Much like the photograph of a naked little girl fleeing napalm bombs in Mylai coalesced anti-Vietnam war sentiment across the world into a mighty force, it was an image that proved to be the tipping point in the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, described as the biggest movement of people in the continent since the Second World War. In this case, it was a photograph of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, his lifeless body alone and lying face down on a vast beach in Turkey. Aylan, along with his five-year-old brother and mother drowned when their unstable dinghy capsized during the perilous crossing from Turkey to the island of Kos in Greece, a landing point for refugees fleeing to Europe.
The image propelled an outpouring of popular support for the refugee cause, seen in concrete community action and solidarity towards the influx of refugees and also in the popular pressure on governments to respond to the crisis in a responsible and humane fashion.
Aylan and his family are part of a mounting tally of individuals and family groups who have perished while making the crossing over the Mediterranean to Europe, seen as the promised land of peace and opportunity. The stories that get published or broadcast in the media on the steady toll of deaths appear not to have deterred those who are fleeing war and economic instability in their region. For the refugees from Syria, West Asia and northern Africa, the constant fear of annihilation in their own countries outweighs the risks of travel.
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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.
