MANY GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD have been using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to intensify crackdowns on human rights and peaceful protests. The Indian government, unfortunately, is no exception. The Narendra Modi government has been using the national lockdown to move against people involved in peaceful protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Delhi, and there have been some arrests. A first information report (FIR) was registered against Delhi Minorities Commission Chairman Zafarul Islam Khan on April 30 for sedition and for promoting enmity between groups on the basis of religion, race, and place of birth. The charges were based on a social media post by Khan.
Many countries are freeing political prisoners and even common criminals temporarily to prevent the spread of the pandemic in overcrowded prisons. The Indian authorities, however, are showing no such considerations. Kashmiri politicians and intellectuals accused of sedition continue to be incarcerated, many of them in places far from home.
U.N. WARNING
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a statement in late April calling on governments to ensure that human rights were not violated “under the guise of exceptional or emergency measures” to combat the pandemic. “Emergency powers should not be a weapon government can wield to quash dissent, control the population, and even perpetuate their time in power. They should be used to effectively deal with the pandemic—nothing more, nothing less,” Bachelet said. She emphasised that the restrictions imposed should be “necessary, proportionate and non-discriminatory”.
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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.
