Issue :   
May 2020 Edition of Power Politics is updated.
Issue:May' 2020

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

A mindless lockdown

Humra Quraishi

Migrant workers in New Delhi walking home to their native villages Sitting forlorn in this lockdown, wondering rather aloud: What takes place when the rulers of the day turn a medical emergency into a human nightmare! Yes, our masses are getting subjected to the worst forms of trauma. Shots of our migrant workers and daily-wagers getting sprayed with poisonous disinfectants, walking hungry and weary, only to be blatantly humiliated and thrashed by the lathi- yielding constables, who seem to be new rulers of the day! In fact, a Jaipurbased artisan had told me in all earnestness that in today's India "only two types of people can live like human beings — politicians or police-wallahs!" With the masses sitting unfed and uncared for, what would remain! What future holds out, with factories and mills and warehouses shut. Shutters down! How long with the stocks last! To suddenly announce lockdown, without even the basic level of preparedness, is akin to dictating: from this hour no food and water and shelter and no money…do as you please to survive in these corona- ridden times ! I'm told that even during the Partition times, relief-camps were functioning with the food and shelter bandobasts. If that level of preparedness could have been seen in 1947, then why not today, in 2020! What about the funds and money collected by the government in the name of relief work and out-reach schemes? Will it reach out to our people today or the -day -after when they are gone or going…fleeing like refugees in their own ancestral land, in their own country. We have made our people run about so very helplessly, like hapless frightened refugees in their own country …very, very disturbing shots of our masses running from here to there! Parched and hungry and sprayed upon by poisonous sprays! Mind you, even at this fragile stage, there are arguments amongst the political rulers, whether the fleeing masses are from this state or from that other state — whether from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar or Madhya Pradesh!
They are our people. They belong to this country. They have been there working in our factories, mills, construction sites… Rattled and fearing for their children's survival, this hapless lot decided to walk on and on… Unbothered of the consequences.
Unsure what new destined turns would come their way in the form and shape of the brute force and dictates of the day. Unheard those cries and queries along the strain:: is this the way to combat a medical emergency, is this the way to treat your citizens, is this the way countries like South Korea and Japan have combated this virus, is this the way to silence your farmers and workers and labourers, is this the way to reach out to your masses! Its time to sit up and see the dark realities hitting millions amongst us.
Lack or rather the near-absence of water. And when we say wash hands every twenty minutes with water and soap to keep off the Corona virus, do we realize that millions do not have access to water nor soap. At times not even a drop of clean drinking water! Nor do they have access to the basic food grains and the c o n n e c t e d bandobast. They sit awaiting death, with parched throats and empty stomachs.
What is happening to our imprisoned population in terms of this virus and the connected dos and don'ts that come along the prevention format? Yes, we the semi- imprisoned, have got to ask what is happening to the formally and fully imprisoned. Not to overlook the fact that almost seventy - five percent of the imprisoned population consists of the under-trials. That is, all those who are yet to be proven culprits and are not convicted, so technically innocent. How many innocents sitting languishing could be struck by this virus in this imprisoned state. Can we save their lives? Shouldn't we free ( at least temporarily) the imprisoned doctors and nurses from the prisons across the country, so that they can reach out to the ill and dying? Shouldn't the likes of Dr.Kafeel Khan been tending patients than siting languishing in a prison cell?

Restless sentiments

Misra Tripathi New Delhi based poet – writer, Jayshree Misra Tripathi, wrote this poetic verse in the early hours of 28 March, 2020…wrote in the backdrop of the hitting realities of the day.

To quote her, "The images of migrant workers, carrying a few belongings, walking away from the city in throngs, has filled me with such dark despair. Another picture of an inhuman policeman making young boys, with bags on their backs, squat and jump a few paces at a time, to the border, fills me with shame. They naturally want to return home. There are no daily wages for them during the lockdown. No proper homes to live in. So, they walk to the bus terminus. The buses are full, so they walk on. I could not help but wonder what thoughts must be flitting through their troubled minds. How unkind are we in these desperate times - with the imminent fear of death from the COVID 19 virus? And what about those who live by themselves, their angst…?"

A great artist

Satish Gujral Satish Gujral passes away in New Delhi at 94, on March 26, 2020 …we have lost a great artist and also a great human being. Gujral came across as emotional, warm and forthright. If one were to read his autobiography "A Brush With Life," it gets writ large that he didn't shy away from putting in details of the struggles and the challenges he faced. During the interviews with me, he would speak in that whole- hearted way, commenting on a whole range of aspects to his life and his passion — art and architecture….

Though his elder brother IK Gujral was in the thick of politics, Satish had no political ambitions. And on the fact that Satish was drawn to the Left ideology he explained–"Today I call myself a Leftist but not a communist. Why? Because in those early days when I was drawn to the communist party and later travelled on scholarship to Mexico and then to New York and intermingled with several communists, I was left disillusioned. In Mexico, I met many Russian artists who told me what had been happening in Russia and it opened my eyes. Today I call myself a Leftist and not a communist."
When I had nudged him to comment on the political scene in the country, he sounded very disillusioned with the political parties and with the general prevailing scenario in the country. He would speak in great detail about the Partition and with that about his birth place in Pakistan. Satish didn't mince words that he was emotionally connected to Pakistan.
Restless sentiments New Delhi based poet – writer, Jayshree Misra Tripathi, wrote this poetic verse in the early hours of 28 March, 2020…wrote in the backdrop of the hitting realities of the day. To quote her, "The images of migrant workers, carrying a few belongings, walking away from the city in throngs, has filled me with such dark despair. Another picture of an inhuman policeman making young boys, with bags on their backs, squat and jump a few paces at a time, to the border, fills me with shame. They naturally want to return home. There are no daily wages for them during the lockdown. No proper homes to live in. So, they walk to the bus terminus. The buses are full, so they walk on. I could not help but wonder what thoughts must be flitting through their troubled minds. How unkind are we in these desperate times - with the imminent fear of death from the COVID 19 virus? And what about those who live by themselves, their angst…?" Misra Tripathi Satish Gujral