A STUNNING MOMENT IN THE RAJYA SABHA proceedings on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) was symptomatic of the larger political and governance context in which Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his associates in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government were pushing through this controversial piece of legislation. Amit Shah was arguing that the CAB posed no threat to the Assamese people and that the government would protect their rights. Members of the opposition, raising their voices in unison, vociferously contested the claim, which led to an animated and heated situation.
Both Houses of Parliament have witnessed many such occasions in the past, and people across the country and the world have had the opportunity to witness them through the live telecast of the proceedings. But on December 11, this moment of heightened tensions was followed by something strange and unprecedented: the stoppage of the live telecast of the proceedings. Just before this extraordinary development, Rajya Sabha Chairperson M. Venkaiah Naidu was heard telling opposition members not to interrupt the Minister and even warning them that they would be “named”, a procedure that prevents an MP from participating in the proceedings of the House for the rest of the day. As he said that, he also ordered that nothing the opposition members were saying would go on record. Immediately after this, Rajya Sabha TV stopped its live broadcast. Although the House-run channel gave no official explanation for this stoppage, informal indications from within the organisation were that this unparalleled situation arose because the Chair had pressed the red light button in his controls, giving the signal to stop the telecast. It was resumed only after the opposition voices had been silenced and Amit Shah had the floor entirely to himself.
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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.
