Rage against refugees The sudden rise in hostility against the Rohingya and calls for their deportation underscore the urgent need for a refugee protection
THE past few months saw targeted violence and incitement to violence against Rohingya refugees in the country. Seemingly separate incidents converged to create a narrative of these refugees being criminal elements who deserved to be ousted from the country. (The Rohingya are Muslims who were forced to flee Myanmar in the face of serious persecution and human rights violations.)
In the early hours of April 14, five jhuggis, or hutments, belonging to Rohingya families were gutted in a fire in the Bhagwati Nagar area of Jammu. Earlier, 20-30 masked men thrashed men, women and children in Patta Bohri on the outskirts of Jammu and burnt the scrap they collected. They also told landlords to evict them or face the consequences.
These incidents came soon after an open threat was issued by the Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Jammu, which is affiliated to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). In a press conference, Rakesh Gupta, the chamber president, had said the State and Central governments should ensure that “such settlers should be deported within one month”. He asked for “the people on whose land these foreigners” had settled to be booked under the Public Safety Act, failing which the chamber would launch an “Identify and Kill Movement” against them. The chamber called the Rohingya and Bangladeshis “criminals, drug traffickers, possible human bombs and harbourers to be used by militant organisations, criminals with no record of their names and identity disowned by their own countries” and said it would be “no offence to deal with such” people.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 12, 2017 من FRONTLINE.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 12, 2017 من FRONTLINE.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
