This story first appeared in Vibes Of India

A young farmer couple in Gujarat killed themselves by beheading using a guillotine like device, probably for a black magic ritual.

When 38-year-old farmer Hemu Makwana and wife Hansa Makwana’s (35) children returned home on Sunday morning after a short stay at their maternal uncle’s house in a nearby village, they were aghast to find their parents’ decapitated bodies on their own farm. The boy (13) and girl (12) immediately raised an alarm and alerted nearby residents.

The police was called and found a handwritten note in Gujarati with a thumb impression of the duo, stating that they killed themselves willingly and no one was to be blamed. The bodies were sent to Rajkot civil hospital for forensic post-mortem.

“The couple used a make-shift guillotine to end their lives. It is believed that they pulled up the blades of the guillotine themselves and released it in such a manner that their heads fell into a havan kund,” shared Vinchiya police sub-inspector Indrajitsinh Jadeja.

According to preliminary findings, the couple had, over the past year, erected a temporary temple with gunny sacks used in packing food grains. It housed a picture of Lord Shiva and a Shivling made of mud, both of which were regularly worshipped by the couple, as narrated by the villagers.

“We are recording statements to ascertain the reason behind the extreme step,” stated Jadeja, adding that a day prior to the incident, the couple had sent off their children to their maternal uncle’s place.

According to the note found near the bodies along with their mobile phones, Hansa was not keeping well. The note also records that Hemu “trusted his brothers and his in-laws never reprimanded him for anything.”

Hansa’s cousin Jayanti Jatapara refuted suggestions of financial stringency stating that the couple was not struggling with any day to day expenses. “Nor were they having any marital or family disputes,” she is reported to have told the police.

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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) held a two days media workshop from 16th to 17th December, 2022 in Mumbai in association with UNICEF and South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) to make journalists aware about the latest trends in the disease and to create awareness amongst people.

Oath Communications founded and created by Rachna Khaira, a member of the SAWM group will bring to you exclusive coverage of the SAWM events held in association with UNICEF on this channel.

This story first appeared in The Indian Express

India is the fourth highest donor to UN Democracy Fund, which funds at least 68 projects worldwide linked to George Soros’s Open Society Foundation.

In Sydney in February, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, when asked about George Soros’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government, called him “old, rich, opinionated and dangerous.” A man “sitting in New York,” investing in “shaping narratives” about a government he didn’t like. That sharp rebuff went viral, like quite a few of Jaishankar’s recent retorts.

Here’s a paradox.

India is among the top contributors to the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) whose mission is to promote democracy across the world through local and international NGOs and civil society organisations (CSOs) — many of these are linked to Soros’s philanthropic empire, an investigation by The Indian Express has revealed.

Since UNDEF’s inception in 2005, India has contributed over $32 million to it and remains its fourth largest contributor.

Last year, when it contributed $150,000 to the fund – the 4th highest among 45 donors, after US, Sweden and Germany — India’s Permanent Mission to the UN proudly announced in a statement: “India acknowledges that sustained support for UNDEF is particularly important in this crucial time for democracy efforts worldwide. India expresses steadfast support for UNDEF as it plays a distinct role in complementing other UN efforts to strengthen democratic governance around the world.”

Of the 276 projects strengthening “democratic governance” that received UNDEF funds since 2015, an investigation by The Indian Express has revealed, as many as 68, nearly one in four, are being executed by CSOs linked to Soros’s Open Society Foundation (OSF) or its offshoots – either as a recipient of its donations or a partner.

Though UNDEF has been disbursing funds to NGOs linked to Soros from its inception, The Indian Express took 2015 as the starting point for its investigation.

This is because it was that year when the Modi government, which took office in 2014, began a crackdown on foreign funding of NGOs introducing new rules under the FCRA law for filing of foreign grants and started a weeding out process.

Ironically, while UNDEF funds organisations worldwide that have links to OSF, in 2016, the Home Ministry put OSF on a watchlist – means that it cannot extend any financial assistance to any organisation or individual in India without prior clearance from the ministry.

The Indian Express sent a query to the Indian Permanent Mission in New York, seeking an explanation for the evident contradiction and was redirected to the MEA spokesperson who was unavailable for comment.

The full list of 68 projects with Soros’s OSF, its regional subsidiaries and partners is on indianexpress.com.

Following are the key findings of the investigation and the topmost recipient of UNDEF funds linked to Soros’s OSF each year between 2015 and 2021:

2021: Of 33 projects that got UNDEF funds, 11 went to CSOs linked to OSF. At the top was Lebanese Center for Human Rights. It received a grant of $275,000 for a project titled Safeguarding Human Rights Amid Crisis in Lebanon. The group lists ABAAD as a partner. OSF is a donor to ABAAD.

2020: Of 30 projects that got UNDEF grants, 10 were linked to OSF. Lebanon-based NGO Abaad Resource Centre for Gender Equality received a grant of $495,000 for a project to engage with “Civil Society Organizations and Youths in Gender-Inclusive Citizenship and Leadership”. Abaad receives grants from OSF, too.

2019: Of 32 grantees, 11 were OSF beneficiaries. A regional NGO called Africa Check Foundation got $495,000 for a project to foster “media literacy for evidence-based decision making” in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. ACF lists OSF as a partner.

2018: Of 46 UNDEF recipients, 12 have a connection with OSF. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies that works in the West Asia-North Africa region, received $275,000 for a project to “empower a new generation of human rights advocates.” OSF is a donor to Cairo Institute.

2017: Of the 48 UNDEF recipients, 15 are linked to OSF. At the top is the Kofi Annan Foundation, which received $ 275,000 for a project to strengthen “Electoral Processes with Integrity in Sub Saharan Africa with a focus on Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon”. The foundation receives funds from OSF.

2016: Of the 43 UNDEF recipients, six are linked to OSF. The top recipient is Search for Common Ground in Central African Republic which got $242,000 for a project to “promote democracy through the establishment of permanent, participatory, inclusive and collaborative citizen dialogue”. It lists an OSF affiliate as a partner.

2015: Of the 44 UNDEF recipients, three are linked to OSF. Action Associative in Tunisia got $ 242,000 for a project to build “Public Participation, Trust and Transparency in Local Government” towards particpatory decision-making. This civil society group is a partner of Avocats san Frontieres, which is funded by OSF.

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Mumbai: Decline in vaccine coverage, weakened measles surveillance, and continued interruptions and delays in immunization activities due to disruptions in the vaccine supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic caused a resurgence in incidents of measles infections not just in India, but globally.

The focus on zero Covid having caused a slackening in the routine vaccination schedule for the two years of the pandemic, the resurgence of measles raised enough alarm bells in the administration for them to re-focus attention on vaccinating infants and those vulnerable and spread the message of zero Measles across as wide a cross-section of the population as possible.

A two day workshop organised by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) in collaboration with UNICEF on December 16, 17, 2022 was part of the administration’s critical outreach to ensure that the message of vaccination and prevention were the only safeguards to save children from the potentially fatal Measles and Rubella. With India reporting over 3,075 infections and 13 deaths due to measles in Maharashtra, as on December 12, 2022, and the highly infectious nature of the disease among infants globally, the South Asian Women in Media (SAWM), a network of women media professionals across South Asia, formed part of the media outreach, collaborating with and supporting UNICEF and the MoHFW in spreading awareness about the vital importance of vaccinating children and eradicating Measles from India by the end of 2023.

Over 60 journalists and media personnel attended the workshop in Mumbai at which the entire spectrum of the health administration, from medical personnel on the ground to officials formulating policy and compiling data, shared crucial data pertaining to the Measles and Rubella (MR) infections across the country. As per official data, India reported over 3,075 infections and 13 deaths due to measles in Maharashtra (till December 12, 20220), Dr. Bharti Pravi Pawar, the Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, stated in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on December 20, 2022.

The estimated coverage with the first dose of a measles- and rubella-containing vaccine increased from 68% to 89% in 2021, officials stated. Estimated coverage with the second dose of a measles-containing vaccine increased from 27% to 82% in 2021. Available data indicates that between 2017 and 2021, the incidence of measles and rubella declined 62% and 48% respectively.

India had initially targeted 2015 as the year in which the country would be able to eliminate MR, but that target was missed for a variety of reasons. Another new target, to eliminate MR by 2020, was then set but that deadline was also missed, largely due to disruptions caused by the pandemic. A third target, to eliminate MR by end 2023, was set and the administration has pulled out all stops to ensure that target is achieved.

Officials from the MoHFW said they had strengthened their disease surveillance activities after the Covid lockdown ended and have ramped up immunization with measles-containing vaccines, managed vaccine hesitancy through intensive community awareness, improved case management through timely detection and referral and clinical management of cases in the past year.

Dr. Veena Dhawan, Additional Commissioner (Immunization), MoHFW, the death rate of children due to the disease is unacceptably high and most children under the age of five are at high risk. She said that to prevent a backslide on the routine immunization coverage, it was imperative that the media play the role of a vital partner in the country’s healthcare initiatives.

In context of the of the growing number of measles cases, MoHFW officials said one additional dose of Measles and Rubella containing vaccine (MRCV) should be given to all children between 9 months to 5 years in vulnerable areas. This dose should be addition to the primary vaccination schedule of a first dose at 9-12 months and second dose at 16-24 months.

UNICEF’s medical team said the disease had taken an ugly turn in this outbreak, with affected children developing pneumonia within the first week of the infection, thereby leading to heightened fatalities. They also said earlier measles outbreaks were usually reported in winter, but the 2022 outbreak, well before winter was a cause for concern.

Dr. Ashish Chauhan, health specialist, UNICEF, said measles is a ‘tracer’ of strength of the immunisation system. “When immunization coverage is low, measles is the fastest vaccine preventable disease to return,” said Dr. Chauhan.

Dr S. Shukla, Director Immunization, explained out that the disease is mostly similar to the common cold and affected children may have fever and redness in the eyes. He said Vitamin A plays an important role in saving lives of those afflicted with the measles and Rubella infection. “Giving two doses of Vitamin A (therapeutic dose) in a span of 24 hours can save crucial lives,” he said.

Part of the media outreach at the workshop, arranged by leading media professionals including Pankaj Pachauri, former media advisor to the Prime Minister, and Sanjay Abhigyan and Mohamed Ghazali, included presentations on how to most effectively spread the message that vaccines were vital to prevent measles. A SAWM team won first prize for creating an immediate community awareness event for MR vaccination programmes by reflecting the issues health officials confront to convince people, especially in rural areas, to bring their children to be vaccinated. SAWM members also pointed out that, despite India undergoing a digital revolution, the vaccination card still exists only in paper form and does not have any digital footprint, making tracking difficult.

To counter the ‘Infodemic’, a term coined by the World Health Organization which means too much information, including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak, health authorities at the workshop urged media including SAWM members, to join forces to eliminate the dreaded disease, which is very preventable.

SAWM members across the eight countries in South Asia have shared this crucial message by holding special online webinars, sharing online tools to identify and eliminate misinformation from their reports and update each other with latest reports on MR infections and other health issues in their respective nations.

This story first appeared in The Quint

South Asia emerges as a battlefield of religious ideologies that are exploited with impunity for political gains

In the larger arc of history, all societies move ahead leaving blood-stained footprints. However, heterodox societies walk on a particularly treacherous, razor-sharp path to peace and coexistence. A slip here, a stumble there, and blood spills. Farahnaz Ispahani, a former member of parliament in Pakistan and scholar, has decided to make this footprint the subject of her latest political enquiry. In her latest book, an anthology of 11 essays written by experts, Ispahani has made an attempt to understand hate and politics in South Asia.

Ispahani’s stated aim in putting together Politics of Hate: Religious Majoritarianism in South Asia is to exposit how the forces of realpolitik dovetailed neatly into religious factionalism to plunge the region—Pakistan in particular—into a bubbling cauldron of violence and institutionalised hate.

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This story first appeared in The New Indian Express

By Bala Chauhan

She is a victim of an international human trafficking network (she was trafficked when she was a minor), sexual exploitation, and gang rape.

In a first in the state, and perhaps the country, a foreigner who was gang-raped by her compatriots in India, was awarded maximum compensation under the Nirbhaya Fund by the trial court. The Bangladeshi woman (name withheld), aged 21, who was gang-raped by her compatriots in the city in May 2021, has found some justice in the court order.

She is a victim of an international human trafficking network (she was trafficked when she was a minor), sexual exploitation, and gang rape. She and another woman victim of human trafficking were repatriated to their country in May last year.

The City Civil and Sessions Court, in its May 2022 order, stated that “in view of the severity of the offense and finding by the court” the “victim lady is entitled to compensation of Rs 7,00,000 under NALSA’s (National Legal Services Authority) compensation scheme. The Government of Karnataka shall pay compensation of Rs 7,00,000 to the victim lady from ‘Compensation Scheme for Women Victims’ as provided under Section 357A CrPC (Amendment Act of 1973).” The section deals with compensation schemes for victims.

The court directed the District Legal Services Authority to award compensation immediately. The court took cognisance of the fact that the victim had left for Bangladesh and may not be secured for getting compensation, and requested DLSA “to secure the presence of the victim through video conference and…make e-payment to the account of the victim through the help of the complainant/police without securing her physical presence”.

‘Talaash Association’, a city-based non-profit, human rights organisation is “facilitating the compensation to the victim”, founder president, Talaash Association, Seema Diwan told TNIE. “Talaash had assisted the police to repatriate the victim, helped establish the nationality of the 12 accused — all Bangladeshis — and is now facilitating the victim to get compensation under the Nirbhaya Fund,” she added. Between 2014 and 2019, Talaash helped police repatriate 300 illegal Bangladeshis from Bengaluru city, Bengaluru rural, Belagavi and Vijayapura districts to their country, said Diwan.

The gang-rape survivor spoke to TNIE over phone, and said she is trying to rebuild her life in her village Kishoregunj in Bangladesh, after the trauma she underwent of being dumped by her husband. “I was financially and emotionally very weak. I was promised a job in a beauty parlour in Bengaluru for a monthly salary of Rs 40,000 by my friend Riya, instead, I was forced into the sex trade there by people known to me. Riya had assured me that people would help me cross the India-Bangladesh border. I crossed the border at night on payment of 10,000 Takas. On reaching Kolkata, a man received us and handed me an Aadhaar card with my photograph, and name as Nadia from Dhantola (West Bengal), a SIM and my flight ticket to Bengaluru,” she said.

She was gang-raped by her compatriots in a rented flat in Ramamurthy Nagar in May 2021 after she “helped some trafficked Bangladeshi women escape from the network of the accused”, according to the survivor. Police arrested the 12 accused and filed the chargesheet in July of the same year. The case was investigated and the accused were charge-sheeted by the National Investigation Agency for illegal entry into India, human trafficking, forgery, using forged documents to obtain Indian identity cards such as Aadhaar card, PAN cards for themselves and their victims, and criminal conspiracy, among other charges.

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This story first appeared in Voicepk.net

By Rehan Piracha & Xari Jalil

Rampant neglect by state authorities have left prisoners exposed and at risk of disease and death.

Outdated and discriminatory bail laws from the Colonial era, and rampant neglect by the state authorities in Pakistan have not only resulted in overcrowding in Pakistani jails and prisons, but have also deprived prisoners of basic or emergency health care, with thousands in jails at risk of disease and death, highlighted a report by the Human Rights Watch released on Wednesday.

The 55-page report, “A Nightmare for Everyone: The Health Care Crisis in Pakistan’s Prisons,” documents widespread deficiencies in the prison system, focusing on lack of health care and examining the consequences for a prison population of more than 88,000.

Six to 15 inmates squeezed in a prison cell for three

Pakistan has one of the world’s most overcrowded prison systems. Prison cells that have been originally designed for a maximum of three people actually hold up to 15, says the report. As of 2022, many of the country’s 91 jails and prisons were 100 percent over capacity.

In some prisons between six and 15 prisoners may occupy a single prison cell built to hold a maximum of three prisoners.

Jalal was 19-years-old when he was arrested in connection with a case of theft and sent to prison in Lahore in 2019. He remained in prison for 35 days in a cell with six other people. He said:

“I was there in summer [June and July] and we had one fan which only worked half the time due to power outages. In the Lahore heat, with the perspiration and sweat of seven people in a tiny room, it was like being baked alive. I was dizzy and sometimes delirious due to the heat. I collapsed and was unconscious three times and was given water, asked to take a shower and “not be dramatic. I lost six kilograms in one month, permanently lost my hair and had bags under eyes making me almost unrecognizable by the time I was released.”

Shafiq, 33, who was in a prison in Lahore for four weeks in 2021, said, “The room was so clogged at night that it was almost impossible to get up and go to the bathroom without stepping on people’s heads and the only option was to wait till morning.”

This severe overcrowding has resulted unhygienic conditions, inadequate and poor-quality food, and lack of access to medicines and treatment. More so, it has compounded existing health care deficiencies, leaving inmates vulnerable to communicable diseases –such as the deadly outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. The floods that struck Pakistan in mid-2022 have also damaged many prison facilities, especially in Sindh, and left prison populations even more isolated and vulnerable to water-borne disease.

Besides lack of basic health care facilities, there are other rights violations against prisoners, including torture and mistreatment – a key symptom of a broken criminal justice system; corruption among prison officials and guards, and impunity for abusive conduct.

The prison health care crisis reflects the failures in health care across Pakistan, and is worsened by the recent economic crisis.

While the rich and influential inmates sometimes serve out their sentences outside prison in private hospitals, poorer prisoners must pay bribes only for pain relief medication. Colonial-era laws enable the government and other powerful people to interfere in police and prison operations, sometimes directing officials to grant favors to allies and harass opponents.

Patricia Gossman, associate director of Human Rights Watch Asia said that the prison system in Pakistan needed urgent reform. “Successive governments have acknowledged the problem and done nothing to address the most critical needs to overhaul bail laws, allocate adequate resources, and curb corruption in the system,” she said.

A lack of sentencing guidelines and the courts’ aversion to alternative noncustodial sentences even for minor offenses significantly contributes to overcrowding. Most inmates are under trial, and the majority facing criminal trials are poor and lack access to legal aid.

Stories from Within

Several former inmates in Sindh, Punjab, and Islamabad, were interviewed for the report, including women and juveniles. Others who were interviewed include lawyers for detainees and convicted prisoners, prison health officials, and advocacy organizations working on prisoner rights.

Aslam, 54, who was in Lahore prison from 2017 to 2020 says, “Almost from the beginning of my imprisonment, I had pains, swelling and stiffness in my body. My complaints were either ignored and jail staff would ask me to “man up” and “suck it up,” or on certain occasions I was given a painkiller. I could hardly stand up in the morning and kept pleading for an MRI or an ultrasound, but my requests were ignored.” Only when he was finally released was he diagnosed with arthritis.

A 37 old woman, who spent three years in a prison in Lahore, Punjab after being convicted for a drug trafficking offense between 2016-19 highlights how women were treated.

“Throughout my stay in prison, I suffered from acute migraines and hormonal issues causing pains and irregular menstruation cycles,” she said. “I was not allowed to meet a specialist even once and was only given a painkiller. It is extremely difficult for us to speak about menstruation to a male prison official due to social taboos and embarrassment. Women prisoners are treated the worst because in Pakistan they are abandoned by their families, and no one comes to visit them and hence the prison authorities know that no one is willing to pay any (bribe) money for their better treatment.”

Women and Girls

HRW spoke to nine women who had been imprisoned. Women in Pakistani prisons face mistreatment and abuse on a massive scale, reflecting discrimination and their vulnerability.

In 2020, Pakistan’s Human Rights Ministry issued a report, ‘Plight of Women in Pakistan’s Prisons, and submitted it to the prime minister. It documented poor conditions and barriers to adequate medical care faced by women prisoners. It found that of the 1,121 women in prison as of mid-2020, 66 percent had not been convicted of any offense and were detained prior to trial or while awaiting their trial’s conclusion. More than 300 women were detained in facilities outside the districts where they lived, making family visits nearly impossible. The prisoners included 46 women over the age of 60 and 10 girls under 18. Currently, only 24 female health workers are available to provide full-time care to women and girls in prisons across the country.

Children who accompany their mothers in prison faced additional risks. As of September 2020, 134 women had children with them in prison, some as old as 9 and 10, despite the legal limit of 5 years. Altogether at least 195 children were housed in prisons.

Lawyers and rights activists said that women prisoners are especially vulnerable to being abused by male prison guards, including sexual assault, rape, and being pressured to engage in sex in exchange for food or favors. An Islamabad based lawyer said, “The stigma attached to women being in prison is very high and often leads to women prisoners being abandoned by their families. This increases their vulnerability further and enables and encourages abusive behavior, including sexual violence. Women arrested for sex work form a significant group of the detainees and are most at risk of sexual violence and abuse.”

One woman said she felt like ‘a piece of meat on display’, the way she was touched and groped by the prison officials.

Other issues faced by women in particular were menstrual hygiene issues, lack of access to sanitary napkins, soap and clean water, lack of women in supervisory and senior positions in the prison administration.

‘Mental health patients told to pray’

In its findings, HRW noted that prisoners with mental and physical disabilities are at particular risk of abuse, discrimination, and mistreatment. A lack of awareness about mental health in Pakistani society has resulted in the abuse of those with psychosocial disabilities (mental health conditions), and prisoners who ask for mental health support are often mocked and denied services.

The prison system lacks mental health professionals, and prison authorities tend to view any report of a mental health condition with suspicion. Psychological assessments for new prisoners are either perfunctory or not done at all.

A prisoner who had spent four months in a Lahore prison in 2018 said that he had depression and was thinking of ending his life. He said that when he requested professional help, an official told him, “Everyone here is depressed. Even I am depressed. You should start praying.”

The report said that the governments at federal and provincial levels should urgently focus on the prison health care system and bring it in line with international standards, such as the Nelson Mandela Rules.

However successive governments have only failed to allocate adequate resources and utilize them efficiently. The Sindh province is the only province in the country that has enacted prison rules in line with international standards, but the rules are not enforced, the HRW report noted.

In addition to addressing access to health care, and ensuring sanitary living conditions and adequate food, the most important reforms include changing bail laws, expediting the trial process, and prioritizing noncustodial sentences to reduce overcrowding.

Recommendations

The reasons for the abysmal and rights-violating conditions in Pakistani jails and prisons are multifaceted and fixing the problems will require broad structural changes, the HRW report stated. Even so, the federal and provincial government can adopt measures that can begin to bring significant changes in prison conditions and in particular improve prisoners’ access to health facilities.

The HRW report recommended that the government must prioritize to reduce overcrowding by enforcing laws and early release; bringing the bail law in line with international standards; implementing sentencing guidelines for judges to allow bail unless there are reasonable grounds to believe the prisoner would abscond or commit further offenses; reforming the sentencing structure for non-violent petty crimes and first-time offenders to include non-custodial alternatives; implementing a mechanism of free and adequate legal aid to prisoners who cannot afford private legal representation and finally ensuring that prisoners in pre-trial detention are tried as expeditiously as possible, and never detained longer than necessary.

The report called for increasing the number of prison medical professionals. All prison rules must be in line with international standards such as the Nelson Mandela Rules and the Bangkok Rules and address the specific challenges faced by women and children, including menstrual and reproductive health.

Most importantly, the government must ratify the UNCAT (Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment) and install a mechanism to carry out unannounced inspections at all detention facilities. An independent, and transparent mechanism must hold those prison officials responsible who fail to uphold prisoners’ rights and maintain required standards in prison administration.

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This story first appeared in www.outlookindia.com

Rashmi Saksena recalls the scenes of horror and revelries she witnessed after Bangladesh won its Independence from Pakistani rule. She writes about cheering as well as the people in Khulna who seemed to be carved in stone after the horrors they had been through.

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This story first appeared in Lokmarg – News Views Blogs

Nivedita Jha, a Patna-based writer and social activist, says a similar attempt to debar Indira Gandhi from Parliament had boomeranged on the then Janata Dal government. Her views:

The Surat court verdict against Rahul Gandhi and the latest decision to debar him from Parliament is a well thought-out attempt to silence him and the Opposition. This is extremely dangerous for democracy and will damage it with terrible consequences. We are living in very difficult times. Anyone who writes or speaks against this regime is hounded and punished, or silenced.

However, I am certain that this attack on Rahul Gandhi would very seriously damage Narendra Modi and the BJP in the short and long run. Undoubtedly, this is bound to boomerang.

I am reminded of the arrest of Indira Gandhi by then Union Home Minister, Charan Singh, and the move to debar her from Parliament. The people of India did not like this at all. Consequently, she returned to power with a popular mandate and a majority in 1980.

Rahul Gandhi has made no hate speech. The BJP and its leaders are routinely making violent and hate speeches, and nothing happens to them ever. Take, for instance, Giriraj Singh in Bihar. The kind of communal statements he has uttered publicly in the past is outside all norms of legality or civilized society. Nothing has ever happened to him.

It is also becoming crystal clear that they are threatened by Rahul Gandhi, especially after the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Earlier they pumped in huge amount of money and used their power in the social media and among certain journalists to destroy his image, while derogatorily branding him Pappu. They have used fake news and crass propaganda to sully his image, and to sully the image of Jawaharlal Nehru, among other things. If you do a Google search, they see to it that their fake news pops up as lead stories. If you do a Google search on Nehru, you would be surprised by the obscene trolling done against him!

They tried their best to destroy the image of Rahul Gandhi, but they have failed. After the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, his image has effectively changed and he has become a more popular leader across the country. Modi and the BJP are clearly threatened by Rahul Gandhi’s growing popularity. This move to debar him would certainly boost his image.

Many governments have been repressive in the past, including the Congress dispensation. However, we are living in perhaps the most difficult and dangerous time in our post-independence history. Our democracy is severely threatened and seriously damaged in the current circumstances. Most institutions, the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, large sections of the media, seem to have been totally taken over. Young scholars from the universities are rotting in prison for so long for no fault of theirs.

Opposition leaders are being hounded, arrested and raided. The BJP-RSS and this regime seems to be hell-bent on ravaging our secular democracy whereby all forms of dissent are eliminated, all Opposition parties are blocked, and only they can rule supreme. Then, certainly, India will no longer remain a democracy. It will be suffocated under a dictatorship.

This is a situation which reminds me of the ideology of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, which the BJP shares. They don’t want to hear even a squeak of dissent. Certainly, this is a black era in our history. What is happening is indeed shameful!

However, I am certain that this move to hound and debar Rahul Gandhi from Parliament will have serious consequences and will badly damage the BJP. If they try to ban him from contesting elections, it will further damage them politically.  The politics of revenge almost always leads to a counter-narrative.

Recently, they arrested some printers and workers carrying posters for AAP which said: Modi hatao, desh bachao! This is like banning all opposition to him effectively. However, it is not working. The CPI has given a call: Modi hatao, desh bachao! AAP did a rally in Jantar Mantar, Delhi, with a huge banner on the stage which said: Modi hatao, desh bachao! All opposition parties have come out to protest on the streets with placards which carried the same slogan.

That is why I say, this move against Rahul Gandhi is bound to boomerang badly on the BJP and Modi. This will damage them, that is for certain.

The narrator has been associated with Bihar Mahila Samaj and the National Federation of Indian Women

As told to Amit Sengupta

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