He apprised the Prime Minister about the naval hospitals being opened for use of civilians in various cities…reports Asian Lite News.
India’s Covid tally is on a huge spike for the last few weeks. The Indian Navy is transporting oxygen containers as well as other essential supplies from Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Singapore to India, Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday during a review meeting on the Covid related initiatives undertaken by the force.
Admiral Singh informed the Prime Minister about the various initiatives being taken by the Indian Navy to assist the countrymen during the pandemic.
He informed the Prime Minister that the Indian Navy has reached out to all the state administrations, offering help in terms of hospital beds, transportation and other such things.
He apprised the Prime Minister about the naval hospitals being opened for use of civilians in various cities.
Singh also informed Modi that medical personnel in the Navy have been re-deployed at various locations in the country to manage Covid duties. Naval personnel are also being provided battlefield nursing assistace training for Covid duties.
Singh briefed the Prime Minister that the Navy is helping to increase oxygen availability in Lakshadweep as well as Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Seven Indian Navy ships have been deployed for shipment of liquid medical oxygen-filled cryogenic containers and associated medical equipment from various countries in the fight against the pandemic.
“The INS Kolkata, Kochi, Talwar, Tabar, Trikand, Jalashwa and Airavat have been deployed for shipment of liquid medical oxygen-filled cryogenic containers in support of the nation’s fight against Covid-19 and as part of operation ‘Samudra Setu II’,” the Navy had stated earlier.
The Navy also has the surge capability to deploy more ships when the need arises to further the nation’s fight against Covid-19.
The ships are combat ready and capable of meeting any contingency in keeping with the attributes of versatility of sea power.
Operation Samudra Setu was launched last year by the Navy when around 4,000 Indian citizens stranded in the neighbouring countries due to the outbreak of Covid-19 were successfully repatriated back to India.
The Prime Minister directed the authorities to work closely with state governments to start the PSA oxygen plants at the earliest…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a meeting with top officials to review the Covid-19 situation in the country and was given an overview relating to oxygen availability, medicines and health infrastructure.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said: “The Empowered Group working on boosting oxygen supply briefed the Prime Minister on the efforts being made to ramp up availability and supply of oxygen in the country.”
“It was discussed that the production of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) in the country has increased from 5,700 MT per day in August 2020 to the present 8,922 MT on April 25. The domestic production of LMO is expected to cross 9,250 MT per day by the end of April 2021,” it said.
During the three meetings with the empowered groups we discussed:
Oxygen situation and ways to further scale up capacities.
The Prime Minister instructed the officials to work closely with state governments to start the PSA oxygen plants at the earliest. Officers also apprised the Prime Minister that they are encouraging states to also set up PSA oxygen plants.
The Prime Minister was briefed about the functioning of the Oxygen Express Railways service as well as the domestic sorties and international sorties undertaken by the IAF to transport oxygen tankers.
Covid-19 patient gets oxygen on the spot provided by Sikh Organisation “Hum Chakar Gobind Ke” at Jangpura Bhogal in new Delhi(Photo: Wasim Sarvar/IANS)
The Empowered Group working on Medical Infrastructure and Covid management briefed the Prime Minister on efforts being undertaken to ramp up availability of beds and ICUs.
“They informed the Prime Minister on efforts to break the chain of transmission. The Prime Minister stressed on the need to ensure that specific guidelines and strategies evolved regarding Covid management needs to be properly implemented by the relevant agencies in the states,” the PMO said.
Meanwhile, the Empowered Group working on communication informed the Prime Minister on the efforts being undertaken to improve awareness among people on Covid-related behaviour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat
Medical officers on staff appointments at Command, Corps, Division, and similar headquarters of Navy and Air Force will take part in fight against Covid-19…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and reviewed the preparations and operations being undertaken by the Armed Forces to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
According to an official statement by the Prime Minister’s Office, the CDS briefed the Prime Minister that all medical personnel from armed forces who have retired or taken pre-mature retirement in the last 2 years are being recalled to work in Covid facilities in the proximity of their present place of residence.
“Other medical officers who retired earlier have also been requested to make their services available for consultation through medical emergency helplines,” it added.
The Prime Minister was also informed that all medical officers on staff appointments at Command, Corps, Division, and similar headquarters of Navy and Air Force will be employed at hospitals.
New Delhi: Health workers wearing PPE suits and treatment for COVID-19 positive patient admit in Emergency Covid-19 care center by Delhi Government at Shahnai banquet Hall in front of LNJP hospital in New Delhi on Thursday April 15th, 2021.(Photo:Wasim Sarvar/IANS)
General Rawat informed PM Modi that nursing personnel are being employed in large numbers to complement the doctors at the hospitals and that oxygen cylinders available with Armed Forces in various establishments will be released for hospitals.
The CDS also said that they are creating medical facilities in large numbers and where possible military medical infrastructure will be made available to civilians.
The Prime Minister also reviewed the operations being undertaken by Indian Air Force (IAF) to transport oxygen and other essentials in India and abroad.
PM Modi also discussed with General Rawat that Kendriya and Rajya Sainik Welfare Boards and Officers posted in various headquarters in veterans cells may be instructed to coordinate the services of veterans to extend the reach to the maximum extent possible including in remote areas. (ANI)
The letter was immediately rebutted by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan who said history shall be kinder to Singh if his offer and valuable advice was followed by Congress members…reports Asian Lite News.
Amid the Covid surge and Oxygen shortage Priyanka Gandhi slammed the Modi government’s irresponsible attitude towards the situation. In a scathing attack on the Union Government Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday claimed that the Centre can hold talks with Pakistan’s intelligence agency (Inter-Services Intelligence) but can’t talk to Opposition leaders amid the prevailing crisis.
Speaking to us the senior Congress leader said, “This government can speak to Inter-Services Intelligence ISI. They are speaking to ISI ,Dubai. Can’t they talk to Opposition leaders? I don’t think there is any Opposition leader who’s not giving them constructive and positive suggestions.” Targetting the Prime Minister amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, she said, “Prime Minister should stop his public relation exercise and talk to the people and opposition parties over the crisis of COVID-19.” “Today I do not think that there is any opposition leader who is not giving constructive and positive suggestions. And all the political parties are saying that we are with you (Centre).
In a democracy, work only progresses only by discussion, sometimes criticism has to be heard on such an occasion the whole country is facing this crisis,” she said. “This tu-tu main-main does not suit anyone, you (Prime Minister) have to stand with the public, add us all, we will fight together,” she added. “If opposition leaders do not raise their voice then who will?” she asked. “Manmohan Singh ji was Prime Minister for 10 years. Everyone knows how dignified a person he is. If he is giving suggestions when the nation is facing a pandemic, then suggestions should be taken up with the same dignity with which they were offered,” she said.
The comments of the Congress General Secretary came after former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “resist the temptation to look at the absolute number of vaccinations and focus on the percentage of the population vaccinated”. In a letter to Modi .Singh also listed suggestions for consideration “in a spirit of constructive cooperation”. The letter was immediately rebutted by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan who said history shall be kinder to Singh if his offer and valuable advice was followed by Congress members. Meanwhile, continuing her attack on the Centre, the Congress General Secretary said, “For God’s sake, Prime Minister Narendra Modi do it now. Use every resource you have at your disposal to move it to where it is needed. People are dying. Every life matters.”
She also targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party for its continued election campaign in West Bengal despite a spike in COVID-19 numbers. “The government needs to be sensitive at this time the Prime Minister needs to show up, he needs to get off the stage where he is laughing and cracking jokes,” she said. In view of the spike in COVID-19 cases, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday announced the suspension of all his forthcoming public rallies in poll-bound West Bengal and advised other political leaders to do the same. Meanwhile, the Congress General Secretary said that she has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asking him to waive off permission by Chief Medical Officier for admitting COVID-19 patients to the hospitals.
Talking about the health care system in the state, she said that COVID-19 patients are facing a dire situation where they have to wait for hours before being hospitalised. Nearly 3 lakh new COVID-19 cases and over 2,000 deaths were reported in India on Wednesday, a record-high since the pandemic broke last year. As per the Union Health Ministry, as many as 2,95,041 new COVID-19 cases and 2,023 deaths were reported, taking the total cases to 1,56,16,130, including 21,57,538 active cases. As many as 1,32,76,039 recoveries have been reported so far, out of which 1,67,457 were reported in the last 24 hours. (ANI)
PM says discipline and self-control key in fighting the pandemic’s second wave to ensure safety of life, economy and livelihood, reports Asian Lite News.
Listing the challenges, success and the way ahead to fight the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic that has swept the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address to the nation advised state governments to use lockdown as the last resort.
Delivering the address on the eve of Navaratri, Modi said the discipline of Lord Ram and the holy month of Ramadan needs to be an inspiration to follow to avert a crisis that will save lives, economy and livelihood of Indians.
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“In today’s circumstances, we have to save the country from lockdown. We have to concentrate on micro containment zones and have to try our best to avoid lockdown. Confidence by the states will greatly help the workers and labourers and they will get the vaccine wherever they are and their work will also not suffer,” Modi said.
On shortage of oxygen, Modi said, “The government is working with speed and sensitivity to meet the increasing demand of oxygen in the various parts of the country. The Centre, state governments and private sector are trying to ensure that every needy person gets oxygen. Efforts to increase oxygen production and supply are on at various levels. Measures like installing new oxygen plants, providing one lakh new cylinders, diverting oxygen from the industrial use, are being undertaken.”
Modi emphasised that the country has much better knowledge and resources to meet the challenge than the initial days of the first wave.
India on Wednesday hit another grim milestone of 2,95,041 new cases in 24 hours. With this, the country’s overall Covid tally reached 1.56 crore, according to the health ministry’s data.
In the same time span, India also reported record number of 2,023 deaths. The daily deaths crossed 2,000 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic last year, taking the total death toll so far in the country to 1,82,553. India had reported 1,761 deaths on Tuesday.
For the last seven days, India has been reporting over 2 lakh cases daily cases from across the country. India reported 2,59,170 cases on April 20, 2,73,510 on April 19, 2,61,500 on April 18, 2,34,692 on April 17, 2,17,353 on April 16 and 2,00,739 on April 15.
Oxygen Shortage Hits States in India (Photo: Pallav Paliwal)
The Health Ministry said that a total of 16,39,357 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 27,10,53,392 samples have been tested in the country.
Maharashtra remained on the top worst Covid-19 affected with 62,097 new cases in the last 24 hours, followed by Uttar Pradesh (29,574 cases) and Delhi (28,395 cases) and Karnataka (21,794 cases), according to the health ministry.
Delhi on the edge
Large Crowds of migrant workers in Lucknow , April 20,2021 (photo: Pallav Paliwal)
In the last seven days, more than 1,200 have fallen prey to Covid-19 in the national capital, which reported its highest single-day death toll of 277 on Tuesday, taking its overall toll to 12,638 till date.
Delhi reported 28,395 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, while the test positivity rate rose to 32.82 per cent, according to the health bulletin issued by the Delhi government. As of now, Delhi has as many as 85,575 active cases of which 40,124 are in home isolation.
The single-day death toll in Delhi had breached the three-figure mark for the first time in 2021 on April 14 (104), after reporting 81 deaths the day before. Since then, the death toll has been steadily increasing, shattering all previous records.
According to Delhi government data, on April 15, the city reported 112 Covid related deaths, 141 on April 16, 167 on April 17 and 161 on April 18.
Covid-19 patients are struggling to find a bed in the government hospitals and the situation is worse for those seeking beds with ventilator support.
A woman at the LNJP hospital, whose husband is admitted there since Saturday, said, “It has been more than 12 hours, but I have no information about my husband. Usually there is a facility to connect video calls, but since last night, no one is responding. I come here everyday carrying food for my husband.
Modi was slated to visit Portugal for the India-European Union (EU) leaders’ summit on 8 May and also France for bilateral talks and meeting with the French President Emmanuel Macron…reports Asian Lite News.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called of his visits to Portugal and France in May in the wake of the surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Modi was slated to visit Portugal for the India-European Union (EU) leaders’ summit on 8 May and also France for bilateral talks and meeting with the French President Emmanuel Macron.
“In view of the covid-19 situation, it has been decided, in consultation with the EU and Portuguese leadership, to hold the India-EU Leaders’ Meeting in a virtual format on 8 May 2021,” an Indian foreign ministry statement said on Tuesday.
“The India-EU Leaders’ Meeting in the EU+27 format, the first time that such a meeting is being held, reflects the shared ambition of both sides to further deepen the Strategic Partnership,” it said.
PM Modi may join India-EU summit via video-conference, Portuguese media citing a diplomatic source wrote “We are working with the European institutions and the Government of India to conduct the summit by video-conference, with the EU [leaders] physically present in Portugal”.
Two days ago, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had cancelled his visit to India, for the second time in the wake of the surge in number of Covid-19 infections in the country. It is now uncertain whether that summit will happen virtually on 26 April or it will be postponed.
“The two sides will be holding a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed India-UK relationship,” the MEA said in a statement. “Both leaders attach the highest importance to taking the India-UK partnership to its fullest potential and propose to remain in close touch in this regard and look forward to an in-person meeting later in the year.”
It is our firm commitment towards the people of UP to remain constructive and supportive during this crisis…reports Asian Lite News.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, General Secretary of the Congress has said that she is totally devastated due to pandemic, getting news of people dying without any medical support. Speaking to us she said that this is not the time for the Prime Minister to campaign but to wipe the tears of the people’s eyes and protect the citizens from the deadly virus. She said her party is working with compassion and is trying to help out the needy but she questions the Prime Minister –Is it time to laugh in political rallies?
Q. How do you see the government’s response after the second wave has hit the country?
A. The government’s response has been extremely disappointing. The Prime Minister is still continuing with his election campaign while people are battling against the worst wave of COVID. At a time when the government should be focussing on fighting the catastrophic situation unfolding all around us, it appears to be practically absent. Even constructive suggestions from opposition parties are being dismissed as politicization rather than being accepted in the spirit that the nation is in a grave crisis and every single life matters, therefore, all of us must stand together and do whatever we can to save lives.
The lack of planning and preparation between the first and the second wave is the worst act of negligence and incompetent governance I have ever witnessed.
Q. Do you think export of vaccines could have been avoided?
A. I would like to say that thanks to seventy years of forward-thinking governance, today India is the largest manufacturer of vaccines in the world. Yet, between January 2021 and March 2021, Modi ji’s government enabled the export of 6 crore doses of vaccines to countries across the world. One lakh doses were gifted to the Nepalese Army, Mauritius received 2 lakh doses as did numerous other nations. During the same period, only 3 to 4 crore doses of vaccines were administered to Indian citizens. Why did the Modi government prioritize overseas PR and self-promotion over Indian lives?
Q. Do you think the government was not prepared and caught off guard?
A. As the second wave peaked in other countries, in the last 6 months India exported 1.1 million injections of Remdesivir. The export was stopped 5 days back. It is now clear that there is a shortage of Remdesivir being reported across the country.
Q. Why did the Modi government not ensure that production of Remdesivir was ramped up and made available to every Indian before allowing it to be exported to other countries?
A. Again courtesy years of forward-thinking governance, today India is one of the largest producers of Oxygen in the world. However, doctors, patients and their family members are crying for oxygen in hospitals across India as the disease surges once more. In fact, it’s not the production of oxygen that is a problem. India produces 7500 MT of oxygen per day. At the peak of the first wave of COVID the collective requirement of our hospitals was less than half this quantity per day. It’s the transport of oxygen that is causing the shortage because less than 2000 specialized trucks are available for the same.
Q. What did the Modi government do to ensure the production and availability of adequate logistics to supply Oxygen across India in the year between the first wave of the Pandemic in March 2020 and the one we are now facing? What did the Modi government do to increase India’s capacity for hospital beds and ventilators in the last one year since COVID first hit us?
A. In UP, the second wave has been devastating, look at the disturbing pictures coming from the state capital. I have held several meetings with Congress leaders and workers across the state and discussed what we can do to be of support to people during these tragic times. I have asked all our workers and leaders to be in constant communication with the public and do whatever is in their power to assist people with hospital beds, access to oxygen, medicines, etc. All our leaders and workers are doing as much as they can to this end.
Instead of providing the support and sensitivity needed at a time when almost every single family is battling the scourge, the UP government is acting as an aggressor towards the public. Insensitivity, red tape-ism and the collapse of the healthcare system is crushing people on every front whether it is permissions required for hospital admissions or the administration of Remdesivir or lack of beds, medication etc. We are trying our best to assist all those we can to facilitate these issues with sensitivity and compassion.
As a party, we are in the process of locating and organising spaces that can be converted into temporary facilities and handing them over to the government for use in the cities of UP that are facing the gravest crisis. We plan to equip these spaces with basic facilities before handing over. In some places we are trying to make arrangements for Oxygen generating equipment to be able to provide free oxygen to those in need. We are hoping that some of these efforts will be in place within the next few days.
Shortage of supply of oxygen across country . People seen transporting oxygen on scooty,bikes , ambulances ,on hand ,e rickshaw at a private refilling station in Lucknow ,India records 259,170 covid cases and 1,761 deaths (photo: Pallav Paliwal)
We are constantly raising issues that the government needs to address urgently in order to press them into action and direct their attention to areas in which immediate steps need to be taken. I have written to the Chief Minister about certain issues and will continue to attempt to impress upon him the need for the government to be transparent, provide access to facilities and help those affected.
It is our firm commitment towards the people of UP to remain constructive and supportive during this crisis. We will not politicize this unprecedented human tragedy under any circumstances. We fully understand our responsibility towards the people of UP. I have also offered our co-operation to the UP government.
Q. People are feeling helpless across the country, don’t you think the Govt has failed to respond with necessary alacrity?
A. The Prime Minister has completely failed to provide a sense of safety, direction or leadership during this massive human crisis we are facing. It is shocking that just day before yesterday, he was on a public stage addressing thousands of people with no covid protocol and laughing while doing so. What is there to laugh about? The entire country is in tears. There are no hospital beds available, medicines are running short, crematoriums are full, frontline workers are exhausted…
Where is the leadership? Where is the planning? Why are we short of facilities? Where is the money from the PM fund being used? Why has he done nothing to address the five major shortages of vaccines, beds, ventilators, oxygen and Remdesivir? Will he take responsibility for the bad planning and incompetence of his government?
And what about the millions of poor and the millions of honest workers in small businesses across the nation? What will they do now that we are faced with impending lockdowns and further suffering? What is the Modi government doing to support them? UP government’s own Sero Survey results showed 5 cr people might have got the virus, several other Sero Surveys showed signs of a second wave coming, why did the Modi government block some of this research and ignore its findings.
Doctors, medical staff and frontline workers across the nation are risking their lives fighting the war against COVID and the Prime Minister has punished them by cancelling their insurance programs.
A comment published by European Foundation for South Asian Studies says that violent protests organised by the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’ recent visit to Bangladesh may herald the dawn of a potent new extremist entity. A special comment by Dr Sakariya Kareem
The recent visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to neighbouring Bangladesh was a huge success. Five agreements relating to trade, disaster management, information technology and sports were signed during the visit, foundation stones for infrastructure development at a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh were laid, and a new train service between India and Bangladesh was launched.
The visit began with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina personally greeting Modi upon his arrival at Dhaka airport on 26 March, and telling an audience in a parade square in Dhaka that Bangladesh’s relations with India had reached a new high such that “If we move forward hand in hand, the development of our people is inevitable”. But there were some organisations want to spoil the friendship between India and Bangladesh. One among them was the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB), a radical Islamic organisation.
They decided on the eve of Modi’s visit to launch a countrywide protest campaign. The English translation of the group’s name roughly corresponds to “safeguarding Islam in Bangladesh”. Formed in 2010, the HIB operates unregulated Qawmi Madrassas (religious schools) across Bangladesh.
The group first caught the public eye when in 2013 it effectively seized Dhaka with more than half a million activists, most drawn from the Qawmi Madrassas. It insisted that the Sheikh Hasina government meet a set of 13 demands, including the enactment of an anti-blasphemy law with provision for the death penalty, the cancellation of the national women’s development policy, the enforcement of Islamic religious garb such as the hijab, a ban on constructing sculptures in public places and on men and women mixing in public, and the declaration of Ahmadis as non-Muslims.
The targets of the HIB included free thinkers, liberal forces and advocates of inclusive values and culture. The government cracked down on the HIB in May 2013, and normalcy returned to the streets of the capital after several HIB leaders were either killed or arrested by the security forces.
Modi meets Hasina(ians)
The European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) released a commentary on March 19 in the run-up to Modi’s visit to Bangladesh. It had visualized a successful visit in tune with the warm and welcoming atmosphere that by most accounts awaited him in Dhaka. The visit, indeed, did turn out to be a success. An important aspect which that Commentary was remiss in glossing over, however, was the potential impact that organisations and individuals with an extremist bent of mind could have had in shaping the imagery around the visit. Perhaps the near absence of reporting of extremist incidents in the Bangladeshi media in recent months had lulled us into believing that Sheikh Hasina, through her concerted and laudable efforts in that direction, had finally managed to tame the devil of extremism that had plagued the country for the most part of its 50-year existence.
An editorial in the Bangladeshi English language broadsheet The Daily Star had pointed out as recently as on 8 March that “there has been no palpable activity by the religious extremist groups since the brutal Holey Artisan killings in July 2016”.
Some other observations made in The Daily Star editorial were noteworthy. It commented that “One hears very often from a few inveterate optimists that Bangladesh has seen the end of religious extremism. We have been continually cautioning against entertaining any euphoria that absence of demonstrative activity on their part is not an indication of the demise of the religious extremists altogether…
“That they have not been able to launch any major attack since 2016 speaks of the success of our security agencies, particularly the Anti-Terrorism Task Force… And it is the political issues that these groups would exploit primarily, gaining of political power being their ultimate objective without which their religious objective would remain unfulfilled. A political void or a turmoil is what they wait for to pounce”. As it turned out, in the midst of the prevalent enthusiasm on both sides that bilateral relations between the two neighbours would continue to grow, Modi on 27 March concluded his two-day official visit amid violent protests engineered by a Bangladeshi extremist group that is looking to announce its change of direction and focus to the country.”
HIB: The rise of new extremist entity in Bangladesh(ians)
After the crackdown in May 2013, the Sheikh Hasina government entered into serious behind-the-scene negotiations with the HIB leadership that yielded a fragile peace between the two sides. The government developed a close relationship with some HIB leaders, most notably with the outfit’s then chief Shah Ahmad Shafi.
A few factors, especially the fact that at that stage the HIB was not a political party with an explicit political agenda to take over power, had facilitated the establishment of such a relationship. The HIB’s strength lay in its institutional architecture as a networked organization of thousands of Madrassas spread all over the country. The social acceptability of the HIB was bolstered by the fact that the Madrassas offered free boarding to hundreds of orphans, catered to the social need for Islamic rituals and services, and received a significant part of zakat, charity payments that form a pillar of the Islamic faith. This too had encouraged the government to associate with the HIB.
The death of Shafi in September last year, however, tilted the balance of power within the HIB towards the more extremist anti-government faction within it. Shafi’s successor as Amir, Junayed Babunagari, was educated for 4-year in his 20s in Pakistan, first at the Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia and then at the Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi.
A hardliner in his views, Babunagari did not waste time in overturning the more moderate vision of HIB espoused by his predecessor and in adopting a more political posture. This transformation had been brought out by The Daily Star’s senior correspondent Rashidul Hasan in an article published on 9 December 2020 in which he averred that the HIB was turning into a political party for all practical purposes. He wrote, “Hefajat-e-Islam is now more than a political party with the strategic disclaimer of having no political agenda”.
Another aspect highlighted by Rashidul Hasan pertained to the linkages that the revamped HIB under Babunagari had forged. Hasan contended that “About one-third of its (HIB) leaders of the new committee who seized control come from political parties who are part of a 20-party alliance led by BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party)”.
Modi meets Hasina(ians)
BNP leader Khaleda Zia has been closely aligned with the banned fundamentalist Islamist party the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), and the two parties have earlier combined to form the government in Dhaka. Presently politically marginalized, the BNP sees the ambitious fresh leadership of the HIB as a potent weapon in its incessant attempts to topple Sheikh Hasina.
Some Bangladeshi experts believe that the HIB today has become a front for the JeI, which calls for Shariat rule in Bangladesh. Over the last few years the outlawed JeI, which has also been marginalized in Bangladeshi society and reduced to tatters by Sheikh Hasina’s fervently anti-extremist policy, has been trying to resurrect itself by infiltrating the HIB.
The JeI is known to maintain strong links with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the suggestion that the Pakistani intelligence agency is the driving force behind the efforts to bring the JeI and the HIB closer to each other has also been made by responsible sections of the media.
The violence that the HIB triggered in Bangladesh on 26 March, even as Modi landed in the country, and which continued for several days thereafter, need to be viewed against this backdrop. The violence began in Dhaka, where dozens were injured in clashes between HIB members ostensibly protesting Modi’s visit, and the police, which was forced to use rubber bullets and tear gas against the disruptive protesters. It spread to several other districts, and in Chittagong five HIB members were killed when the police opened fire on a group that had attacked a police station.
As the violence escalated and attacks on government property, police stations and trains by HIB activists intensified, another 6 people were killed on 27 March and 2 more the following day. At least 26 police personnel were also injured in the clashes. Javed Rahim, a journalist in Brahmanbaria town where the last two deaths occurred, described the scene to Reuters by phone, “Brahmanbaria is burning. Various government offices were set on fire indiscriminately. Even the press club was attacked and many injured, including the press club president. We are in extreme fear and feeling really helpless”.
Significantly, HIB activists also attacked and vandalized temples of the minority Hindu community. Also a Hindu, and one who unabashedly espouses the Hindu cause, Modi visited two Hindu temples during his visit.
The Bangladesh government appears to have taken the HIB provocation with the degree of seriousness that it deserves. The initial reaction by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan was firm, and he sounded as though he meant business. Calling for the protests to be halted, he warned, “Our security forces are observing this with patience. We think if this is not stopped, we’ll take necessary actions”.
Sheikh Hasina did not mince words either in her address to parliament on April 4.
Describing Islam as a religion of peace, she averred that terms such as extremism and terrorism were linked to Islam due to the misdeeds of some people. She denounced the HIB for carrying out destruction in the name of Islam, and called out the BNP and the JeI for giving the HIB patronage. Terming the HIB-led mayhem at a time when the nation was celebrating the golden jubilee of its independence as deplorable, she asserted, “Did Hefazat do it alone? The BNP-Jamaat alliance is behind it”.
Recalling that the BNP and the JeI had issued separate messages on 27 and 28 March supporting the HIB, Hasina said this proved their part in the conspiracy against the State. She accused the two parties of being bereft of any ideology as they supported the violent protests led by the HIB against Modi’s visit, but at the same time welcomed Modi when he reached Bangladesh to attend the country’s golden jubilee celebrations. Hasina assured the parliament that those responsible for the violence would be brought to justice.
“I can only say that legal action will be taken against those responsible for such misdeeds”, she said. Reports suggest that the Bangladesh government has decided to re-activate over 80 terrorism-related cases against the HIB and its members.
The Indian government in its comments on Modi’s visit to Bangladesh noted that it had facilitated “significant decisions” to reinforce the legacy of 1971 and to deepen India-Bangladesh bilateral cooperation. On the violence by the HIB, it said, “As far as the violence is concerned, we have always been against fundamentalism and extremism. We are confident that the Bangladesh government will address the challenge”.
While timing them to coincide with Modi’s visit may have served the desired purpose of assuring maximum airtime for the HIB, the real purpose of the protests, which Sheikh Hasina seems to have recognized and is gearing up to confront, was to announce spectacularly the arrival of the HIB under its fresh leadership as the new political force that seeks to “safeguard” Islam in Bangladesh.
Dr. Yashwant Sinha, the former finance minister of India, who has recently joined the Trinamool Congress, engaged in a candid interview with Manish Tiwari, political columnist and a leading multicultural marketing guru based in London. EXTRACTS:
MANISH TIWARI: A recent report has termed India to be an autocracy. It says that social rights in the country are in peril and even the Constitutional institutions are also facing marginalisation. Is it true that the present system of governance is all about total domination and control?
Yashwant Sinha
YASHWANT SINHA: What you are seeing from a distance is something that we are experiencing every day in India. The ruling party and the rulers of the day have established what can be described as an elected autocracy or electoral dictatorship. Democracy and democratic values are eroding in India under the present regime. All the institutions responsible for the safeguard of democracy, like the Parliament, the Judiciary, the Election Commission, the media, etc. are been subdued.
For instance, the retiring Chief Justice of India is being nominated to the Upper House of the Parliament immediately after his retirement, and he accepts it! This shows the extent to which the judicial system has been compromised. The less said about the media, the better. The media with a few honourable exceptions are is being the government’s lap-dog in most cases.
Manish: But, what you are saying has happened before in this country during the Emergency. Isn’t it?
Yashwant Sinha: The Emergency was a purely political escapist route which was taken by Mrs. Indira Gandhi to safeguard her chair. This ‘Emergency’ is far more dangerous because it combines communalism with autocracy. I a situation like this most people are feeling helpless and they are scared. There is a lingering atmosphere of fear in the country because agencies like the CBI, the IT department, the NIA, the ED, etc. are being misused by the government to silence its critics and to ‘fix’ the political opponents. It is happening so fast and with such monotonous regularity that people have now come to accept it as the new normal.
Manish: Sitting here in London, we see some efficiency in the operations of the present regime. The way the corona situation was handled in India, the precision with which international flight operations were regulated during the pandemic is some such instances. Do you agree that this regime does have a certain amount of efficiency?
Mr Sinha: No, I do not buy that theory. It is the lap-dog media of the country that has created the impression that it is a very efficient government. Look at any part of the government functioning and you can witness its inefficiency. The pain that demonetisation caused to the people and the damage that it did to the economy is forgotten. Another blunder of the government was the introduction of the GST in a half-baked condition. All these now seem to be in the past as public memory is short and media memory shorter.
Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, the misuse of the government agencies. People yet to be scathed are feeling that they are safe without realising that the day is not far that these types of machinery can come knocking on their doors. The impression that is being spread, that this is a strong and efficient government, is far from the truth.
Manish: So you reckon that all the success stories of the government are media projections spun out of the PR machinery?
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Sinha: These are all well weaved false projections by the media. The BJP indeed came into power in 2014 due to the corrupt Congress regime, but their re-election in 2019 was entirely on account of the unfortunate Pulwama incident, followed by a strike against Pakistan which was blown out of proportion by the media. That impacted heavily on the mind of the people and they voted in a particular way. There is a lot of evidence which were put together by enterprising journalists which evoked doubts about the government’s claims and actions. So, I would say that this government can stoop to any level to win an election. I am seeing this with my own eyes in Bengal.
Manish: The whole world is witnessing an ultra-nationalist trend of politics as propagated by leaders like Trump. A call to bring back past glory seems to be working everywhere. Even in the UK, Brexit happened on that notion. Modi is also talking about revoking the glorious past of India which he claims was lost through centuries of foreign rule by the Islamic invaders and then the British. This kind of narrative seems to have captured the imagination of the Indian voters. Do you agree?
Mr Sinha: The present BJP leadership is not talking about the glories of the past; they are being communal. They are invoking communalism in a major way into the politics of this country and they are misusing the religion card to garner votes. Whatever is happening in India is unique and has no semblance to the political scenario of the countries that you cited. I can’t imagine an Atal Bihari Vajpayee, behaving in the way the present Prime Minister is behaving.
Manish: Having said that, don’t you think there is a semblance in ways that the mechanisms of electoral politics e.g.) the social media, are being used by leaders like Trump and Modi? Trump did that successfully during the US elections and I believe even Mr. Modi has a strong influence over the netizens. What do you think?
Mr Sinha: Mr. Modi has been using social media influence for a pretty long time since the days when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Using social media largely depends on the resources available at ones’ disposal. For instance, in 2014 there were five or six other Chief Ministers from important States who were contenders to be the Prime Minister. Yet, Mr. Modi became the only acceptable face for the Prime Minister’s post.
It was all because of social media. Through a bombardment of fake news and false propaganda, he was made to look larger than life. People from other States also started believing in stories about the wonders that he had done as an administrator in Gujarat. They wanted the same for the country and fell for that false propaganda. The added ‘potion’ to that was the religion card.
Concocted false propaganda designed by an American PR agency with the help of enormous resources helped in creating a false image of Mr. Modi which yield him fantastic results.
Manish: I am aware of the Gujrati community raising huge funds for Mr. Modi, here in the UK. Won’t you give him the due credit for the successful mobilisation of the diaspora? I mean there is nothing wrong with using ones’ contact and support base.
Mr Sinha: The diaspora doesn’t vote. We know that far more Gujrati brothers and sisters live abroad than any other people from any other State. They rooted for him because he is from their State.
Manish: Having said that, we can note that, first Mr. Amit Shah and then subsequently many other important posts went to people from Gujarat Mr. Modi’s regime. Do you think that a trend of regionalism has been introduced by the present government?
Mr Sinha: There was an unwritten rule in the BJP and even in other national political parties that, the President of the party in power and the Prime Minister would not be from the same State. Now, when this party came into power in 2014, Rajnath Singh was replaced by Amit Shah as the Party President. Subsequently, Amit Shah was brought into the government and he replaced Rajnath Singh to be the Home Minister. This also is weird that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are from the same State and have no precedence in our history. A regional balance has always been maintained in the Government of India. But, they abide by no rules and have no respect for any conventions. Therefore, they brazenly do whatever they feel like doing.
Manish: When you quit the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2018, you cited that “democracy in India is in grave danger” and the “party’s condition.” What did you exactly mean by those phrases?
Mr Sinha: When they became powerful in the party, they first extinguished the internal democracy within the BJP. That disturbed me a great deal and I started drifting away from the BJP. Between 2014 and 2018, I saw major instances of democracy getting extinguished at the national level. That’s when I decided, despite my advancing age I must stand up and fight these forces and that’s what I am doing even today.
Manish: Your son Jayant Sinha is still a BJP MP. He was the Junior Finance Minister of the Modi government at some point in time but now is just an MP. Do you think your vocal opposition against Narendra Modi is the reason for your son’s demotion?
Mr Sinha: Jayant Sinha is a highly qualified individual who has won his Lok Sabha seats through merit. He was given the posts of Junior Finance Minister and the Junior Minister for Civil Aviation due to his qualifications and he brought a lot of merit to the job he was doing. Now he is just a Member of the Parliament and heads the Standing Committee of Finance which is not a ministerial post. People tell me that this is because of my opposition to the government. If that is so then I would say that it is a very cheap tactic as my son and I are two very different individuals. He holds his own rules and I mine. Therefore, if he is deprived of anything that he deserves from the government due to my opposition to this government, then I must say that it is a very sad state of affairs.
Manish: Will you say that, in promoting only those who will toe their line, the current government is going the Congress way?
Yashwant Sinha arrives at Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum on Bihar floods to Governor Phagu Chauhan, in Patna
Mr Sinha: The Congress regimes in the past may be guilty of many misdemeanours, but I don’t think and Congress Prime Minister has descended to this level in which Mr. Modi has descended. Just look at the Bengal elections. He comes here and behaves like a street urchin when he calls out, “Didi, Oh Didi!!” What kind of behaviour is this? Can you imagine Jawaharlal Nehru or Manmohan Singh or Vajpayee behaving like this, even in an election rally? He has demeaned the post of the Prime Minister.
Manish: Quoting John Dalberg-Acton, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Do you think that the sense of absoluteness in the present government is leading it to be arrogant and autocratic?
Mr Sinha: Most certainly. The more the media talks about his enormous popularity and the fact that there is no challenge to him, he will continue feeling omnipotent and will ignore the rules of the game. This is the reason why we are seeing all aberrations in our democracy and a departure from the rules of the game.
Manish: My friends in the Indian media tell me that, it has now become an accepted truth that if you criticise Narendra Modi or any of his actions, you will be viciously bombarded with trolls coining you a Pakistani and an anti-national. Have you ever experienced this phenomenon?
Mr Sinha: I get trolled every day by their army of trolls who I know operate from outside India. However, trolling is not the major factor. What happened to Indian media is that powerful journalists having an independent voice have been marginalised. Unfortunately, all Indian media houses are owned by big corporate houses. The owners of these houses are now being controlled by the party. They are told whom to hire and whom to fire. Micro-management of the media has gone to such an extent that even the subject of discussion in the evening prime time shows is decided by the party. The media houses are also instructed on the panel of guests to ensure that the discussions weigh heavy on the government’s side.
Manish: Director General Julio Ribeiro once said that in India, if want to find any anomaly against any individual, it can be easily found as the law operates in such a way that they will have at some stage done something that can be held against them. So do you think that people are being easily penalised because of their vulnerability?
Mr Sinha: I disagree with the term penalised. They will be raided and often a case will be started against them which will have no outcome. Public memory is short and media memory is deliberately shorter. Chidambaram was arrested and put behind the bars for more than a hundred days. Then what happened? Nothing. I can quote several such cases which bore no fruit. Often in such cases, the media will blare out their trial.
Remember the death of an actor before the Bihar elections? That episode went for a long, and now that the Bihar elections are over, only a handful number of people are concerned about that case. Almost the whole media has bowed down to the government. How will correct information reach the people?
Manish: Where are the regulators?
Mr Sinha (stops Manish in between): Which regulators are you talking about!! There are Constitutional bodies that have succumbed, so do you think that a regulator appointed under some law will have the courage to stand up? Especially the head of that regulatory body who probably would have been appointed by this government, will he have the courage to fight for regulations?
Manish: You have been the Finance Minister of the country. Yet, the Prime Minister talks about a $5 Trillion Economy by 2024. As the former Finance Minister of the country, do you think this to be a viable dream?
Mr Sinha: Let’s not waste time on the slogan of a $5 Trillion economy. I think it is a waste of time even to discuss it for a minute. How many people do have the idea of a trillion or are aware of the value of the dollar? So, why are we talking about a $5 Trillion economy when addressing the masses of India? $5 Trillion economy by 2024 is a pipe dream. I may not be around to see it, but I will be happy in heaven if we can achieve the dream even in 2030.
Manish: The Indian middle class is in great peril at the moment. Bank interest on savings is decreasing now and then, fuel prices are at their all-time high, joblessness is rampant. Do you think the people of India will hold the BJP accountable in the next general elections in 2024?
Yashwant Sinha
Mr Sinha: Currently five State Elections are going on including Bengal. The Bengal elections of 2021 and then the UP elections next year will lay the ground for the 2024 elections. I shall not be surprised if the untruth that is uttered by the government, and the Prime Minister is found out by then. If the people are not misled, and if no ‘accident’ happens involving our neighbouring country, then this government will go in 2024.
Manish: You mentioned the Bengal elections. There have been some indicators that the BJP has made some headway and is in a position of control. Do you agree?
Mr Sinha: You are sitting in London right, and your source of information is probably the Indian media. BJP is strong in controlling the social media and the media here, but they are not at all a strong force in Bengal. All kinds of false and fake news are being propagated through the media, and that’s how the BJP has positioned its image as a challenger to TMC in Bengal. I have travelled from place to place in Bengal. They are nowhere on the ground, but they have resources to buy flags and festoons which they put up all around. Thus, creating an illusion of their presence. Let me tell you with a command that, the BJP will do very poorly in the Bengal elections and Mamata will reign for the third time.
Manish: The media narrative can be controlled by the BJP, but what about the heavy campaigning by almost all the heavyweights including Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Yogi Adityanath? Don’t you think that these rallies and campaigns will have some impact?
Mr Sinha: Every government in a democracy has an opposition, so does Mamata Banerjee. In Bengal, the Left and the Congress have completely ceded ground to the BJP. The CPIM workers have all migrated to the BJP. Therefore, the opposition space is empty and the BJP might emerge as the second-largest party here and take that position. However, what is being projected now as their superiority is a reflection of their money and muscle power, which is far from reality.
Manish: The opposition in Bengal pins Mamata Banerjee and her politics of Muslim appeasement to be the reason for the BJP’s advent into an otherwise secular-minded State. Do you agree?
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Mr Sinha: If you are secular and you treat the Hindus and the Muslims equally, then the BJP always accuses you of Muslim appeasement. Their policy is of majority appeasement based on a majoritarian doctrine. Therefore, anyone giving equal treatment to all communities, what our Constitution enjoins is something which is an alien concept to them.
Manish: So you reckon that Mamata Banerjee will come back to power?
Mr Sinha: With absolute certainty.
Manish: What will be your role in the Trinamool Congress if it comes back to power. Will you be working towards taking the party national, or are you going to work with Mamata Banerjee at the State level?
Mr Sinha: It is too early to talk about such issues now. I cannot predict anything at this point. It will be for the party to decide what roles they want me to play after the elections.
Manish: We are approaching the end of our interview and I shall now want to talk about your autobiography. You are 83 years old now, and at an age when people retire, you made a comeback into politics to fight for values that you deem right. Is this because of this relentless spirit of yours that you named your book- Relentless?
Mr Sinha: I have relentlessly pursued certain things in my life. I have always stood for the prestige and dignity of my country. There is an incident mentioned in my autobiography, about a brawl that I got into with some students from my university when they were bothering some foreign girls. I took a beating and broke my nose in that street fight. I was fighting for national honour. I couldn’t let those boys ruing the name of my country. That is ingrained in me. I have fought for my country’s honour relentlessly throughout my life and shall continue to do so.
Manish: We have been discussing values like secularism and liberty being in peril during these times. Now, before concluding this interview, I shall want to know what you think should be done about it?
Mr Sinha: All these values that you are talking about, are encapsulated in our Constitution. If we value, the Constitution of India then we need to stand for its protection. There is no doubt about the fact that there are threats. The present regime is the biggest threat that India has faced as far as these values are concerned since our independence. However, I have great faith in the judgement of the people and feel that when they see the wrongs that have been committed, they will lose no time in throwing out this government. If the government interferes with the use of ballot power, then the people are not going to tolerate that. It will be the people’s power that will fight out the authoritarian power of the government.
(Compiled & Edited by: SOUMIK SAHA)
Yashwant Sinha
Yashwant Sinha
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Yashwant Sinha arrives at Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum on Bihar floods to Governor Phagu Chauhan, in Patna
Yashwant Sinha and AAP leaders Dilip Pandey and Sanjay Singh stage a sit-in demonstration to protest over migrant workers’ issues at Rajghat in New Delhi during the extended nationwide lockdown imposed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus
