ON THE THIRD MORNING AFTER THE ANTI-Muslim violence, the main streets of Mustafabad wore a deserted look. Debris from the previous day’s mayhem, including charred vehicles and glass shards, lay strewn across the lanes, and homes and shops stood gutted. In some areas, it appeared as if it had rained bricks. Residual fear and terror were palpable as rumours showed no signs of abating. Everybody was on tenterhooks.
But Al-Hind Hospital in the locality was teeming with activity. Injured people swathed in bandages or with plaster casts sat on the steps wearing tired expressions. Inside the 15-bed community hospital, a small team of doctors hurried from patient to patient. Mats, carpets and plastic sheets had been spread on the floor to accommodate the injured.
The previous night had seen a rush of patients, with an injured person brought in every three minutes. Initially, the hospital did not keep count of the number of patients. The doctors treated the ones who arrived with minor injuries and sent them away. But soon, people with bullet injuries and acid burns began to pour in. On one night alone, 23 people with bullet injuries arrived at Al-Hind. The hospital removed 13 bullets. Some of the wounded people were referred to the nearest government hospital—Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital—located about 7 km away, said Dr. Naushad Ali. He was treating an injured person and instructing his assistant to obtain medical supplies as the hospital was running out of them. The neighbourhood hospital was clearly overburdened but the staff and the local people pitched in with money and resources. Many of the hospital employees, especially the doctors, had not slept since the violence started.
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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.
