimed, “At the hospital, we were neither informed that he was a suspected COVID-19 patient nor that his samples were drawn for testing.

The body was handed over to us wrapped in a green-colored cloth.” When the test results returned positive on Saturday, it was only then that the hospital authorities informed the family. The area around the house has now been disinfected and sealed.

“The man came very late and was in the hospital for only two hours. In that time the doctors did everything they could. Samples were also taken and sent for testing. After coming from Dubai he was under home quarantine. Following necessary guidelines, the body was handed over after packaging”, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh was quoted as saying in Chennai.

Hospital authorities also denied any wrongdoing on their part. A senior doctor said that the patient’s family was asked to follow protocol. The hospital management said the samples were received on Saturday night and refuted claims of delay.

it is reported that Ramanathapuram MLA M Manikandan had also visited the deceased and has been put under quarantine.

Earlier, the Archdiocese of Bombay, Cardinal Oswald Gracias had appealed to his followers to cremate the bodies of those who have died of Coronavirus. Calling upon the clergy of all the churches in Mumbai, the cardinal has asked them to follow their instructions issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC) and the burn the dead bodies of Christians who died of Coronavirus.

As per a WHO report, the burial of coronavirus patients poses the risk of a further outbreak of the disease but the cremation doesn’t hold any such risks. The report said that when the body is burnt in an electric machine, its temperature is around 700– 1000 ° C. This causes the virus to die and there is no risk of it spreading. However, the WHO says that if a dead body of a coronavirus victim is buried, the risk of its spread aggravates. The WHO report states that if such a body is buried in the ground, then care should be taken that there is no water source within 30 meters of the burial site.

Pune: 40 doctors quarantined after Tablighi Jamaati hides he went to Nizamuddin but tests positive when being treated for accident

OpIndia Staff
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Pune: 40 doctors quarantined after Tablighi Jamaati hides he went to Nizamuddin but tests positive when being treated for accident

About 40 doctors of a distinguished medical college were quarantined after a trauma patient they performed an emergency surgery upon turned out positive for the Wuhan coronavirus on Saturday night. According to a report published in the Times of India, the patient had deliberately hidden his travel history at the time of his admission and it was later discovered that he had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Markaz Nizamuddin, New Delhi.

An autorickshaw driver from Khadki, the patient had met with the accident and suffered internal bleeding when he was taken to the hospital on March 31. Two days later, when his body temperature started soaring dangerously, the doctors questioned his mother, who confessed that his son had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi.

As per a hospital official, the patient’s family members had initially claimed that he had no travel history. A team of doctors, along with nurses, had performed an emergency surgery involving resection of the part of his injured intestine. However, when the patient developed fever a couple of days later, the hospital staff became suspicious and enquired his mother about his travel history. It was then that the patient’s mother admitted that her son had returned from the Tablighi Jamaat meet organised in Markaz Nizamuddin, New Delhi. The patient’s throat swab sample was then sent for test on Friday and the report which came a day later said the patient has tested positive for COVID-19.

Soon after the patient being positive for novel coronavirus came in, the patient was shifted to YCM hospital in Pimpri. The throat swab samples of 40 surgeons and resident doctors who had come in contact with him were sent to the National Institute of Virology. The doctors have been placed in quarantine in separate rooms on one of the hospital’s floors, said a senior official of hospital-cum-college.

Besides 40 doctors, 30 other hospital employees, including nurses, attendants and cleaning staff members, who are believed to have been exposed to the patient were also quarantined. Their throat swab samples have also been sent for testing.

There seems to be no end to the wrath unleashed by the Tablighi Jamaat miscreants who attended the Markaz Nizamuddin congregation in New Delhi. They have acted as the vector of the deadly contagion, spreading the infection as far as Assam, Tripura in the far east to Tamil Nadu in the south. The Jamaat errants have also been unforthcoming and deceitful in revealing their travel history, thereby exposing the unsuspecting people around them to the threat of COVID-19, that has so far affected 1.2 million people worldwide with 65,000 fatalities.

In India, Tablighi Jamaat has emerged as the newest hotspot with more than 1,000 cases in the country linked to the Jamaat congregation in March. The government on Sunday claimed that Tablighi Jamaat has significantly contributed to the rise of coronavirus outbreak in the country, citing that the cases are doubling in 4.1 days as against the earlier number of confirmed cases that doubled in around 7.4 days on an average.

Naamdar chor hai: Rahul Gandhi steals cartoon, crops out watermark and denies credit to a startup

OpIndia Staff
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Naamdar chor hai: Rahul Gandhi steals cartoon, crops out watermark and denies credit to a startup

Former Congress President who ran the 2019 general election campaign on ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai‘ slogan on Sunday ended up stealing a cartoon from a startup which makes quirky cartoons on news. On Sunday, the Wayanad MP shared a cartoon titled ‘COVID-19 Survival Kit’ to mock the ‘lights out’ campaign of Prime Minister Modi to extend solidarity in fight against coronavirus.

The cartoon shared by Rahul Gandhi tried to mock the campaign by claiming that while the other countries are looking at masks, sanitisers and hygiene for fighting coronavirus, India is resorting to diyas, torches and banging vessels. Rahul Gandhi conveniently forgets that the lighting lamps and clapping and ringing bells are symbolic gestures to create a feeling that we are all together in this fight against Chinese coronavirus. The masks, PPEs and other equipments are being made available to the doctors at war footing.

However, even while mocking the Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi stole someone else’s artwork, cropped out the watermark and denied credit to the toon-startup.

The cartoon was created by SnapNews, which called out the former Congress President for using their artwork without their permission and due credit.

Vishal Bhargava, one of the partners at SnapNews, while speaking to OpIndia said that, “We would have appreciated if he had taken permission and not cropped out our logo. It is quite prominent on the top left corner. The top part is edited and only central part of cartoon was shared.”

This is not the first time Congress has been caught red-handed stealing creative ideas of others and passing them off as original ideas.

Back in 2017, too, Congress had stolen a cartoonist’s artwork and even removed his signature before passing it off as original artwork.

In an even more hilarious copy-cat instance, Gujarat Congress, which is harbouring hopes of revival in Gujarat, seems to have borrowed their tagline, “Congress Aave Chhe” from a cooking oil brand, Pankaj, which had the tagline “Pankaj Aave Chhe”, months before Congress came up with the tagline. Earlier, too, Congress had ‘copied‘ the ‘Main Nahin, Hum’ tagline of Gujarat government chintan shivir during their 2014 campaign.

Main Nahin Hum campaign lifted by Congress

We had also reported how the idea of “Indira canteen” in Karnataka may have been directly lifted from the food subsidisation programme run by Tamil Nadu Government, “Amma Canteen”, which Rahul Gandhi inadvertently ended up crediting. In 2016, a cartoonist had alleged that Congress forced him to take off his cartoon.

Not only media cell, even former ministers from the UPA have been accused of plagiarism. The Hindu had published an article ‘From welfare to paternalism’ by Veerappa Moily, on June 11, 2015, which they had to withdraw after charges of plagiarism were put on Moily. As reported, several paragraphs under a subheading were copied from another article by G Sampath which was published on 26th May, 2015, ironically in The Hindu itself. Also speaks volumes about the editorial standards of the publication.

Seems like Congress steals not just our money, but also our ideas.

Lucknow: Healthcare workers attacked, abused in Kasaibara area where several COVID-19 positive patients were found hiding in a Mosque

OpIndia Staff
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Lucknow: Healthcare workers attacked, abused in Kasaibara area where several COVID-19 positive patients were found hiding in a Mosque

A group of locals misbehaved with the health workers in Kasaibara near Sadar area in Lucknow after the area was sealed by the authorities. 12 members of Tablighi Jamaat in the area who had participated in the religious congregation held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin between March 13 and March 15 had reportedly tested positive for the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus on April 3.

As per reports, the medical team was sent to the area after the 12 Jamaatis were found to be covid-19 positive. But the team was brutally attacked by the local people who chased and beat up health workers, even female staffers were not spared. The health workers have complained that the mob even tried to tear their survey reports. Reports say that the attack came from a locality near the Mosque where the covid-19 patients were found.

Earlier, 26 Tablighi Jamaat attendees at Ahmedabad’s Sola Civil Hospital created a ruckus and refused to take medicines or injections claiming that the government wants to kill them. The Jamaatis accused that they were being held against their will and gathered around in a corner. When the medical team tried to test them, they refused and created a ruckus. Following this, the hospital’s superintendent had to call a Muslim doctor. After five hours of high voltage drama, the Jamaatis relented after being counselled by the Muslim doctor.

The Uttar Pradesh police had registered an FIR against six people associated with controversial Tablighi Jamaat for walking around the ward without their trousers on and making lewd gestures towards the nurses during their quarantine at MMG District Hospital in the city. This incident of Tablighi Jamaat members misbehaving came after they were quarantined. They were found intentionally roaming naked in their ward and making lewd gestures towards the female staff at a Ghaziabad Hospital.

In yet another ghastly attack on the healthcare workers by Islamists, the Tablighi Jamaat members who were quarantined at Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College in Kanpur had misbehaved with the medical staff and spat on them during their stay at the hospital in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The hospital staff had accused the attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat of breaking the rules of quarantine and defying all norms of social distancing. The staff said that the Jamaat members were making unnecessary demands to the hospital staff creating difficulties in their treatment.

Many such incidents of Tablighi Jamaat members and their supporters attacking, misbehaving and abusing healthcare workers have been reported across the nation. Recently, in Indore’s Tatpatti Bakhal, a medical team was viciously attacked, prompting the Shivraj Chouhan government to slap charges under NSA on the miscreants. UP government has also ordered that any persons attacking policemen during the lockdown will have to face NSA charges.

40 years ago, after losing its political identity for a national cause, this is how BJP was born

Shantanu Gupta
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40 years ago, after losing its political identity for a national cause, this is how BJP was born

Today on 6th of April, 2020, 40 years after the formation of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), lets dive deep into it’s formation.

Bhartiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the precursor to BJP, fought the general elections of 1977 as part of Janata Party group, though there was no formal merger of the two. The Janata Party won 299 seats out of 405 it fought. Interesting part was that the BJS emerged as the largest constituent of the Janata Party, with 93 seats, but BJS leaders Atal and Advani, never claimed for the Prime Minister’s post. BJS selflessly sacrificed the whole party, in the Janata Party Experiment, emerged as the biggest faction in the Janata Party and did not even claim for the Prime Minister’s post, as for them the nation’s interest was supreme. It’s noteworthy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, captured this core essence of BJS/BJP and gave the motto of ‘Nation First’ and ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ to the lead the aspirational New India.

1977 Janata Party experiment, failed due to Prime Ministerial ambitions of Chaudhary Charan Singh and a few others and country had to face fresh elections. In 1980 elections, The Janata Party managed to win only 31 seats out of 432 it contested and again BJS contributed almost half of it – 15 seats. At this moment, factions started to re-surface with in the Janata Party group. Threatened by the electoral successes of BJS section in the Janata Party in 1977 and 1980 elections, many socialist leaders with in The Janata Party again raised the issue of ‘dual membership’ – meaning members of The Janata Party, cannot be a member of Rashtriya Swamsewak Sangh (RSS).

Ousted PM Morarji Desai did try to work out a compromise to keep the former BJS members within the Janata Party fold. But the national executive of The Janata Party on 4 April 1980 rejected the ‘compromise’ and, instead, resolved to expel all former BJS leaders from the party. This came both as a jolt and a relief to Vajpayee, Advani and their followers. It was a jolt because they had made the ‘supreme sacrifice’ of merging the BJS with the Janata Party in 1977, following a call by Jayaprakash Narayan, with the hope of giving the nation a firm political alternative. And it was a relief because it was ‘good riddance and finally, liberation’, though they were ‘proud to have been associated’ with the party. 

On 5–6 April 1980, at a two-day national convention, the erstwhile BJS members met in Delhi and resolved to form a new political outfit—the BJP, with Vajpayee as its founding president. It turned out to be a milestone in its journey as the party came into its own, and Vajpayee established himself as the undisputed leader of the Indian political spectrum. Vajpayee was of the opinion that the party should not look back but forward.

‘We look to the future, and not to the past, as we begin our endeavour to rebuild our party. We shall move ahead on the strength of our original thinking and principles,’ Vajpayee said in his inaugural presidential speech. His speech, delivered in Hindi, was a typical example of his oratory excellence and his hope and confidence about the future. ‘Andhera chhatega, suraj nikalega aur kamal khilega [Darkness will subside, the sun will rise and the lotus shall bloom],’ he thundered. His speech was appreciated by leaders and journalists alike. 

Today the BJP formed by Atal and Advani is the world’s largest party by membership size, with more than 18 crore members. It has formed the government in the center the 5th time in its history in 2019, with last two governments under PM Narendra Modi having absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. It’s ruling in 18 states, directly or through its partners. It’s getting good vote share even in states like Kerala and West Bengal. It is no more a party of north India or the cow belt. The Prime Minister, the President of India, the Vice President of India and the Lok Sabha Speaker are all from the BJP. At no other time in history has any non-Congress party been this dominant in India’s polity. In many ways, the BJP today is where the Congress used to be in the 1950s. 

Growth in BJP’s seats in the Lok Sabha over the years. In 1977, 93 out of 298 members were Bharatiya Jana Sangh. In 1980, 16 out of 31 members were of Bharatiya Jana Sangha

Though the BJP was formally founded in 1980, its political journey started with the formation of the BJS in 1951. The BJS has his roots in the RSS and in other dharmic, cultural and nationalist movements before it. So to understand the BJP, we have to go to the roots, the formations, the ideas, the leaders and the ideological frameworks of the BJS, the RSS and the other movements before them, right back to the Arya Samaj & Hindu Mahasabha.

Today is the day, when we should reflect back that current Ghar Wapsi debates have their roots in the Shudhi Andolan of Arya Samaj in which Swami Sharaddhanand lost his life by a member of Tablighi Jamat, today’s Hindutva and nationalist doctrine has its roots in the ideas of Savarkar, debates around cow find its history in the cow protection movements of 1881, today’s political tactic of Muslim Appeasement has its roots in the divisive ideas of Sir Syed Ahmed (Founder of today’s Aligarh Muslim University), todays corrections like removing article 370, Implementing National Citizen Register (NRC) and Ram Janm Bhoomi Verdict have their history in major political blunders of the Congress Party in the past, today’s dissolution of centralized top-down governance structure of Planning Commission, finds its roots in BJS’ initial manifestos. 

I strongly feel that whole of Bharatvarsha, from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, is and has been,  a living organism, through the ages –  geographically, culturally and historically. Bharat is an ancient nation and Bharatiya nationalism, therefore, must naturally be based on undivided allegiance to Bharat as a whole and her great and ancient culture, which distinguishes her from other lands.

To my understanding, the BJP of today is the latest political manifestation of the years of nationalist movements that India has seen. As the Congress ruled the government for decades after Independence and the left ruled the academia, the story of the nationalist movement—from the Arya Samaj to the Hindu Mahasabha to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (the BJS) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—never got narrated in its entirety and purity. Today on #BJP@40, it’s time to ponder, read and reflect back on the true history of BJP and the history of nationalist movements in India,

[Shantanu Gupta is the author of  BJP – Past, Present and Future (Story of Worlds, Largest Political Party). You could buy a copy here.]

Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad using quarantine as an excuse to evade arrest, hiding in a populated area and mobilising support: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad using quarantine as an excuse to evade arrest, hiding in a populated area and mobilising support: Reports

The head of the Tablighi Jamaat, Maulana Saad, who claims to have quarantined himself in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak is now using his time to gather support and mobilise the Jamaatis. A report in TV9 Bharatvarsh has mentioned that Saad who is a resident of Zakir Nagar, is hiding on the outskirts of Delhi at a supporter’s house.

As per the report, the cops informed that Saad is in constant touch with his lawyers through different phones, other than his own. The Islamic cleric had hidden in a dense population area, knowing well that it could help evade arrest. A source confided that delayed police action made it easier for Maulana Saad to go off the radar. When the police sent him a notice asking to answer 26 questions, Maulana Saad stated that he would reply only after the end of the quarantine period.

“We are informing our people that a conspiracy is being hatched to arrest our leader who has done great service to Islam. We are telling our brothers to be ready for a long battle”, a Jamaat member was quoted as saying.

It is also reported that Saad may be planning to create unrest and violence in the case of his arrest. A TOI report says that Maulana Saad did not pay heed to the advice of other Islamic clerics who had urged him to cancel the religious congregation Delhi’s Nizamuddin area between March 13 and March 15. Saad’s stubborn attitude, coupled with the voluntary participation of 3400 Jamaatis has now endangered public health and safety.

A Tablighi Jamaat member, Mohammed Alam, squarely blamed Maulana Saad for pushing Muslims into the jaws of the pandemic due to his ignorance and stubborn attitude. Another man by the name of Liyaqat Ali Khan of Mau asked, “why is he hiding and not getting himself checked for the virus?”

However, an aide of the ringleader, Maula Harris, blamed the Government for allowing foreign nationals who had participated in the religious congregation to come to India. It is important to clarify that the government had issues tourist visas to these foreigners who in a complete violation of visa rules had attended the religious meeting. As such, the Government has now blacklisted and revoked the visas of 960 foreign nationals connected to the event.

On Saturday, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry, Lav Aggarwal had informed that about 1023 confirmed cases of Wuhan Coronavirus in 17 States are linked to the Talibghi Jammat’s religious congregation in Delhi. They also account for 30% of total COVID-19 cases in India and a staggering 50% cases in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, a fake message was circulated on WhatsApp claiming that on March 28, Molana Saad had donated an amount of 1 core to the PM MODI Relief Fund. The fabricated news report alleged that Maulana Saad had kept his donation, a secret. Circulation of the blatant fake news is another evidence that certain sections are working to garner support for Maulana Saad to shield him from arrest.

Earlier, Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad had released an audio recording, presumably shot in a studio, appealing to attendees to follow authorities and cooperate with the doctors. He further asked the Muslims to take the name of Allah and pray. “Instead of worrying about the disease, say the name of Allah,” he said.

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