There are about 59,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the 100-plus refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and nearly 30,000 outside the camps. About four lakh plantation Tamils came to India following two Indo-Sri Lanka pacts, but the vast majority of these people of Indian origin, whom the CAB caters to, are in Sri Lanka.
Both the groups tick all the boxes that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has in mind—most of those belonging to both these communities are Hindu and have been subjugated to and suffered oppression and neglect at the hands of the government. The Sri Lankan Tamils in refugee camps tick one more box; many have lived in Tamil Nadu for at least a decade and a half.
There are practical problems that the Tamil refugees face if they are not citizens. For instance, a bright girl from a camp who had completed her schooling at the top of her class a few years ago (the Tamil Nadu government provides free education, health care, rations and a modest allowance for Tamil refugee families) was accepted to a university abroad on full scholarship. All that was needed from India was travel papers for her.
Unfortunately, there is no provision available for the “minders” of the refugee population in Tamil Nadu, the Q Branch police, to give out such travel papers. All that the Q Branch can do is to help access papers for travelling back to Sri Lanka. Even though the child had spent all her life in Tamil Nadu and had no connection to Sri Lanka, and the officers who handled the case were sensitive, they could not help the student because there was no provision in the rules for this.
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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.
