Kolkata: About 40 healthcare workers, including interns, were exposed to a suspected Covid-19 patient in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department but the head of the department allegedly refused to follow guidelines and agreed to run tests only after three days. The woman was admitted in the hospital on April 8 and started showing symptoms the next day. She was tested positive on April 12.
The interns protested till April 15 after which swabs were collected on April 16-17. The test results came on Monday.
“Though the Medicine Department arranged for immediate quarantine of the staff exposed to the patient, it was the gynaecology department that did not follow guidelines,” said an intern on condition of anonymity.
“He told us ‘not everyone needs to go for test and you can go into home quarantine. There will not be any separate quarantine facility for you. If you get symptoms then inform us and we will run the test. Not all who were exposed (to the infected patient) need to go for test’,” the intern quoted the senior doctor, Dr Partha Mukherjee, as saying.
It took Mukherjee days of protests and pressure from the interns to change his mind.
The incident has not only enraged the young doctors but also made them apprehensive about the working conditions in the hospital.
In a press statement on Monday, the MBBS interns expressed their grievances and listed their demands. “Three shifts of healthcare workers, including interns, were exposed to a COVID suspect patient without any adequate protection (i.e. N95 masks, as per guidelines) in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Following this exposure, the authority denied quarantine facilities and testing of these contacts by framing medically incorrect case and primary contact definitions,” the statement pointed out.
“On the contrary the authority asked the above mentioned contacts to resume work which facilitated the secondary exposure of interns in the hostel and family members of the health workers commuting from home. Labour room and other contaminated areas of Eden Hospital were not properly fumigated as per guidelines and were functional that added to the spread of infection. The above incident was falsely reported by local media where in it was quoted that 50 health workers have been quarantined,” it said, adding that after a delay of one week, it was agreed that the primary contacts would be tested and quarantined.
However, the interns alleged that the quarantine facilities are not as per the guidelines and four contacts were isolated in a room with a common toilet, “thus defeating the entire purpose of this exercise”.
Some interns chose self-quarantine in their hostel rooms, which “Was shown in a different light in the media because the authority wanted to conceal its mistake”.
“Some of these interns have already tested positive and many others are to be retested in lieu of inconclusive reports. Overall throughout the departments in Medical College, Kolkata, there have been multiple incidents where the authority has caused bureaucratic delays in testing of suspects and at times non testing of suspects leading to exposure of a large number of interns and health workers. This breach in the national protocols in dealing with the COVID suspects has lead to the fear of local spread among the health workers of the college,” the interns said.
The healthcare staff are already exposed to the virus in absence of N95 masks and the lackadaisical approach to a serious crisis is only making it worse for the frontline workers.
When contacted Mukherjee said he has nothing to say about it and the medical superintendent is the right person for all information.
The interns are now demanding trying of all health workers, both primary and secondary contacts, and irrespective of symptoms or travel history because the eight doctors from Medical College who have tested positive are asymptomatic.
The interns also want proper quarantine with one room and one toilet per person, proper care of all positive cases of healthcare workers, testing of all suspected patients, N95 masks for all health workers, accommodation of all healthcare workers within or near campus to avoid spread in family and community, and last and most importantly, assurance of the authority concerned to act fast and with compassion instead of unnecessary delay in handling Covid-19 suspect cases.
The hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Jayanta Biswas, said there was no delay in quarantining the staff. “There are so many patients. Even I have the maximum exposure. There are guidelines which we have to follow. Those who worked for 15 minutes at 1 m distance they were first quarantined.”
He explained that not all patients are admitted with infection and some may show symptoms after a few days. “In that case we have to run tests and then shift the patient,” he added.
When asked how many staffs have been quarantined currently, Biswas said there are many and tests are being conducted in phases.
Meanwhile, a meeting was held on Tuesday involving the members of the college council and DME where it was decided that the intern doctor who is in general isolation in MR Bangur will be shifted to a cabin in IDBG Hospital. It was also decided that all quarantine centres will have one person per room with attached toilet and all interns quarantined in Ananda Bhavan Hotel will be shifted to rooms with the necessary facilities.
“All primary and secondary contacts of previous positive cases are being actively traced and quarantined and will be tested. Henceforth, disease control team will be set up to control such future outbreaks,” were among the other decisions.
The meeting also concluded that Eden Hospital took all measures and ensured proper fumigation.
Kolkata: A team from Right to Food Campaign, Jharkhand Chapter met Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Food Minister Rameshwar Uraon to alert them of the imminent danger of hunger and starvation in the state due to the on-going lockdown.
After meeting CM Soren, the team comprising prominent economist Jean Dreze, Asharfi Nand Prasad, Balram, Siraj Dutta, Sunil Minz and Varsha Poddar, shared the letter with the chief minister, which claimed that the government’s plan to universalise public distribution system (PDS), was not happening in the state.
Claims of universalizing the public distribution system
The letter clearly stated, “We are writing to alert you about the imminent danger of hunger and starvation in Jharkhand in the absence of any effective provision for the delivery of food rations to households without ration cards.”
It added, “Jharkhand government’s claim to “universalize” the public distribution system, is not happening.”
The letter to CM also pointed out the weak provision of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), “A weak provision does exist for delivering 10 kg of foodgrain per month (for two months) to NFSA-eligible households that do not have a ration card. However, the application process is complicated and most people are not aware of it. Numerous field reports suggest that this provision covers just a small fraction of households without ration card.”
Emergency Ration Card
According to the activists, about 8 lakh households in Jharkhand have applied for a ration card and most of them are likely to be poor households. In this crisis, there is no time to verify each applicant’s eligibility under NFSA (and the fact that it has not been done earlier is the government’s responsibility).
Therefore, they urged the government to provide emergency ration cards to the 8 lakh households without further delay, for an initial period of at least one year.
They maintained that to make this plan work, even if the government needed to purchase rice from the Food Cooperation of India (FCI) at Rs 22 per Kg, then it should go ahead with it, as it would cost only Rs 44 crore per month to provide 25 kg of free food grain to these 8 lakh households on an average.
“We would also suggest the government to extend same provision to other households that do not have a ration card, based on self-declaration of eligibility under Jharkhand’s NFSA eligibility criteria,” added the letter.
Special foodgrain allocation to Jharkhand
They further advised the Jhkarkhand government to prevail on the central government to provide a special food grain allocation to Jharkhand, free of cost, so that the PDS can be universalized in rural areas and urban slums, as per NFSA entitlements, for at least a year.
While meeting the Food Minister, the team also gave a five-point suggestion regarding providing food grain to all the needful households in Jharkhand. At the end of the meeting they expressed happiness over Jharkhand government’s decision to issue of 10 lakh additional ration cards. However, the team stressed on the fact that this initiative should be executed as soon as possible.
Kolkata: Bobita Gogoi (name change on request), a twenty-four-year-old working mother used to work as a domestic help in Guwahati, prior to the lockdown doesn’t know how to provide for herself and her three children. Her chronic alcoholic husband has snatched all her savings to meet his drinking expenses.
“I am worried. I am at home, thanks to the lockdown. My savings have been snatched by my husband. With no money, I don’t know how I will pay my rent or buy the essentials for my household,” complained Gogoi.
The story of a Kolkata-based professional is no less grim than that of Gagoi. For forty-four-year-old Alankrita Mondal’s (name changed on request), an HR professional, things are not that smooth at her home. Mondal lives with her husband, in-laws and two teenage children, who refuse to help her in the daily household chores. “Now that the maid is not available round the clock, all household chores are to be done by me. Neither my husband nor my children help me in the daily chore. If anything goes wrong, they all collectively abuse me,” said Mondal, a resident of Sinthi More, Kolkata.
The abuse is not just limited to mental or physical domestic violence but also sexual violence. Julie Banerjee (name changed on request), a business woman living in a posh apartment in South Kolkata, is finding it increasingly difficult to protect herself from her husband’s sexual advances. “He is forcing me to get into frequent sexual contact with him. The mental trauma is increasing as lockdown is progressing,” said an anguished Banerjee.
And, mind it, this rise in domestic violence is not just limited to India. It’s on the rise, globally/Covid-19 Pandemic or ‘Shadow Pandemic’ as UN women term it, has led to an increase in domestic violence (verbal, physical, mental, sexual and economic) perpetrated by intimate marital partners. The lockdown has provided a strong platform for the abuser to practice intimate terrorism, as now the victim is helplessly trapped with the confines of her home.
Ashraful Amin Samrat, a social activist working with Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, pointed out that there has been a manifold increase in the number of domestic violence, both among rural and urban population of Bengal. “There have been fourteen cases of domestic violence that we have received through our helpline numbers and yes, the number is growing. These fourteen SOS calls have been received during the lockdown period”, said Samrat.
While, the state director of North East Network, Anurita Pathak Hazarika pointed out that the lockdown has definitely aggravated domestic violence. “We work with rural women of Assam. We have received six cases during lockdown so far, all related to domestic violence. We are offering psycho social care and counselling to such women. We have submitted our memorandum to the social welfare department to recognise our work as essential service,” said Hazarika over the phone to eNewsroom.
While, Shyamoli Das, counselor associated with Swayam of Kolkata, maintained, “Women belonging to the age group (15 to 50 years) are the worst hit. Even elderly women are facing the wrath.” Single unmarried women too, living at their natal homes are not being taken care of by their immediate family members are facing physical, ment al and economic trauma.
Nandita Deka of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), Guwahati chapter added, “Most of the women belonging to lower rung of the society have chronic alcoholic husbands who run away with their partner’s hard earned money,” said Deka over phone from Guwahati. She added that there are many women who have not been able to call the organisation’s helpline number and inform them about their plights. “Many women don’t have the money to recharge their phone and call us. The limited or no movement outside home is another reason as they are locked up with their abusive partner who is hovering over their head 24×7. Even if their phone is recharged, how can they call us?” questioned Deka.
“In many cases, family intervention is made as mental health intervention is a necessity. Now that we cannot visit the survivor’s natal or marital home, we make conference calls where we talk to other family members,” informed Chandana Baksi, a psycho therapist associated with Swayam. In cases where the women are abused by her family members despite interventions by the NGO’s, police help is sought. The district protection officer is alerted as well.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has received complaints of domestic violence from across the country, and has recorded a sharp increase in gender based violence during. Nationwide lockdown. As per NCW’s report, between March 23 and April 10, a total of 370 complaints related to women issues have been received by the panel. Of the 370 complaints, the highest 123 were of domestic violence. NCW has even launched a WhatsApp number 7217735372 to report cases of domestic violence. Kerala Government too has launched a WhatsApp number to report cases of domestic violence. The 24 hours helpline has been started by the Directorate of Women and Child Development.
Consultant Psychiatrist of NHS United Kingdom, Dr Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar explained, “Though both men and women are affected by the economic slowdown, there is enough evidence from history that violence against women spikes during season of high unemployment. So during lockdown both men and women are suffering from immense stress and anxiety, as their future seems unsure. Fear of death too affects individuals. To combat all this in a healthy way, we need to include things that keep us busy and happy. Spend time reading, cooking or gardening. Even talking to kids is a very good stress buster. Exercises regularly at home. Follow all safety rules. If you feel stressed don’t watch any Covid-19 related news. And lastly talk to a psycho therapist or psychiatrist for help if you feel like abusing or exploiting others.”
Kolkata: A CBSE-affiliated school in south Kolkata has hiked its fees for the academic session 2020-21.
DAV Public School in Taratala has hiked admission fees for all classes. A notice in this regard was circulating in a WhatsApp group a day after the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry asked private schools not to hike fees owing to the ongoing lockdown and the prevailing health crisis in the country.
The notice, dated April 14, says the first bimonthly fees for the new session should be paid online by April 30. However, there was no signature of the principal on the notice that was uploaded on the school’s website on April 14.
Other notices on the website concerning decisions taken by the school have the principal’s signature. Some of the concerned guardians tried to contact the school for clarification and sent a mail to the official email ID a few days back but there has been no reply so far. A student said the mail was probably sent on April 16 “but I am not sure and I came to know from a friend in another section”.
An aggrieved parent said he paid Rs 12,560 in the last academic session but “this time, it has been raised to Rs 16,010”.
“How can the school do that when there is a government directive? Also, now that the school is closed some of the maintenance charges should be waived off. Then why this extra charge? Many guardians will have problem in paying but no one wants to take up the issue for obvious reasons. Those parents whose wards are admitted to Class X do not want to take the risk fearing backlash. There is no clarity on the matter,” said the parent, who did not want to be named.
The guardian said he was so confused with the notice and shocked at the fee amount that he called up a state government helpline. The person who took the call said he would get back.
Sources said the school is likely to come up with another notice on April 27 but this could not be verified separately.
The HRD Ministry on Friday urged schools across the country not to hike fees and not to charge three months’ fees after several parents took up the issue with the ministry. It also hoped that state education departments must be considering the demands in coordination with guardians and school managements.
Parents across the country were worried about paying fees as the economy of the country is adversely hit by the crisis and small businesses are grappling to stay afloat. This prompted some states to notify schools not to take fees for more than a month. In some places like Lucknow, the local administration has asked schools not to put pressure on parents for fees at all. Despite this, there were reports of insensitivity on the part of schools.
Dr Ehtesham Waquarib has donned many a hat in his career. The 34-year-old Indian Police Officer (IPS), before donning his olive uniform used to work as a doctor in Community Medicine with the World Health Organization (WHO). At a time when India is facing the challenge to combat Covid-19 like the rest of the world, IPS Dr Waquarib has come forward with a 60-day plan for his district – East Singhbhum to take on the highly contagious coronavirus in Jharkhand’s most industrialized belt. The 2015 batch IPS, an AMU alumni took out time from his busy schedule as the SP Jamshedpur (GRP) to answer some pertinent questions for our readers, in an email interview with eNewsroom:
Q: What’s the master plan designed by you? How will it help to fight Corona Virus threat?
A: I am leading the containment-cum-surveillance team of East Singbhum. I meet doctors, magistrates and police officials of this area, with the intention of bettering the coordination among them, to tackle Covid-19 pandemic in a better way.
The team comprising over 1000 members, does not only work for the containment and surveillance of Covid-19. They have also been taught and counselled on a daily basis to increase public participation.
In the past, I have worked as a doctor in Community Medicine. This experience, has helped me in preparing a road map of next 60 days. My study of MBBS and MD has helped me in understanding the epidemiology of Covid-19.
We have applied this knowledge to procure items to well equip East Singhbhum’s Sadar hospitals, Community Health Center (CHC)s and Primary Health Center (PHC)s. We have also roped in private hospitals to ease the pressure on government hospitals.
Even minor details like – preparing duty rosters for doctors for better efficiency, making arrangements for more beds, assessing the number of ICU and ventilators that will be needed, is being noted. A detailed report on the number of Viral Transmission Media (VTM)s, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)s, gloves masks, pulse and oximeters among others will be needed, is being prepared.
We are facilitating training of healthcare professionals and technicians so that they can protect themselves when treating patients with Covid-19. It is our top most priority, as we are seeing that healers are the most affected by the contagious virus.
We are using Telemedicine to reach remote areas of Jharkhand, thereby enabling people to directly interact with doctors as well as specialists. This has cut down unnecessary visits to medical centres in the time of social distancing which lessen the burden on doctors and patients too. We have also introduced a helpline number for psychological counseling.
Disinfection chambers have also been set up at hospitals for medical staffs and for other essential services staffs.
Mobile sample collection booths have been initiated to reach far-flung areas. It will decrease risk posed to both health care persons and public at large.
We are also isolating districts to map the possible hotspots. My active surveillance team members are conducting door-to-door screening. We have also begun an aggressive contact tracing campaign to identify those affected and have them sent to the quarantine centre.
Q: Who will be covered in this plan?
A: I lead the containment-cum-surveillance team of district East Singhbhum (Jamshedpur) of Jharkhand which has a 23 lakh population- roughly the size of Australia. This population comprises both urban and rural folks. It’s one of the most industrialised area of Jharkhand.
IPS Dr Ehtesham (second from right) while a volunteer work as a doctor in Nagpur (file picture)
Q: How you are implementing these plans? Are you satisfied from the plan?
A: I am taking regular meetings with the members to daily monitor surveillance teams.
The teams under SP Jamshedpur (GRP) consists of mainly ADM Law & Order, Civil Surgeon and District Surveillance Officer and all administrative officers (BDO, CO, Ex-Magistrate and Medical officers) are by default working for this.
We have also engaged professors and students of XLRI Jamshedpur to train our surveillance workers. They are of really great help in our endeavour.
There is also a reward system for the better performing teams.
All the travelers from other Indian states using station footfalls in last few days before lockdown were made to undergo institutional quarantine or home quarantine on the basis of thermal scanner and checklists put at railway stations. Regular follow up is being done by making phone calls twice a day. In case of any SOS our medical team immediately rushes to the spot.
Data of foreign travelers in the last 3 months is being scrutinized, house to house tracing, advising home quarantine, isolating and sampling of those who are fulfilling ICMR guideline.
Thousands of ground workers are working on the field, doing active surveillance and 100 lab technicians are ready to collect samples throughout the district.
Our borders are perfectly sealed and police is continuously keeping a tab on people coming in or going out of Jharkhand. All medical emergency and essential items have been provided for the border area.
Models and dashboards have been made to track the work done as well performance of such a large army of ground workers.
Till April 18, we have collected and tested over 400 samples as per ICMR guidelines. The results were negative.
No positive case in East Singhbhum in last 28 days. On the way to be declared ‘Green Zone’.
I am very much satisfied with our team work.
Q: Is it funded by Railway or in association with state and central government?
A: No it’s not funded by the railway. I am voluntarily giving my service to my place of positing and my home state Jharkhand. But whatever, I am doing is in association with the state government.
Q: Do you have any specific plan to deal with migrant workers?
A: The issue of migrant workers is being looked after by district administration itself.
Q: Apart from Railway coaches prepared as quarantine centre in what other ways do you think Railway can help to fight from the Corona threat?
A: Railways is successfully providing movement of essential goods throughout the country when all mode of transport have completely come to a halt, it’s truly the lifeline of our country.
Birbhum/Kolkata: With Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s orders that the lockdown in Bengal will be strict but humane, the state’s police force has the task of not only enforcing the law but also educating the public on the importance of social distancing and preventing the spread of the corona virus.
Keeping this in mind Birbhum Police has taken some unique measures to make people understand the seriousness of the corona virus and following the rules of the lockdown.
Earlier, Kolkata Police formed a musical group and performed at major city intersections as part of an awareness drive. Traffic cops in Hyderabad and Chennai Police wore Corona virus shaped helmets to send their message across.
Birbhum Police have gone a step further. They are not only helming street art, they are also taking the help of Bauls to hammer the message across. And if this is not enough, they are also using theatre artists who wear Corona costumes on the streets of villages and towns and tell the public about the dangers of the deadly virus.
In the initial days the cops began with a poster campaign and making people understand through the public address system. Then came street plays which also involved children explaining the importance of personal hygiene. Campaigns on social media followed where folk songs in Baul and Tusu were played. Constantly evolving newer ways to teach people, cops also sang songs about the dos and don’ts of the Corona virus.
Watch Bengal police’s work in a minute
Cop speak
A local police officer, who is in the thick of things said: “We realized that just stopping people on the streets and sending them back home is not effective. They again come out once the cops are gone. Also our Baul and Tusu songs were a hit with the villagers. We involved local artists to draw on the streets the dangers of COVID-19 virus attack. Many village elders too joined us in drawing their own things on the streets. People are still not serious about the issue and so we have to maintain our guard”.
On the various measures Birbhum SP Shyam Singh said: “We have undertaken lots of programmes. We have seen globally how not being serious about the virus has cost lives. Even though people were not very serious on following the lockdown rules initially, they are now. We are under the process of implementing new initiatives and we will keep you posted.”
Art as a tool against Corona
A street art to aware people to maintain hygiene at the time of coronavirus pandemic I Credit: Indrajit Roy
Goutam Das Baul, who has been performing at many of the town vantage points said: “I have been singing songs on Coronavirus. People are stopping and listening to what I sing. So that way the response has been good.” Songs like ‘Kotoi virus dekhibhai re, keutholi hate hairojbajare jai re’ (This is an unusual virus and people should refrain from going to the market daily) are proving effective”.
Theatre artist Abhishek Dutta who dons a Corona costume and covers 2-3 spots daily in and around Santiniketan is also working in tandem with the Santiniketan OC on the theme.
“We have four Corona costumes with us. I’m the only one who is donning it currently. If we have four people at four different spots it will be better. People are scared. Many in the villages think that if one has fever it must be Corona and that they should not approach the doctor fearing social boycott. We are educating people on this.We also tell them not to fear the police but fear the virus”.
Kingshuk Sarkar, who is drawing Corona themes on the streets as wide as 50-70 ft feels street art is proving effective with the local population. “Till now, I along with my wife Roshni Bagchi Sarkar have covered 8 places. A few of the Kala Bhavan students are also assisting us. We are mostly moving in villages which are vulnerable. We have also done artworks within Visva-Bharati campus and at Shyambati Bazar in Bolpur town,” he said.
The first casualty of war is truth, goes the saying. However, the current war against corona pandemic was supposed to be an exception since it involves us and our mortal enemy altogether. It is true as experts in social psychology have pointed out that people are prone to misinformation or rumors and exaggerations during a war or pandemic. Xenophobia; fears and dislikes of foreigners and homegrown ethno-religious minorities considered alien to the majority in a land snowball most profusely during such trying times. Many rumors are self-propelling, misleading but not mischievous. But the history is also replete with the examples of professional breeders of deliberate disinformation who spread falsehood and fanned mass hysteria against the ‘enemy within’ and outside the realms, mostly at the service of the rulers of the day.
Down the ages, this nexus has been exploiting the vulnerable mass psyche at the time of great perils and promoting prejudices against racial, communal or national minorities and inculcate herd and siege mentalities among the majority to its own benefits. The racial-religious or social-cultural differences between ‘us’ and ‘them’, perceived or real, have been used to demonize the alien outside or the ‘Other’ within. Their Stereotyping kills all individuality and other varieties in the targeted community by making it a faceless and heartless lump of abominable aggregates.
Further, the spin-masters have gained certain legitimacy by giving deliberate twists to some action or non-actions of the ‘enemy/traitors’ which has already become a byword for latter’s enmity to ‘us’. This pinch of plausibility makes the fake stories believable to the minds already bigoted. Although, minority rabble-rousers too have used this trick in many countries including Indian subcontinent, majoritarian elites have benefited most.
The fake news factories
Today our Hindutva hate-factories are working 24X7 to mutate the latest strains of hate-virus against Indian Muslims by blaming them for the corona contagion in the country. This is the new phase of old Sangh Parivar narrative of a dogged anti-India ‘conspiracy by our enemies’, read Pakistan and Indian Muslims as its fifth column. Many Indians had hoped that the pandemic would be an occasion for national unity after the recent spell of divisive politics over religion-based citizenship law and longer anti-Muslim aggression of Modi 0.2 since last August. But the leopard cannot hide its spots. The politics of communal polarization cannot ensure its hegemony without constantly demonizing its pet scapegoats for its utter failures in economy. The prime minister has said nothing against slanders against the main minority despite international concerns.
The Godi media have taken advantage of the Tomfoolery of Tablighi Jaamat leadership which went ahead with its congregation at Nijamuddin Markaz or Centre in Delhi when the pandemic was spreading fast globally. Though, it was held before the Indian lockdown from 25 March, the continuation of TJ annual religious preaching program in the states added to virus proliferation. Situation became more suitable for the rumor mills when some potentially infected participants who needed testing and quarantine had gone into hiding. Apparently, they were afraid of legal punishment and social ostracism from already hostile BJP government and police in UP and other saffronized states.
The images of Hindi news channels targeting Muslim community over coronavirus pandemic in India I Courtesy: scroll.in
Subsequently, exaggerated, unrelated, doctored and simply fake videos and audios have been manufactured and circulated to harp on the ‘conspiracy’ not only through the Whatsapp University but also on mainstream, ‘national’ TV channels, mainly Hindi and English. Aaj Tak, Zee News, India TV, News Nation, Sudarshan News, ABP News as well as Republic TV and TV 18 network have gained most notoriety among them. These TV channels have given widespread currency to the canards. Their screaming headlines and ‘breaking news’, claiming evidences for ‘Corona Jihad/ Holocaust’ or ‘Jaamati SaJish,/ Harkate (Jaamat conspiracy/misdeeds)’ have aimed at vilifying not only TJ but the entire community. The anchors’ vituperative, hollering and hectoring against Muslim panelists as well as those absent have fanned a mass frenzy against Muslims mainly in Hindi heartland states. Large-circulated newspapers like Jagaran, Amar Ujala, Patrika as well as the news agency, ANI have joined the bandwagon.
Harping on lies
They have circulated the old and unrelated videos showing Sufi collective Zikr (of Allah’s names in every breath) and licking of food stains in plates by Bohra sect members (to show extreme austerity and gratitude to the ultimate food-giver) as the ‘proof’ of deliberate collective sneezing and spitting by the TJ congregation’. The online fake-news busters and truth-seekers promptly exposed the lies by retrieving the original videos from the deep web and putting the fakes side by side using latest digital technologies.
But the forgers are undaunted. They have come out with a new video of an Islamic preacher blaming him for instigating Muslims to spit in public to spread corona virus.
The fake-busters have again traced out the original making it clear that it was about a ‘symbolic’ Muslim ritual to ward off enticements from ‘Satanic voices’ during prayers. It is another matter that fundamentalists in all religions are at odds with science. Notwithstanding that debate, alternative media activists have pointed to the fact that the cleric had uploaded his disclaimer to the effect that spitting at public places during the pandemic would be a crime.
Nevertheless, other venomous videos and WhatsApp/Twitter/Instagram or Facebook messages are in circulation to buttress the same conspiracy theory. These include videos of a middle-aged Muslim fruit-seller licking or spitting on his wares, a Muslim youth ‘caught red-handed’ injecting spittle and was thrashed mercilessly by the vigilantes to teach him a lesson. Another one has claimed that Muslim men deliberately left currency notes, contaminated with their saliva, on roads to spread the virus. The first instance was found to be a case of psychosomatic problems and second one a thoroughly concocted one. Luckily, the youth survived. In the third case, the man who had accidentally lost his money on the road rushed back to police to claim it. But such hate-campaigns have triggered beating and boycott of Muslim vegetable and fruit-sellers. Now street vendors in some north Indian cities are perching small saffron or crimson flags on their wares to identify them as Hindus. This is New India!
The TJ-specific complaints aired by the Godi channels and other media included the claims that the participants of Nizamuddin Markaz had demanded non-veg food at their quarantine centers, misbehaved with doctors and nurses, roamed naked or even defecated in the open. Later the police and administration in the concerned areas denied those stories and some of them even denounced the ‘yellow journalism’. One TV channel’s shrill charges against certain Markaz –returnees of deliberately spreading the infection in the neighborhood by hiding their illness and even deaths in their families were proved false both by the officials and fake-busters. But the hate-mongers have refused to stop witch-hunting of Muslims in urban and rural Corona-clusters irrespective of the veracity of unwanted actions or inactions by individual members of the minority.
Targeting Muslims for Migrant unrest
The regime and its media toadies could not either suppress or stomach the images of millions of migrant labors marching to their distant homes after being thrown out of jobs and shelters following the prime minister’s sudden declaration of prolonged lockdown.
For the record’s sake, Narendra Modi sought people’s pardon, particularly, that of the poor since he knew that most of these hapless cross-country workforce belong to Hindu lower castes and tribals of Hindi heartland. As usual, the courtiers are more loyal than the king. Messrs Goswami, Sharma, Choudhury and Chourasia and the PM’s lesser acolytes denied the food crisis and hunger deaths among the stranded migrants.
Image courtesy: Anonymous
The beginning of the second spell of the lockdown on Indian New year day made the migrants restless. They came out on streets demanding trains to home in Surat to Mumbai, Delhi to Hyderabad. The migrants’ expectations were fueled by media reports including those of some of the Godi channels which had reported about railway ministry’s tinkering with a plan to run some special trains to ferry the marooned. It led to huge turnout at Mumbai’s Bandra station and police caned the hapless to disperse.
The toadies soon smelt a rat and zoomed in a local mosque accusing the community leaders of being the main instigators behind the footfall. The usual suspects were again at the receiving end of the Kangaroo courts at the TV studios. The witch hunt continues to deflect the concerns over the great humanitarian crisis involving the millions and ruins of their lives and livelihoods which will linger for foreseeable future in post-lockdown India and world.
The fake-busters
Online Fake news monitor groups like Alt News, Factly, Boom, Newsclick et al have been busting the utter lies and forgeries of the hate-mongers relentlessly. Even police and administration from UP to Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi to Karnataka have denied many a false reports related to the TJ and attributed to the official sources. But these truth-seeking news activists who enjoy no blessings from the regime and its corporate cronies are apparently overwhelmed by the hugely resourceful and powerful propaganda machinery. So new hateful lies are springing up like the offspring of demon RaktaVija of the Hindu mythology as soon as old ones are being cut down. The Goebblesian principle of making a lie believable through its relentless repetition seems to working on the minds of good numbers of Hindus mainly in the Hindi Heartland, including educated middle class.
Indian Journalism is at great peril
I know some of these propagandists of the current regime who are marauding as journalists in the Lutyen’s Delhi as I had worked there in the late nineties. I came to know soft-spoken Sharma as a venomous RSS diehard during the Kargil war. He lectured me on patriotic journalism at the time of war before firing me for filing reports which did not gel with his brand of nationalism. His personal equation with Modi has made him hugely powerful in Indian television media today.
Goswami, the frothiest rabble-rouser today was a low-lying, benign regional chauvinist in his early avatar before graduating to his role of self-appointed public prosecutor for the nation. His on-screen belligerence, I suspected for a long, was more a TRP-oriented marketing strategy than ideological conviction. Now I think his career ambition has triggered the marriage of convenience between his regionalism and Hindutva nationalism. Choudhurys and Chourasias have been mercenary humbugs at the service of the politically ambitious media-Mughals and power centers of the day.
There are some turncoats who had served dynasts of Congress when the latter were in power. Most of Modi’s media fawns today were never counted among the brightest and most perceptive journalists in Delhi either in print or television. But the regime has ensured the gradual eclipse of the independent journalists, many of them were critical both to the Congress and BJP. They have been eased out from influential TV channels and newspapers by dangling carrot and sticks to the owners. The media barons who were looking for large share of government advertisements as well as other business favors, were also offered Rajya Sabha seats.
Unlike his buddy Trump, our PM still refuses to host any press conference or take questions from critical media even six years after his rise on the Raisina Hills. It gels with his megalomania and paranoia since his Gujarat days and sits well with his Narcissism. Together, these traits are fueling his aggressive personality cult that only tolerates the toadies.
So when he speaks of Tyag and Tapasya of ordinary Indians during the lockdown, it is only a pretext to ask them to be the ‘anushasit sipahi’ or disciplined and dutiful soldiers to the rastra or the nation-state, in other words, dedicated to the cult of the great authoritarian leader. It rings a bell for those who have seen or survived Indira Gandhi’s Emergency and her courtiers’ chants of ‘Indira is India’.
Media crawled before Nehru’s daughter when they were asked to bend– Modi’s mentor Lal Krishna Advani later famously commented. I wonder what the original Hindu Hriday Samrat turned Margdarshak would comment on Godi media today.
Kolkata: Bengalis love their food and they want it as fresh as possible. Festival or not, Kolkatans can be seen thronging markets for their daily dose of fish and vegetables throughout the year.
Even in a lockdown Bengalis want to indulge in their daily habit of marketing and will not be bogged down by ‘unnecessary’ government warnings. To feed this fetish markets across the city have to be kept open. While shoppers can be told to wear masks and stand in orderly queues at a safe distance from each other, for the vendors, by the very nature of the work and the size of markets social distancing is a much harder task. However the authorities and market associations are coming up with different ways to try and decongest the markets as much as possible and decrease the risk of spreading the corona virus.
Practical problems
Talking to eNewsroom, Mrinalkanti Mallick, member of Koley Market Association said that being a wholesale market, it is difficult to maintain social distancing. The produce is in such large volumes that it is impossible for one person to carry it off the trucks and bring it in to the market. However he warned if the market was to close down or scale down its business there would be an acute shortage of vegetables, fish and fruits across the city.
“Private companies in and around the market are mostly closed and are maintaining the protocol but the vendors cannot do social distancing as this is a wholesale market. If this market is closed down then it will not only lead to shortage of essentials, but also thousands of daily wage earners will go hungry. Though government officials are coming on their rounds, they are turning a blind eye to some things as they know that this market feeds essentials to the city and beyond,” said Mallick.
Making an effort
Swapan Burman, vice-chairman and secretary of the organizing committee of Mallickghat flower market in Howrah, however has swung into action after the chief minister’s press meet where she stressed the need to decongest marketplaces.
To start with the area of the flower market has been extended up to Jagannath Ghat. Burman believes this will help in decongestion. “This will help in maintaining social distancing. We are thermal screening visitors before allowing them entry into the market. We have also provided soaps at the gates for people to use before they enter.”
Wholesale sellers with their vegetables at Koley Market, Kolkata I Courtesy: Ashok Nath Dey
The market committee is not stopping with just these measures. They have restricted the movement of visitors to Asia’s biggest flower market through its gates. “We have kept just two entry points open, in consultation with the OC of Howrah PS. We have also put guard rails on the approach roads to the market, to help regulate movement of customers. We have also started providing masks to the flower farmers along with a packet of biscuits and a bottle of water, so that they do not have to go out for food. We are also repeatedly announcing the need to maintain social distancing. You can understand that we have huge volume of business being the largest market in Asia. The market, which used to be open 24×7, is now doing business from 4am to 3pm. We will gradually limit working hours to 12 noon,” said Burman.
What is helping their cause is the absence of a large section of the traders who come from far-off places. This has resulted in around 70% of the shops being closed.
Maniktala Market, one of the biggest and busiest hubs in the northern part of Kolkata has also started enforcing social distancing. In order to restrict movement of visitors to the market, they have limited business hours. The market is now open till 12 noon after opening its gates at 7am.
Vijay Kumar Shaw, secretary, Maniktala market traders’ association said, “We are insisting on masks for everyone and also enforcing social distancing. People are standing in a queue at designated markings.”
Concerned about the hawkers crowding the footpath outside the market, the association has asked them to maintain social distancing after a joint meeting along with the officers from enforcement agency and Battala PS.
“The shopkeepers are also wearing masks. Many of the fish traders, who are from outside the city area are not present right now, which is helping us in keeping the market less congested. But the grocery stores, numbering around 40, are all open. We are telling customers to maintain distancing from time to time. Our men are regulating the movement of the visitors at all the 9 gates of the market,” said Shaw.
Habits die hard
Esrafil Molla, secretary of Hatibagan Market Association said that the though announcement are made in and around the place, people are still reluctant to listen despite warnings by Shyampukur PS officials.
“The market is open till 1pm. What we have seen is that only a handful of shops are getting overcrowded. We also thought of shutting few gates of the market as we have seven gates but we cannot do so without informing the local administration. People think that the market will run out of stock but it is not true. There is ample stock of grocery. People are not wearing masks and are not listening to our pleas,” said Molla.
Deputy Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Atin Ghosh, though assured that proper steps are being taken to ensure security of people.
“I have heard that people were panicking fearing scarcity of raw materials. But gradually people have understood the seriousness of the situation and are maintaining distance. KMC officials along with the cops are visiting every market and dealing with utmost strictness. Things are gradually becoming better and people are becoming more responsible,” mentioned Ghosh.
Gariahat Market has more than 250 shops, one-third of which have now been shifted out to ensure better crowd management. Temporary shops have been shifted out on to the link road adjoining the market.
Dilip Kumar Mondol, secretary of Gariahat Market Association said that though the market was crowded until last week, during the last three days people visiting the market are maintaining protocol.
“Until last week we had a harrowing time trying to make people understand the usefulness of social distancing. Some understood while others didn’t. Last Monday, KMC Mayor Firhad Hakim visited the market and instructed that only two gates should be kept open and that all shops will remain closed except those selling vegetables, fruits, flowers and fish. With this measure, from this week we are maintaining the protocol smoothly and the local residents are also cooperating with us,” said Mondol.
Hope floats
Anisur Molla, a spice vendor said that he has to send money to his mother back in the village but due to the lockdown and government instructions he cannot open his shop and he fears the worst for his mother.
According to Ballygunge resident Saborno Paul, Kasba market has also been relocated on to the main thoroughfare just to enable social distancing as people in large number used to gather inside the market ever since the lockdown was announced by the Centre.
Kolkata: Rukhsar Perween, a class 10 student has to walk a few extra miles to collect her drinking water, amid the on-going lockdown. The Bhatpara municipal water supply tap in her area has been cordoned off by Hindus, and Muslims have been told to get their drinking water from elsewhere.
“They say that we are Muslims and hence we can transmit coronavirus to them. They have put up barricades of bamboo and dupatta around the tap. We can’t even dare to enter that spot for water. So, even during the lockdown either me or my sister have to go to a far-off municipal tap to collect drinking water,” said Rukhsar.
Ruskhsar is not a resident of UP or Gujarat, from where several videos showing Muslim vendors being told to not enter Hindu areas, have gone viral. She is resident of Coolie Lane Number 6 of Kankinara, in Bhatpara Municipality of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal.
Thanks to the Tabliqhi Jamaat related constant debate on mainstream media, and BJP IT cell spreading fake news against Muslims, Islamophobia is on the rise in India, even when the country is under lockdown. The religious polarisation has reached Bengal too, which takes pride in its mutli-cultural society. Bhatpara Municipality of North 24 Parganas, which had witnessed communal riots, immediately after the General Elections in 2019, is again witnessing discrimination against minority community, especially those living in the lower strata of the society.
Sharing a similar experience was Zainab Khatoon, a resident of Darba Line in Kankinara. While speaking to eNewsroom, she disclosed, “We don’t have enough stored ration. Hence, we often visit local grocery shops to buy essentials. However, after the Tablighi Jamaat incident, the shopkeeper of other faith, don’t take money from our hands. They have kept a small bowl for us to place the money.” She paused and then added, “They even call us Corona Virus and even say that they will chase us out as they did during the 2019 riots. How can we be called Corona Virus? We are not even allowed to collect water from the same municipality water taps. We are told to go elsewhere.”
When asked, if they had reported the case, she said, “To whom do we report? This has become a regular affair.”
Confirming the same was Debashish Pal, a social activist, who has been running a coaching centre in areas that have seen communal tension during the Bhatpara riots. Speaking to eNewsroom, he said, “I have been providing relief materials in and around Kankinara and people from the Muslim community have spoken to me about the discrimination, they are having to face. And I must mention that it’s not just these two girls who are being called Corona or being barred from filling water, post-Tablighi Jamaat incident. Then the entire community in this area is having to face such prejudice.”
When eNewsroom contacted Officer-in-Charge of Bhatpara, Rajshree Dutta, regarding religious discrimination being faced by Muslims of Bhatpara, he said, “I have not received any complaint regarding this issue. But then given the time we are in; this is nothing new. Such reports or cases are emerging from different cities across India too.”
Meanwhile, Pal, said, that he would be raising the issue with the appropriate officials. “I will not just intimate the concerned officials but will also write a letter to the commissioner of police, Bhatpara.”
Kolkata: When the news report highlighting the plight of migrant workers put up at a quarantine centre in Maithan was published, Jharkhand’s Chief Minister Hemant Soren ordered an inquiry and asked deputy commissioner of Dhanbad to take immediate action on the basis of eNewsroom report.
The news report published on Wednesday indicated that the migrants put up at Maithan’s BSK College were not being provided with water and food ad when they had demanded for water then they were threatened with dire consequences like being shot. The report even contained a video, which clearly shows the 300 migrant workers put up at BSK College claiming that they were not getting water and that they had been threatened of being shot at.
eNewsroom had got the lead of story from Samirul Islam, an activist of Bangla Sanskriti Mancha (BSM), who had personally talked to the migrant workers and later had informed to Birbhum Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh about the matter. In the past Samirul and BSM have helped migrant workers stuck at various places across India to reach Bengal, be it post Pulwama attack or when the migrants have faced any hardship.
However, Deputy Commissioner of Dhanbad, Amit Kumar tweeted within two hours of Jharkhand Chief Minister tweet claiming that everything— be it food, hygiene or security is being maintained at the quarantine centre.
Watch the video of migrant workers reacting after administration takes action
He also mentioned that regular health check-up of migrants were being done and campus was also being sanitized regularly.
However, when eNewsroom, again contacted one of the migrants at BSK College, Maithan on Thursday, they informed that around 11 pm on Wednesday, a few police had come to the centre. “Few police personnel in army uniform visited us. They told us that whatever problem we have faced are a thing of the past now and that there would not be any issue at the center be it lack of water or food shortage. They also mentioned that within two days, we will be sent back home.”
Among the 300 migrant workers put up at the centre, most are from Bengal, while some are also from Jharkhand. All of these migrants worked in Bihar and soon after the lockdown was announced on the midnight of March 24, these migrants had left for their respective hometowns – Murshidabad, Birbhum, Dhanbad on foot. But after reaching the Jharkhand-Bengal border on March 30 there were quarantined for 15 days. Now, even after completing their isolation tenure, they have yet to sent their homes.
Significantly, Dhanbad DC in his tweet did not mention anything about the threat migrant workers received for asking water.
