Protesting Tamil farmers !
Humra Quraishi
Protesting Tamil Nadu farmers strip in front of
the PM's office
There is anger not just on the streets of
Srinagar but also on the roads of New
Delhi. What, with farmers from Tamil
Nadu stripping in full public view in sheer
agony !Imagine, providers of our daily
bread reduced to such a pathetic
condition that they are squatting in Lutyens' Delhi to
plead to the political rulers for the very survival of
their fields and families. Parched lie not just their
lands but also their lives.
And if you talk to meat -suppliers and dairy -
owners they tell me of that age old theory: if you
force a man to go hungry he will either die or else he will start eating your flesh! What, with hundreds
sitting jobless there is every possibility of hunger
related deaths going up the graph.
Also, crime is sure to go up as frustration levels are
mounting …Added connected dimension is the new
ruling on food consumption. The Government is now
even 'fixing' the amount you can get to eat at
restaurants. Order only this much and not that much!
In fact, this brings me to quip: doesn't this
government have to deal with many more serious
issues than control the spread on my platter!
All this rationing of food portions could have been
legitimate if it was free supply of food from
government -run canteens or community kitchens
but not where private run restaurants and hotels are
concerned. This bizarre move reeks of dictatorship cum policing of the weirdest sorts. Soon paunchy
police -wallahs will be seen loitering around
restaurants, keeping a watch on your intake!
Frequent flyers are left fuming after Shiv Sena MP
Ravindra Gaikwad's wings weren't clipped. Can a
parliamentarian assault and then get away as though
nothing really took place !Also,let us not overlook the
possibility of the likes of Gaikwad rushing into cock
pits, assaulting the pilots and co- pilots. Or else
breaking the window glass by the sandals in their grip
and flinging out babies and just about anybody who
comes in way.
Romantics have begun to doubt the very intentions
of the government of the day in Uttar
Pradesh.Imagine, these rulers do not know the
difference between romance and rape! Have they
heard of Romeo and Juliet! If they had heard or read
those heart touching lovelorn tales they wouldn't
have formed the notorious anti – Romeo squads that
go killing love! Mind you, Romeos cannot be thrown
in the 'eve- teasers' category, because they are
teenaged romantics and with that a harmless lot. Why
kill romance! Why are efforts on to push and pull us
towards some dark ages where only the brute cum
fake cum heartless can survive! Have the rulers of the
day heard of something called emotions or romantic
notions or those fragile feelings tucked in the heart ?
In fact, the truth is that women love romance,
romantics and Romeos, so why the hell should the
State turn killer of emotions!
Sorrow in refugee camps !
The plight of Rohingya refugees
And there's sorrow spreading out in the refugee
camps as news reports suggest that the Government of India is planning to forcibly deport thousands of
Rohinga refugees from the different states of India.
It will be human rights violation as these hapless
men and women and children fled Myanmar in the
worst of conditions and are living here in sub –
human conditions , yet even that seems getting
snatched . To quote Amnesty International India on
this -
" Any measures taken by Indian authorities to
forcibly return Rohingya refugees and asylumseekers
to Myanmar, where they are at risk of serious
human rights violations, would be a flagrant violation
of international law…Sending Rohingya Muslims back
to Myanmar - where the community has faced horrific
abuses - would not just be a violation of India's
commitments under international law, but also a
blemish on India's history of supporting those fleeing
persecution…
Rohingya Muslims, who are among the most
persecuted minorities in the world, have faced years
of discrimination, repression and violence in
Myanmar. In December 2016, Amnesty International
documented a brutal campaign of violence against
the Rohingya by security forces in Myanmar, which
could amount to crimes against humanity.
The organization found evidence of a wide
range of human rights violations in Myanmar's
northern Rakhine State, including unlawful
killings, multiple rapes, and the burning down of
hundreds of Rohingya homes and buildings.
Forcing Rohingya asylum-seekers and refugees back
to Myanmar would violate the international
principle of non-refoulement - which is recognized in
customary international law and is binding on
India - that forbids states from forcibly
returning people to a country where they would
be at real risk of serious human rights violations.
India is also a state party to other international
treaties which recognize this principle, including
the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child. Indian authorities
know very well the abuses the Rohingya community
have been facing in Myanmar. Deporting them and
abandoning them to their fates would be
unconscionable."
Violence against Africans
African nationals recuperate at Kailash Hospital in
Noida after being beaten up by a mob.
Muscle power seems to hold sway. Unleashed it is
on a daily basis. On us Indians. And also on the
Africans living in our midst. In fact, last month there
had been two reported cases of violent attacks on
Africans residing in GreaterNoida.
Look where we stand reduced to. Such pathetic
lows that even our very existence seems to be in
the grip and control of the political mafia .
Imagine , there was that blissful period in our
very recent history where poets of the likes Ali
Sardar Jafri and Sahir Ludhianvi wrote verse after
verse in solidarity with leaders from far –away
lands: these lines of of Ali Sardar Jafri written in
1960s relay much bonding between Indians and
Africans -
"This African, my brother /
Picks flowers, in forest after forest /
My brother,whose feet are red /Red as roses."
Or these lines of Sahir Ludhianvi written when Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of
Congo and who also a staunch anti - imperialist
was deposed from office and then murdered -
"Tyranny has no caste , no community , no status
nor dignity /Tyranny is simply tyranny , from its
beginning to its end /Blood however is blood , it
becomes a hundred things /Shapes that cannot
be obliterated /Flames that can never be
extinguished /Chants that can never be
suppressed."
Top meat exporters
Amidst all the meat politics , its relevant to know
that out of the six top meat exporters in India, four
are non – Muslims. Here go the details – Al Kabeer
Exports Pvt .Ltd( owners Satish and Atul Sabharwal,
Mumbai), Arabian Exports Pvt .Ltd (owner Sunil
Kapoor , Mumbai ), MKR Frozen Food Exports
(owner – Madan Abbott, New Delhi), PML Industries
(owner A.S. Bindra , Chandigarh. Incidentally, A.S.
Bindra happens to be the father of ace shooter
Abhinav Bindra .