Lukhnow: One would be surprised to see the passion of poet Makhmoor Kakorvi, who has several books to his credit, is quite often seen visiting graveyards and hospices, dargahs and mazaars.
He started the mission to collect all the ‘chronograms’ on epitaphs in Kakori, one of the most important towns of North India that is known for its litterateurs and writers apart from Sufis.
The master poets who have absolute command over language are able to write poetry in the manner that their numerical value, either of the stanza or a phrase, comes out as the year of a person’s demise. This art is termed ‘Tareekh-Goi.’
It’s an ancient art and such skilled poets who can compose chronograms or write ‘Qita-e-Tareekh’ are few. On the tombstone, along with the person’s information, the poetry is inscribed and the last couplet or line has a numerical value as per the ‘Abjad’ system that represents the date or year of death.
And, this mathematical equation is also engraved, often, on the tombstone’s plaque. In an era when people are no longer able to compose poetry in meters and as per traditional and hard standards of prosody, it is even more difficult to find someone who writes chronograms.
But till a few decades ago, it was common. When Makhmoor began registering the long verses and couplets carrying the chronogram on the epitaphs, he found that there were not a few but dozens of senior poets who had composed them over the last three centuries in Kakori.
In a town that has a population of barely 22,000 but has a history of producing one of the biggest Urdu dictionaries—Noor-ul-Lughaat, as well as being home to writers and poets of the calibre of Shah Turab Ali Qalandar, Mohsin Kakorvi, Furqat Kakorvi and scores of others, Makhmoor found that poets with the ability to write chronograms were exceptional, in fact, too many poets who were perfect in this art in Kakori in the past.
“I would go to the graves, clean the plaque and then try to decipher the verses. The last line or stanza or phrase is the poetic chronogram. I found more than 60 different poets who had written chronograms in Kakori alone. Many of them were poets of such stature and command over language that is not seen anymore.
Some of them wrote many chronograms and the terms used are fascinating as well as a reflection of their mastery over Urdu poetry”, says Makhmoor Kakorvi, who is also a poet and has also written chronograms. He is, perhaps, the only person who can pen it, in the town now. However, he hopes to compile all these couplets and information about these poets of yore in the form of a book.
रांची: अखिल भारतीय कांग्रेस कमेटी ने ज़िला अध्यक्षों की सूची में सुधार करते हुए, झारखंड में 25 में दो दलित और दो मुस्लिम को ज़िला अध्यक्ष बनाने की घोषणा की है।
मालूम हो कि एआईसीसी ने 4 दिसम्बर को पहली बार 25 ज़िला अध्यक्षों के नाम की सूची जारी की थी। पर लिस्ट में ना तो कोई दलित, न माइनॉरिटि और न कोई महिला ज़िला अध्यक्ष थी। इस पर ईन्यूज़रूम ने विस्तार से ख़बर की और झारखंड प्रदेश कांग्रेस कमेटी अध्यक्ष राजेश ठाकुर से भी बात की थी। प्रदेश अध्यक्ष ने माना था कि चूक हुई है और दूसरी सूची जारी होगी।
“कन्सिड्रेशन तो होता ही है, पर हमारे यहाँ इंटरव्यू भी हुआ था इस बार के ज़िला अध्यक्षों के चुनाव में। आप दूसरी पार्टियों, ख़ास कर बीजेपी से न इतना सवाल कर सकते हैं और न उम्मीद रख सकते हैं। और हमारे यहाँ जो चूक हुई है उसे सुधारा जाएगा।”
ज़िला अध्यक्षों की सूची में बदलाव
जिन चार ज़िलों में अध्यक्ष का नाम बदला गया है, वो हैं— रामगढ़, गढ़वा, साहेबगंज और कोडरमा।
रामगढ़ से मुन्ना पासवान, जिनको शांतनु मिश्रा, गढ़वा से ओबेदुल्लाह हक़ अंसारी को श्रीकांत तिवारी, साहेबगंज से बरकतुल्ला ख़ान को अनिल कुमार ओझा और भागीरथ पासवान को नारायण बरनवाल के स्थान पर कोडरमा से ज़िला अध्यक्ष बनाया गया है।
6 दिसम्बर को जारी प्रेस विज्ञप्ति में ये भी कहा गया है कि शांतनु, श्रीकांत, अनिल और नारायण को प्रदेश कांग्रेस कमेटी में जगह दी जाएगी।
लेकिन, नई सूची में भी किसी महिला को जगह नहीं मिल पाई है।
और जो सबसे बड़ा सवाल अभी भी बना है कि एक पार्टी जिसके राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष, मल्लिकार्जुन खड्गे, दलित हों, वो पार्टी 25 ज़िलों में एक भी दलित को पहली बार में अध्यक्ष के तौर पर नहीं चुनती है।
वहीं दूसरी तरफ, जिस पार्टी को हमेशा से माइनॉरिटी वोट्स मिलता रहा हो वो, किसी माइनॉरिटी को भी इस काबिल नहीं समझती है।
[dropcap]H[/dropcap]as the mighty Chinese Communist Party (CCP) surrendered to the will of the people? Has the strong and ruthless regime under Xi Jinping succumbed to the masses? Is the communist rule ready to accommodate the wishes of the proletariat?
It may sound ironic, but these questions have surfaced after the Chinese government announced its decision to come out with a 10-point Covid protocol to replace the 20-point old protocol. The government will unveil the new less stringent set of Covid restrictions on December 7.
Beijing is most likely to downgrade Covid management from the most infectious disease grade ‘A’ to less stringent measures of grade ‘B’.
The Chinese government has already taken some measures to loosen the grip and discontinue a few measures to allow the people more relaxed norms.
But, there is no sudden change of heart, the covid-19 situation has not changed overnight either.
The experts believe that the sudden U-turn has been taken as a measure to cool down the tempers of the people so that there is no repeat of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incidents.
The decision to assuage the feelings of the people and to accommodate them has been taken after widespread protests erupted across the country. These protests were triggered by a fire in Xinjiang capital Urumqi, killing 10 people.
But, days before this, an unknown man hung two anti-lockdown and pro-democracy banners on the parapet of the Sitong Bridge in Beijing on 13 October 2022. This rumbling of dissent was heard on the eve of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
A massive protest was held on November 5, 2022 in Guangzhou, where migrant workers marched on the streets of the Haizhu district.
On the night of November 22–23, workers of a Foxconn factory clashed with security forces and police in Zhengzhou in Central China.
In Chongqing, a man protested on the street on November 24 and shouted, “Give me liberty, or give me death.”
Similar protests were held in Nanjing, Lanzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi’an, Korta, Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, Hong Kong and Urumqi.
A protestor shouting against Chinese government during Covid protocol protest
Worse, the slogans were not limited to local authorities or those involved in implementing the Covid-19 strict measures. Slogans were raised against the omnipotent and omnipresent CCP and its head Xi Jinping.
‘CCP Stepdown’, ‘Xi Jinping Stepdown’, ‘We are not slaves, and ‘We want freedom’ were some of the most popular slogans.
Xi Jinping was given the unprecedented third term only a few days back and his opponents were sidelined. Jinping’s predecessor Hu Jintao was humiliated publicly when he was removed unceremoniously from the podium in the Great Hall of The People during the 20th CCP Congress. Such was Xi’s clout!
This was followed by massive protests. Political observers have opined that these protests were not against the Covid-19 measures, there were against the CCP, the authoritarian regime and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping. The Urumqi fire was just a trigger and the Covid-19 measures were just an excuse that allowed the growing dissent to manifest itself.
Observers believe that the CCP has taken a smart move to accommodate the people and use the recent rumblings as a safety valve.
Basically, it is against the leadership pattern shown by Xi Jinping. By trying to accommodate the people’s wishes, it is going back to the post-Tiananmen Square crackdown days.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters assembled in Tiananmen Square in the capital Beijing on April 15, 1989, demanding political reforms, freedom of speech, respect for human rights and a multi-party democratic system. The then CCP General Secretary Hu Yaobang sympathised with the students. His death triggered the Tiananmen Square protest.
After waiting for more than a month and a half, the administration sent the tanks to Tiananmen, resulting in the death of about 10,000 people, mostly youth.
But it forced the CCP to change itself. The CCP adopted the policy of inner party democracy, and collective leadership and accommodated those who did not always support the party line and the government decisions.
There was a large-scale purge and a new leadership emerged. Jiang Zemin replaced Zhao Ziang as the CCP General Secretary. He later became president of the country.
Jiang Zemin encouraged inner party democracy, did not sideline those who opposed him and groomed a new generation of future leaders.
Xi Jinping was one of those leaders, who opened their wings under the leadership of Jiang Zemin.
But once he became the CCP general secretary in 2012, Xi Jinping decided to take regressive steps. He crushed the inner party democracy, put them behind bars or sidelined all those whom he considered a challenger in future.
Under Xi Jinping, the administration became centralised, all the powers were vested in the hands of a few people, police and security forces were given more powers and party schools were asked to teach adherence to the central leadership instead of the proletariat.
This led to internal discontent, anger against the party leadership and continuous grudge against the party. It was back to square one, back to the pre-Tianmanmen crackdown days.
But as all the powers are vested in General Secretary Xi Jinping, who is full of confidence, vigour and ambition after the 20th Congress endorsed him for the third time, putting him on the same pedestal as Mao Zedong, will he accept the changes?
Will Xi Jinping hit back after a while and become more aggressive, will he resolve to stamp out all opposition after consolidating his position? There is no one in the party to oppose any move of Xi Jinping. Will these protests help the CCP take a new avatar or will it become a more aggressive juggernaut, crushing all those who come in its way?
रांची: झारखंड कांग्रेस के टिवीटर हैंडल से आज भारत जोड़ो यात्रा के एक विडियो ट्वीट किया ये दर्शाते हुए कि राहुल गांधी, लोकमन हुसैन नागोरी के साथ चल रहे हैं और देश को एक साथ जोड़कर चलने का संदेश दे रहे हैं। पर इससे पहले के एक दूसरे ट्वीट, जो प्रदेश में 25 ज़िला अध्यक्षों (रांची के लिए दो) के नामों की घोषणा की है में पार्टी की ट्रोल्लिंग इसलिए हो रही है कि सूची में एक भी दलित, मुस्लिम, सिख और महिला का नाम नहीं है।
अखिल भारतीय कांग्रेस कमेटी ने दिसम्बर 4 को झारखंड के 24 जिलों के लिए 25 ज़िला अध्यक्षों (रांची के लिए दो) के नामों की घोषणा की। पर कांग्रेस पार्टी जो दलितों, आदिवासियों और माइनॉरिटि के सवालों को उठाने का दावा करती है, उसने एक भी मुस्लिम, दलित या सिख को ज़िला अध्यक्ष नहीं बनाया है, और प्रदेश की राजधानी, रांची में दो में से एक ज़िला अध्यक्ष आदिवासी को बनाया जाना जरूरी नहीं समझा। हालांकि चार आदिवासियों को इस सूची में जगह मिली है।
हालाँकि नामों की सूची एआईसीसी ने जारी की है, पर राजनीति के जानकार ये जानते हैं की बिना प्रदेश कमिटी के अनुशंसा के किसी भी उम्मीदवार का नाम राष्ट्रीय स्तर से जारी नहीं होता।
81 सीटों वाली झारखंड विधानसभा में कुल 18 विधायक कांग्रेस के हैं। जिनमें दो मुस्लिम है— आलमगीर आलम और इरफान अंसारी। पर देश की सबसे पुरानी पार्टी में दलित समुदाय से झारखंड में कोई विधायक नहीं है। 2019 के विधानसभा चुनाव में पार्टी ने दो दलित नेता को आरक्षित सीटों से टिकट दिया था पर वो नहीं जीत पाये।
पार्टी ने जहाँ एक भी मुस्लिम और दलित को ज़िला अध्यक्ष नहीं बनाया, वहीं सिर्फ ब्राह्मण समुदाय से आठ लोग हैं।
सोशल मीडिया पे इसको लेकर तमाम तरह की प्रतिक्रिया पढ़ने को मिल रही है, कि कांग्रेस को वोट मुसलमान समाज का चाहिए पर प्रतिनिधित्व नहीं देना। कुछ ने तो ये भी कहा कि कांग्रेस के गिरते ग्राफ का यही सबसे बड़ा कारण है कि पार्टी, संगठन में भी अपने बेस वोट को सम्मान नहीं देती। इलेक्शन में तो किसी न किसी फैक्टर और विन्नीब्लीटि (जीतने वाले उम्मीदवार) पे दाँव की बात होती है, पर ये मसला संगठन में नहीं होता।
जब से झारखंड कांग्रेस के ट्विटर हैंडल से ये लिस्ट जारी की गयी तभी से पार्टी की ट्रॉल्लिंग हो रही है।
मुस्लिम और दलित नाम नहीं होना चूक, दूसरी सूची जारी होगा: प्रदेश अध्यक्ष
जब ईन्यूज़रूम ने प्रदेश अध्यक्ष राजेश ठाकुर से बात की तो उन्होंने जहाँ ये कहा इस बार के चुनाव में इंटरव्यू के भी सहारा लिया गया, वहीं कुछ में कन्सिडर भी किया गया। “इस बार पूरी प्रक्रिया में उम्मीदवार का इंटरव्यू का ज़रिया चुनाव हुआ। मुसलमान या दलित का नाम नहीं आना दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है। इस मामले में दोबारा सूची जारी होगी।”
और दलित उम्मीदवार नहीं होने की ये वजह बताई, “एक ज़िला अध्यक्ष के नाम में दास होने के वजह से ये अंदाज़ा लगाया गया कि वो दलित है, पर ऐसा नहीं था।”
सबसे खास बात ये कि, इंटरव्यू की प्रक्रिया होने के बावजूद, कांग्रेस के एमपी और एमएलए के बच्चों को भी जगह मिली है।
पर 25 में से एक भी महिला का ना होना भी एक बात है, पर इसमें पार्टी दलील देती है के महिला का एक विंग है जो पार्टी का फ्रंटल ऑर्गनाइज़ेशन है, इसलिए किसी महिला ज़िला अध्यक्ष का न होना उतनी बड़ी बात नहीं।
वो 2 दिसंबर की रात- असल में 2 और 3 की दरमियानी रात। शहर भोपाल। नवाबों का शहर। झीलों का शहर। आज भी बाक़ी भारत के तमाम शहरों से अलग, अलहदा, थोड़ा ठिठका हुआ, थोड़ा ठहरा हुआ, थोड़ा क़स्बाई। वो शहर जिसमें सब जोड़ लूँ तो सालों बिताए हैं मैंने।
उस रात भी लोग आराम से घर लौटे थे। पर वो रात आसान आम रात नहीं थी। उस रात भोपाल में ज़हर बरसा था, यूनियन कार्बाइड की फ़ैक्ट्री से- मेथाइल आइसो साइनाइट नाम का ज़हर।
हज़ारों मारे गए थे, लाखों हमेशा के लिए अपंग हुए, जिन्हें अब एक सावरकर बटा पाँच माफ़ीबाज दिव्यांग कहता है और उनके ज़रूरी सामानों पर जीएसटी 28% कर देता है! ख़ैर, बात 1984 की है सो वापस वहीं-
वो क़त्ल की रात थी। वो जंग की रात थी। वो कायरों की रात थी। वो नायकों की रात थी। सबसे बड़े नायक भारतीय रेल के भोपाल स्टेशन के कर्मचारी, ख़ास तौर पर स्टेशन मास्टर हुए उस दिन- हादसे के बारे में समझ आते ही अपनी जान पर खेल भोपाल में रुकने वाली हर रेलगाड़ी को रन थ्रू पास कराया।
उस रात डिप्टी स्टेशन मास्टर की ड्यूटी ख़त्म हो चुकी थी पर कुछ काम निपटाने वह अपने कार्यालय में ही थे। किसी काम से बाहर निकले। घुटन सी हुई, जलन भी। प्लेटफ़ॉर्म पर उल्टी करते, बेहोश होते सैकड़ों को देखा-
अपने बॉस, उस समय ड्यूटी इंचार्ज भी, स्टेशन मास्टर हरीश धुर्ये के ऑफिस की तरफ़ भागे। धुर्ये की साँसें रुक चुकी थीं। किसी ने बताया कि एक दूसरी एक्सप्रेस ट्रेन को रन थ्रू कराने ताकि वह गैस से बच जाये वो एक कुली के साथ प्लेटफार्म 1 पर भागे थे, उसी में दम तोड़ दिया। उनके 23 और साथी कर्मचारियों का भी यही हाल हुआ था, दम तोड़ चुके थे!
इधर सामने रात के एक बजे स्टेशन पर गोरखपुर कुर्ला एक्सप्रेस घुस रही थी, हज़ारों यात्रियों से भरी हुई। अभी जाने का समय नहीं हुआ था। 20 मिनट का ठहराव था।
डिप्टी स्टेशन मास्टर ने एक पल में फ़ैसला ले लिया- अपनी जान की परवाह न करते हुए, भागे नहीं थे। घुटती साँसों में जितनी आवाज़ निकल सके बोले थे इस गाड़ी को निकालो, आसपास के स्टेशनों पर खड़ी गाड़ियों को वहीं रोको- हो सके तो पीछे लौटाओ।
बाक़ी कर्मचारियों ने घबराए हुए से पूछा- मुख्यालय से आदेश का इंतज़ार कर लें।
भोपाल गैस कांड की बरसी पे bhopal.net की तरफ से बनाया गया एक पोस्टर
स्टेशन मास्टर बोले मैं पूरी ज़िम्मेदारी खुद लेता हूँ। निकाल दी। वे ये ना करते तो उस रात बरसी गैस से हुई 14,500 मौतों में कई हज़ार और का इज़ाफ़ा होता। उन्होंने ये किया, पूरी रात स्टेशन पर रहे, जूझते रहे। परिवार भोपाल शहर में अपने घर में था, मौत से जूझ रहा था- फ़िक्र तो होगी ही पर कर्तव्य नहीं छोड़ा।
गम्भीर रूप से संक्रमित हुए, 17 साल अस्पताल में रहे। मौत भी इसी गैस लीक के चलते हुई। 2003 में।
उनका नाम ग़ुलाम दस्तगीर था। दोहरा रहा हूँ। ग़ुलाम दस्तगीर। अपनी ही नहीं बल्कि पूरे परिवार की जान दांव पर लगा स्टेशन पर खड़ी रेलगाड़ियों को रवाना ना किया होता तो हज़ारों और मरते।
बाक़ी इस कहानी में गलती कर बैठे भी कई हैं, कायर भी कई, और दलाल भी कई।
आज संघी आपको गलती करने वालों के नाम बताएँगे, दलालों के नहीं।
मैं बता देता हूँ- यूनियन कार्बाइड की उस फ़ैक्ट्री में हुए हादसे का ज़िम्मेदार वारेन ऐंडरसन था। सुप्रीम कोर्ट में चले उसके मुक़दमे में उसका वकील अरुण जेटली।
जी- वही भाजपा नेता और वाजपेयी और मोदी दोनों की कैबिनेट में मंत्री रहा अब मरहूम अरुण जेटली।
चेक कर लीजिएगा। बहुत कुछ पता चलेगा- यहाँ तक कि अधनंगी लड़कियों के साथ यूरोप घूम रहे ललित मोदी की ‘मानवता के आधार पर मदद’ सुषमा स्वराज और वसुंधरा राजे ने की थी, मेहुल चौकसी की क़ानूनी टीम में अरुण जेटली की बेटी थी।
एक और बात बताता हूँ: राजीव गांधी ने बाद में ग़ुलाम दस्तगीर की पत्नी को लोकसभा का टिकट दिया था, सांसद बनाया था। इसकी तुलना आज वालों से कर लें जो मासूमों को बम ब्लास्ट में उड़ाने के आरोपियों को टिकट देकर सांसद बनाते हैं!
हरीश धुर्ये, ग़ुलाम दस्तगीर और उन तमाम अनाम रेलवे कर्मचारियों को सलाम जिन्होंने कई हज़ार घरों के चिराग़ बुझने से बचा लिये। उन पर लानत तो जो बस क़ब्रिस्तान शमशान बनवाना चाहते हैं उसी पर वोट माँगते हैं!
Indore/Pithampur/Bhopal: Shiv Prakash Prajapati was devastated when less rainfall thrashed the rabi crops in his farm, leaving the crop to fall prematurely and injury to the grain. The crops stood partially due to lack of water for weeks at Padri Kala village in Unnao district of central Uttar Pradesh. Soon, the stress on the grain became visible. The number of seeds set per spikelet were unable to stand. Prajapati was one among the hundreds of wheat growers in the highly fertile river basin of the Ganges to suffer this plight.
Devastated by climate changes and realising that seeds of wheat spikelet savings won’t be enough to meet the consumption needs for his family, Prajapati accepted the path of migration for economic and social stability. He decided to migrate to a place that could offer a year-round livelihood option with low-cost living. Shiv Prakash reached Indore in 1994–the most populous city and popularly known as Mini Mumbai for connectivity and commercial activity.
It was the same year when the State’s commercial capital hit news headlines for altogether different reasons linked to commercial activity. Residents say, such was the growth prospect. Indore was proposing that it had to implement a ticket system to shoo off purposeless vagabonds chilling in centrally air-conditioned Treasure Island Mall, the first mall of the State.
And one among hundreds who visited the mall with tickets was Prajapati, an industrial worker. It was the period, when Indore’s urban population nearly doubled, in part because migrants devastated by climate change from rural areas were being driven to cities in search of economic and social stability.
Role of migrants in MP’s financial capital
The arrival of migrant workers easily got reflected in the census data of Indore.
In the 2001 census, Indore had a population of 2,465,827. Ten years later, the city had a population of 3,276,697. There was a change of 32.88 percent in the population compared to the population as of 2001. With a population of more than 3.4 million, Indore is the most populous city and the second largest city by area in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and serves as a commercial and industrial hub for the state.
And all this happened when Indore was already struggling to handle its own climate issues. Amidst freshwater scarcity to vehicular congestion on roads, population growth and unplanned expansion made Indore a fast-growing urban center with a diversity of industries, income levels, and health needs.
Prajapati who works in an aluminium extrusion plant in Indore | Credit: Author
His son, Vishal Prajapati feels that drastic changes in unhealthy air patterns over the last few years are adversely impacting his health. He blames the surroundings and his workplace.
“We live in a congested two-room house in an overcrowded residential area, where 6-7 people live together in poky 100 sq feet dwellings. About 20% of the residents use community toilets. Most people are informal daily-wage workers who don’t cook at home and go out to get their food,” says Vishal who works in an aluminium extrusion plant in Indore.
According to advocate and All India Trade Union Congress [AITUC] Indore district general secretary Rudra Pal Yadav, “the estimated population of migrant labourers in Indore is more than 8 lakhs. Here they primarily work under filthy conditions in pharmaceutical, automobile, real estate, textile trade industrial units and live in homes lining the narrow lanes of the City. Regular health check-ups and safety equipment are not on the priority list of companies and units”.
The situation after Covid has considerably changed in the working class. There is no shortage of labour and the cost of labour is falling in Pardesipura, Bajrang Nagar, Aerodrome Road, Banganga and other odd- 40 centres where labourers assemble every morning to get a day’s work, Yadav said.
He added, the migrants were found to be one of the most vulnerable groups in this lockdown, as their very livelihood came to a complete standstill. “As many of them were laid off during the downsizing operation, hundreds and hundreds of them are now forced to work in 12-hour shifts for less wages”.
As compared to other labourers, distressed migrant workers are more likely to experience a lack of proper protection at work. They are usually forced to live and work in unsafe conditions in low packages as compared to other workers.
Clean air challenge for Indore
To that end, commercial and industrial hubs work on their economics. They expand to accommodate the ever-increasing population and suck large tracts of rich eco-sensitive zones affecting human life. In the last few years, the same happened with the commercial and industrial hub of the state – Indore and with the industrial belt mostly concentrated at Pithampur. Though, Indore was known for its successful solid waste management campaign and was declared the cleanest city in India for six successive years. However, the city is unable to have made similar progress when it comes to clean air.
In its letter dated 01.07.2016, Central Pollution Control Board identified Indore as a “Non-Attainment City” and issued directions u/s 18(1)(b) of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 to ensure the time-bound action on various “Action Points”, so as to include the Air quality of Indore to confirm the prescribed standards.
Pollution flowing in a nullah on the outskirts of Indore. Photo for representation purpose only | Credit: Author
In a way to keep a check on the air quality, Madhya Pradesh Government installed Air Quality Monitors in Indore and Pithampur.
“Air quality monitoring in Pithampur is primarily done in two areas Vikas Bhavan Sector 2, RCC Sector 3 – and in Indore in three areas [Kothari Market – Commercial Area, Sanwer Road – Industrial Area, Vijay Nagar – residential area],” maintains Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board’s annual 2020-21 report citing National Air Monitoring Programme.
“The air pollution data available over the past five years from two manual sites in Indore suggest that PM2.5 concentrations exceed WHO annual average standards of 10 μg/m3 and are increasing,” cites Ajay Nagpure, World Resources Institute and Nivedita Barman, Environmental Defense Fund in research paper ‘Sources of Air Pollution: Indore’.
“The PM2.5 annual averages measured in 2019 at the three manual monitoring sites in Indore (based on measurements made approximately every third day) are all between 36–39 μg/m3. The highest pollution is measured during the post-monsoon season (October, November) and during the winter months (December–February), due in part to lower wind speeds during these months”, the paper noted.
The annual averages measured in 2019 at the two monitoring sites in Pithampur failed to remain in a good category. “The annual averages remained under the satisfactory category”, attributed to the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board’s annual 2020-21 report.
To make it more clear and loud, it means that people are breathing air that has an average concentration of 250 micrograms of PM 2.5 per cubic metre (µg/m3) in a day, according to the AQI-to-concentration converter. PM 2.5 refers to inhalable particulate matter that can enter the bloodstream and has several health impacts. A level of 250 µg/m3 is four times the permissible amount–60 µg/m3 over 24 hours–according to the standards defined by the Central Pollution Control Board.
A recent analysis of 132 cities by the environment ministry shows that Indore is one of 37 cities whose air quality has declined in the past four years. The survey found that the levels of PM10 (inhalable particles with diameters around 10 micrometres) particulate had increased in the city’s air during the period between 2017 and 2021.
Health report of Pithampur- Detroit of India
A similar clock worked for the climate change migrant labourers and their family members in Pithampur – Indore’s closest industrial town.
Referred to as the Detroit of India primarily due to the heavy concentration of the vehicle industry, Pithampur became a breeding ground for farmers who began losing their ability to bear long-term damages done to their crops due to the impact of climate changes. However, the negative trends of distressed migration workers, working in an unhealthy industrial environment significantly affected female workers’ physical health.
“See my hands and the skin. This damage is done because every day for eight hours I used to remain in contact with a powder to polish diamond,” says 29-year-old Komal Warwary, who is no longer a part of the workforce that puts India in the global map, accounting for over 90% of polished diamond manufacturing.
Komal Warwary, who worked in a diamond cutting and polishing unit in Pithampur came in the grip of several physical health problems, particular diseases and allergies due to the work environment and nature of work.
Here, I was handling silica-based slurry, but without gloves and masks to give diamonds a faceted precious look, she said in grief complaining of a regular pain that her stomach carries.
The 29-year-old consulted the doctors in Pithampur and in MY Hospital, the state’s biggest health facility. However, the allergy, itching and dryness seem to be irreparable.
Born to a family of farm labourers in the village Hirdagarh, in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district, her father reached Pithampur.
“He regularly talked about crops standing partially up to its size, rotting of wheat spikelets, erratic weather conditions helping pests to breed and new diseases to emerge,” she recalled the words of his father.
The calm, pure and liveable village atmosphere of six family members got replaced by noise and air pollution upon reaching Pithampur in 2001. Here they live in a two-room rented accommodation in Housing Board Colony, where ventilation and fresh air are rare.
Labour activists Yashwant Paithankar | Credit: Author
According to labour activist Yashwant Paithankar, nearly 1 lakh farmers turned distressed migrant labourers live in Pithampur. “Here, they work under stressful, unhealthy conditions and their children and family members live under unhygienic conditions,” he mentioned.
Like the Warwary family, climate change compounded the financial issue that had been in the making for a long time for the farmers’ son Keshav Rao Mandle.
“Our piece of agricultural land was finding it hard to produce enough food to take care of nine family members. My father, a teacher by profession, had to work in a local grocery shop in our village Prabhat Pattan in the Betul district for financial stability. Occasionally, he worked as a farm labourer as well,” said Keshav Rao Mandle.
With no viable options available to move out from the jaws of poverty, Keshav had to discontinue his studies and joined Industrial Training Institute, a skill development training centre in Govindpura Bhopal to share the financial burden of the family.
The next stage for Keshav was Pithampur. But one of the dangers less known to him was the deadly cocktails of working, living and environmental conditions in the industrial town.
“It is impossible to quantify the actual side effects happening on us. However, what we can assume is that we live in the air that has some dust, soot or chemicals floating in it. People who are inside probably won’t notice it, but I think… we live in filthy air surrounding,” he added.
Studies suggest air pollution exposure is linked to 16 lakh premature deaths in India in 2019.
By the time, the son of Savita Bhargav [name changed on request] started talking, walking and bustling with energy, she started noticing the 2-year-old in trouble breathing, sore throat, cough or just not feeling well.
“When he is in village Babai [house of in-laws in Madhya Pradesh’s Hoshangabad district], he doesn’t remain the same. He feels more energetic and falls less sick in the village as compared to his stay in Pithampur. I am deeply concerned about my pregnancy and have told Babu’s [house name of her son] father to take us back to the village,” said Savita, who came to Pithampur after her marriage in 2015.
Every day around 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 years (1.8 billion children) breathe air that is so polluted, says a WHO report released in 2018. Tragically, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air in 2016, says the report.
As compared to adults, air pollution is especially harmful to infants, toddlers and children. “They breathe more rapidly than adults and so absorb more pollutants, they also live closer to the ground, where some pollutants reach peak concentrations – at a time when their brains and bodies are still developing”, explains DrAjay Nagpure of World Resources Institute.
Moreover, their airways are smaller and still developing, thus, particle deposition in both upper and lower airways is the highest in an infant, next in a child, and lowest in an adult, he added.
It is believed that when pregnant women are exposed to polluted air, they are more likely to give birth prematurely, and have small, low birth-weight children. Moreover, air pollution also impacts neurodevelopment and cognitive ability and can trigger asthma, and childhood cancer. Tragically, children who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease later in life.
“As compared to the routine population, migrant labourers, their family members and children live in unhealthy conditions. Many of them live in construction sites or in the areas where heavy machinery are in movement. Poor quality of air increases the risk of viral and bacterial infections, and migrant labourers, their family members and children. They are at greater risk of catching viral and bacterial infections. Moreover, breathing polluted air is as bad as smoking tobacco for human health,” says Dr Salil Bhargava, Clean Air Catalyst Advisory Committee and Head, Department of Pulmonology, MGM College points towards a bigger catastrophe for the migrant labourers.
Hands of Komal with writers hand | Credit: Author
Air for life
A news report published by the national daily Indian Express presents a dark picture by saying patients at India’s premiere health institution All India School of Medical Sciences [AIIMS} patients are rising due to air pollution. Records accessed by The Indian Express show how the number of OPD cases of respiratory ailments at AIIMS has been rising since 2006-07 –to an average of over 100 a day now. It may be noted that AIIMS started a full-fledged respiratory department only in 2013, patients were treated in the chest unit till then.
It also means that the concentration of pollutants in the air “affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases”.
According to the report’s analysis, by 2050 Madhya Pradesh is predicted to be one of two climate hotspot states and likely to experience a decline of more than 9% in living standards.
The present scenario portrays a picture where a lot is to be done. Through dialogues with subject experts, public and community representatives the regime is ensuring effective remedial measures to improve the air quality of Indore and its surroundings.
There should be regular checking of pollution levels of commercial vehicles, school buses and other vehicles and PUC centres should be compulsorily set up in all petrol pumps, directed Indore Divisional commissioner Pawan Sharma to officials in a meeting of the Action Plan Implementation Committee for improving the air quality of the city last week. The IMC has decided to replace ‘Alaav’ (bonfire) with electric heaters in major squares of the city during winter.
While the government campaign seems to be functioning, problems persist. “The battle with air for life to me could be long drawn and enervating,” said Komal while showing allergy marks on her hand.
This story has been produced with support from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hat night’s sleep came sweet. My cold feet touching hers I snuggled close to my mother. We drifted off to sleep but were woken by a loud knocking on our front door. My father walked over to the big brown door and unlocked it to find my cousin standing outside in his night-suit wearing Ray-ban sunglasses, which he pulled off to speak to my father, who asked him, “Kya Hua?”
My cousin replied, “Gas Nikal Gayee hai, log mar rahee hai, Union Carbide se zehereeli gas nikel rahee hai.” “Accha!”, my father reacted. Dad being an Air Force man was combat-ready and immediately got into action. He shut the doors and window, and turned on the aircon – in December! – and covered me under the cotton wool-filled blanket, the one with gold branded stitched onto its surface. We all went back to sleep, oblivious to the facts of what was really happening out in the zone of a war nobody had declared.
An eerie silence of death swirled around the city as my father drove me to school, not knowing the magnitude of the disaster and not sensing that the catastrophic events of that day would change the course of my life’s experience forever.
Another poster prepared by bhopal.net
I was ten years old. As time went on I forgot about the disaster, until 1993 when a BBC documentary came with familiar faces and we were very excited as one of our family members had recorded a tape in London and bought it back for us especially. I was excited to see family friends in the documentary and paused it many times, rewinding to giggle at hearing a woman speaking in theeth Bhopali, something so rarely heard on film. Then I heard the woman explain why she was so angry about what had happened, how no one cared as the poor of Bhopal were displaced into unsegregated camps, with no privacy, and given meals as you would an animal, in packets, how the then government thought this will go down well with the poor, and what then struck me was that the Government forgets that poor people have dignity and courage. How could the government not understand the trauma that had engulfed people for no fault of theirs?
I was much older when, for a few years, I became involved in working alongside the Gas Survivors of Bhopal. What began as simple translation work for a book became immersive and overwhelming. One by one I learned of the individual, relentless, perversely unnecessary ways in which the survivors suffered the enduring consequences of that one night and I could not get my head around why it was that everyone with a duty of care seemed to have forgotten them.
I remember Rassu Bhai, an oil seller who spent money he could not afford on painful, dangerous treatments from quacks in the desperate hope of being able to breathe a little better. Then there was Sohanlal, a peanut seller who wore chic, threadbare shirts, his days filled with trying to make a few rupees to buy medicines to get minor relief from the pains brought by the gas. There are so many stories from the Gas that it would take 500 volumes of 1001 nights just to tell them.
When I’d mention my encounters to my privileged kin some were dismissive. “Gas, gas, gas, it’s always the gas. The gas tragedy is over, why are you bringing it up now?” I can never forget Nawser Parikh, a family acquaintance who worked for Union Carbide, who told my mother that “These poor people would have died anyway”.
I could not bear it that no one wanted to hear the stories I was trying to share. I was told instead that the Survivors were pretending, exaggerating, and blaming everything on the gas because they only wanted money. I had experienced the opposite. The people I knew would spend their last money they owned to help a neighbour in trouble, or just to make a guest feel welcome and special.
I kept working with others to help unveil the truth. The grave injustices that the people of Bhopal still faced as a direct result of a multinational corporation being built in the heart of their city, one welcomed with open arms as it promised profits and jobs. As losses grew, as safety deteriorated, its parents began to distance themselves, to push it away for fear of infection, much like we did to each other for those months when the pandemic first hit us.
Every anniversary I have watched over the years reporters gather for their annual reports. Before they begin to speak about Bhopal, some big wigs even ask for red carpets and to be garlanded at railway stations, I have worked with filmmakers who offered the Gas Survivors Rs 50 to run for their cameras, to get the big scene for their documentary. People come and go, they take their slice of Bhopali cake and carve a name for themselves, grab some acclaim and move on to their next project.
But then there are the activists that have stayed, and fought, and lost and fought again, battle-weary but undaunted, standing with the Bhopal Gas Tragedy survivors in their longest struggle, determined to make a difference because of a promise they made in their hearts so many years ago to help them get justice, compensation, and some clean water.
Sarkaar unki hai to kya hua, system to hamara hai.., the lines of The Kashmir Files finally coming to light. When the movie which received a glowing endorsement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for setting the record straight was trashed as vulgar propaganda by the head of the jury of International Film Festival of India, Goa.
Hate gets called out eventually. Let’s accept that PM Modi and his government, Bharatiya Janata Party, Right Wing ecosystem feverishly promoted The Kashmir Files movie by Vivek Agnihotri.
The Kashmir Files– was championed by PM Modi, rejected by IFFI jury head Nadav Lapid who called it propaganda and a vulgar movie inappropriate for the film festival.
So finally, it took an Israeli to publicly embarrass the government on The Kashmir Files.
If vulgar propaganda through the film was not enough, the RW brigade is now spamming the Israeli consulate with ‘threats’ so much so that it managed to bully the Israeli envoy Naor Gilon to release a statement in a series of tweets shaming and calling out Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid for his ‘courage’ and ‘audacity’.
We saw how a vile film like The Kashmir Files made, produced, distributed and championed by bigots was highlighted and promoted in India by the political party in power. The folks who were never seen earlier with the Kashmiri Pandit cause suddenly became activists for the pandits who were displaced in the early 90’s. The moot question should be asked to Mr Vivek Agnihotri, Mr Anupam Kher and others-where were you when the KP exodus happened?
Truth be told, I have seen The Kashmir Files, when you make a propaganda film and leave no stone unturned in misusing your power to reward a film that is vulgar and is made with the sole intention of ‘othering’ a community, this is how embarrassing it gets.
The whole country sat and watched how during the screening of The Kashmir Files videos of Anti-Muslim hate, anti-minority sloganeering, slogans went viral on social media. Video of a crowd shouting slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ outside Delite Cinema in New Delhi made it easier for social media to spread vitriol against their own citizenry, putting the already cornered into a state of desolation.
The controversial film opened up to an impressive 600 cinemas across India on March 11.
Reviews of the film found it to be islamophobic and dishonest, much before the film was released it invited public interest litigation on the grounds that its inflammatory scenes are bound to cause communal violence.
All of you should watch it, Indian PM Modi said in a searing attack on the opponents of the BJP and further said that it has rattled the entire ecosystem which claims to be the torch bearer of freedom of expression but does not want the truth to be told.
Apparently Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur was in the front row when distinguished Israeli filmmaker Lapid trashed The Kashmir Files as vulgar propaganda and inappropriate for an artistic festival.
A third rate film that weaponises hate against Muslims or rather any community should have no place in a pluralistic democracy let alone its cause being triumphed by the political party in power.
Earlier propaganda films were made to spread hatred against Jews. The film The Eternal Jew was made specifically to target the Jewish community. The Jewish community was sadly misrepresented and stereotyped, Jews were shown with flowing beards wearing kaftans, their movements were compared to those of rodents and rats, they were branded as killers of Christ, even Shakespeare went along with the archetypal idea of the Jew when he penned the character of ‘shylock’ in Merchant Of Venice.
Then there are films that document the horrors of the past be it the world wars series, be it the freedom movement of India and the subsequent partition of the country as what better reflection of life than cinema. The inhumanity of the Nazi’s has been well documented in the Schindler’s List, in Roman’s Polanski’s The Pianist.
The movie Titanic depicted the tragic sinking of the RMS British passenger liner which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during its maiden voyage.
Pearl Harbour the film made in 2001 portrays the attack on ‘Pearl Harbour’ in World War II.
Then there’s a movie Parzania inspired by a true story, set during the Gujarat riots of 2002, it portrays the family of a son who tragically went missing during the riots.
The pathos that transcends religion when a riot hits town affects everybody irrespective of religion was portrayed so beautifully.
It’s normal to find fascination with any movie that earns the reputation for pushing extremes and scandalizing society at large, a few were genuine classics that broke shackles of society and have been considered as pioneering works of art.
The birth of a nation 1915 was a civil war epic, but it distorted history and perpetuated racist behaviour as ‘heroic’ and helped revitalize the Ku Klux Klan into a rabid organization.
The need of the times is about humanity and moving beyond the tragedy of war, riots and violence, there’s a greater need to make powerful films and depict solidarity in the face of cruelty and oppression.
As many people confront hard facts about genocides, riots, hate crimes, civic unrest, the need of the hour is educating the youth about the times, lest history repeats itself, weaponizing history and painting an entire community with the same brush is morally wrong and it takes a few good and courageous men like the Israeli jury member Nadav Lapid to discredit a movie, so what if the government in power was promoting it– a wrong is a wrong.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hey are caught playing around with the time-tested established principles and procedures of good and fair governance.
In a democracy, public affairs are no one’s personal fiefdom, though those in power often get their way in, say, getting someone into a position. But even here, the rules of eligibility must permit or be stretched to cover the executive’s will, or be vague enough not to stand in the way.
In the instant case, a perfectly eligible official, Arun Goel, was picked and plonked in a constitutional post, that of the Election Commissioner, in just a few hours by fast-forwarding a whole gamut of procedures. In the usual course, these are/were expected to take quite some time, and mind you, gerontocrats had seeded some delays into the process, as ‘breathing space’ for thinking, rethinking, claims and objections. The “tearing hurry” in Goel’s case that the Supreme Court has pounced upon may or may not reveal that any particular procedure was skipped. But to get it through in such a record time, every hallowed institution must surely have lifted its boom barrier in nanoseconds, which is not what they are there for. A democratic system enjoins a certain dose of fair play and transparency and expects institutions to play their roles.
Processes for the posting of officials are covered by several kilograms of orders, all in copious bureaucratese, right from the appointment of the lowly Assistant to that of the Cabinet Secretary. There are strict rules governing proposals screened by the dreaded Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the PM — which, incidentally, has shrunk nowadays to include just one more member, the Home Minister. Proposals are initiated in writing, quoting the vacancy and the rule (for the record and for later reference); reasons and arguments are set forth (again, for propriety in public affairs); they suggest alternatives and shortlist a panel of names according to precedents, career performance and clear norms (to establish transparency) and then the pros and cons of each are elucidated (which means there’s a fair bit of internal debate). Thereafter, the file is submitted to the minister or PM for decision. In the present case, it is amply clear that the PM had decided his candidate first, and then the rest of the system was ‘advised’ to fall in line — within a few hours. According to the omniscient whisperati of Delhi, these ‘surgical strikes’ represent Modi’s style of functioning and has gone unchallenged for eight years.
When, on his first day in office, PM Modi was told that he could not have Nripen Mishra as his Principal Secretary because an Act debarred it, he changed the Act of Parliament on the second day by an Ordinance. He zapped the system like this at regular intervals. S Jaishankar was appointed as the Foreign Secretary of India most dramatically — on the very last date of his service, as he was being given farewell bouquets. Nothing had prevented Modi from appointing him, more properly, weeks ahead of the date, but the elements of suspense and the theatrical would be missing. Similarly, Satish Verma, an IPS officer of Gujarat, who had dared to indict top officers in the Ishrat Jahan killing case, was dismissed from service as he was about to retire. He lost his job for the alleged offence of “talking to the press” several years earlier. The duo has been getting away with it all, as the system has either been overawed or terror struck — which is exactly what they want — or the judiciary was/is over indulgent.
To be fair, it is not as if other governments have not had their share of indecent haste, but none employed ‘lightning strikes’ as the normal mode and none relished trampling over every principle of propriety with spiked jackboots. Since the regime has hijacked all institutions or has broken their spines, they have no option but to fall in place at the drop of a hat — for, “it has been decided.” Reverse engineering of proposals has become the rule, but this time, the real decision making process and the cosmetic paperwork which adorns it meet each other face to face — at the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. The post concerned is, indeed, a high constitutional one that deserves the weary nation’s attention though, on the face of it, the Supreme Court can hardly do much other than shed light on the moral compass. But even a candle matters in the enveloping darkness and judicial legislation has often been more than just a beacon.
Kolkata: The Kashmir Files, the controversial movie which was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been termed a ‘propaganda’ and ‘vulgar movie’ by the jury head of the 53rd International Film Festival.
Speaking in Goa, where IFFI was held between November 20 to 28, Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who headed the IFFI jury, said “all of them” were “disturbed and shocked” to see the film screened at the festival.
The Kashmir Files revolves around the killings and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 from Kashmir Valley.
“It seemed to us like a propagandist movie inappropriate for an artistic, competitive section of such a prestigious film festival. I feel totally comfortable to share openly these feelings here with you on stage. Since the spirit of having a festival is to accept also a critical discussion which is essential for art and for life,” Lapid said in his address.
The Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi starrer, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, was featured in the Panorama section of the festival last week.
The film has been praised by the BJP and has been declared tax-free in most BJP-ruled states and was a box office hit. PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have praised the movie.
Many, however, have criticised the content, calling it a one-sided portrayal of the events that is sometimes factually incorrect and claiming the movie has a “propagandist tone”.
Ealier, Singapore banned the movie, citing concerns over its “potential to cause enmity between different communities”.
“The film will be refused classification for its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the ongoing conflict in Kashmir,” read a statement from the Singapore government, reported news agency Press Trust of India.
He claimed this was the reason his press conference was cancelled by the Foreign Correspondents Club and the Press Club of India
Actor Prakash Raj tweeted after the publication of the news about the Israeli filmmaker’s statement, “SHAME is Official now (sic).”
