*CORONAVIRUS
- INDIA*
India's treatment of Muslims amid coronavirus
is almost 'genocidal: Author Arundhati
Roy
Author and Political activist Arundhati Roy
accused Indian government of exploiting coronavirus outbreak to inflame tensions
between Hindus and Muslims. She told DW that this alleged strategy on the part
of Hindu nationalist govt would "dovetail with this illness to create
something which the world should really keep its eyes on," adding that
"situation is approaching genocidal.""I think what has happened
is COVID-19 has exposed things about India that all of us knew," said Roy.
"We are suffering, not just from COVID, but from a crisis of hatred, from
a crisis of hunger.""This crisis of hatred against Muslims," she
continued, "comes on the back of a massacre in Delhi, which was the result
of people protesting against the anti-Muslim citizenship law.Under cover of
COVID-19 govt is moving to arrest young students, to fight cases against
lawyers, against senior editors, against activists and intellectuals. Some of
them have recently been put in jail."Roy claimed the government was
exploiting the virus in a tactic reminiscent of one used by the Nazis during
the Holocaust. "The whole of the organization, RSS to which Modi belongs, which is the mother
ship of BJP , has long said that India should be a Hindu nation. Its ideologues
have likened Muslims of India to the Jews of Germany. And if you look at the
way in which they are using COVID, it was very much like typhus was used
against the Jews to get ghettoize them, to stigmatize them."dw.com
Arundhati Roy compares PM Modi to Hitler,
claims ‘coronavirus’ pandemic 'almost genocidal'
'Not Just Denigrated, Muslims Have Been
Demonised During COVID-19 Pandemic': RJD MP Manoj Jha
Manoj Jha, a member of Rajya Sabha and
spokesperson of RJD, the principal opposition party in Bihar, says the state
hasn't received the attention and support it deserves during Coronavirus
outbreak from Centre as a cooperative federal unit.In an interview with
Outlook, Jha says message of lockdown was confined to urban-middle-class of
metropolitan cities and it lacked concerns of subaltern groups, including
migrant workers. When asked, after Tablighi Jammat event, Muslims all across
India have been subjected to denigration and discrimination, RJD MP replied,
"I think they are not only denigrated they have been demonised. You know
what I said in the beginning that we have criminalised corona carriers and
demonised them as a result of it. I think maybe we will successfully fight this
pandemic for different reasons, including God’s support but many other
pandemics are taking place around us. I hope that we don't come out it as a
more divided society, where a section is demonised." out look
In Modi's India, virus fallout inflames
divisions between Muslims and Hindus:Reuters
Mumbai:Purple ink stamped on Iqbal Hussain
Siddiqui’s hand by Indian health workers was supposed to ensure he stayed home
under quarantine.But 66-year-old Siddiqui, an egg seller in Mumbai’s sprawling
Dharavi slum, rubbed it off as best he could and went back to work. The mark
would have condemned him to being stuck in an unventilated one-room home
without a toilet.It was also, he claimed, part of an effort by Hindu
nationalist government of PM Narendra Modi to target Muslims like him, using
health workers to gather data on the community under the guise of containing
COVID-19 pandemic.“Modi wants to make Muslims second class citizens,” said
Siddiqui, who was ordered to be quarantined after a neighbor tested positive
for the virus. “There is no one who is sick — it’s all a lie.”His suspicions
were echoed by a half-dozen other Muslims whom Reuters talked to in Dharavi,
even though community leaders say they have been trying to convince people that
health workers are in district to protect them from COVID-19. Coronavirus has
exacerbated festering divisions between the country’s Hindus and its sizable
Muslim minority, many of whom have seen their livelihoods threatened by the
establishment of quarantine zones in densely-packed areas like Dharavi. There
have been at least 71 confirmed cases in Dharavi. Muslim leaders say a belief
that the coronavirus is not real has spread in their communities, but that they
have been working through mosques to change those perceptions. “There is a
strong feeling of distrust in Muslim community towards the establishment,” said
Gyasuddin Shaikh, a politician with opposition Congress in Ahmedabad. “It took
us a lot of time and effort to convince such people that the documents are
needed for medical assistance.”Despite those efforts, public health experts
warn that suspicions about govt’s intentions in a community of around 200
million people could complicate India’s push to stamp out the virus. A sense of
isolation within Muslim population “does not enhance community participation
and it drives disease underground,” said Dr. Jacob John, professor of community
medicine at a Medical College in Tamil Nadu. Health ministry and PMO did not respond
to requests for comment.
Muslim community being singled out over
virus, community elders say
Hyderabad: Health minister Etala Rajendar
naming and dragging Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) returnees again in the context of
Covid-19 is a “continuous and systematic attack against Muslim community,”
community elders said.Mushtaq Malilk, head of Tahreek Muslim Shabban, said, “It
is a systematic attack on the community in the name of the disease.Despite WHO
stating clearly that people, communities and localities must not be
stigmatised, Muslims are being continuously maligned by the local
administration right up to senior levels of government, said a community
elder.Other senior members of community stated that they do not understand why
only case of Tablighi Jamaat returnees are being highlighted by government.
Prof. Abdul Majeed, a senior member of the community, said, “There were many
congregations in March but not a single community has been targeted in the
manner in which Muslims have been. Again, the government is working on the same
lines. They must seek the help of people which they have not done. Is there any
dialogue that they have initiated? Why? What is stopping them?”ASIAN AGE
'You'll be Made to Leave': UAE Princess Slams
Indian Man for Islamophobic Tweet on Tablighi Jamaat
Taking a strong notice of Islamophobia on
social media, Princess Hend Al Qassimi, a member of the royal family of UAE,
called out a series of tweets by a user named Saurabh Upadhyay. Upadhyay had
posted tweets attacking Muslims over the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in
March in Delhi that led to surge of coronavirus cases cases in India. He also
gave into rumours of muslims ‘spiting on food’ to spread the virus.Princess
Qassimi shared the screenshots of his tweets and warned that those engaging in
racism and Islamophobia will have to pay penalty and will be made to leave UAE.
Upadhyay has apparently deactivated his Twitter handle now. Responding to his
earlier posts, she though the ruling family of UAE is “friends with Indians”,
his rudeness was “not welcome”.“All employees are paid to work, no one comes
for free. You make your bread and butter from this land which you scorn and
your ridicule will not go unnoticed,” she wrote.news18
Wrong to say Maulana Saad not co-operating
with agencies: Tablighi Jamaat
New Delhi: Mujeeb-ur Rehman, spokesman for
Tablighi Jamaat on Friday said that it is incorrect to say that the Jamaat
chief Maulana Saad is not co-operating with the agencies."The Police have
sent him two notices and he responded to both of them. We are co-operating with
the agencies in the investigation. It is incorrect to say that Jamaat chief
Maulana Saad is not co-operating with the agencies," Rehman told ANI.He
said that a team of lawyers is providing legal aid to Maulana Saad."We
have a team of lawyers and we are providing legal aid to Maulana Saad. We are
ready to answer every question asked by agencies and media," he
said.Regarding the ED notice sent to Maulana Saad, he said: "We have not
received the ED notice against Maulana Saad. We only come to know about this
through media,"He claimed that Maulana Saad is not hiding anywhere, he is
in India and the police know where he is."Maulana respects law, respects constitution
and he will follow all the procedure," he added.Meanwhile, Maulana Saad
has written to Delhi Police, demanding a copy of FIR registered in connection
with an event at Markaz mosque in Nizamuddin.ANI
Probe focuses on money exchanger, CA role in
Tablighi Jamaat funding :IANS report
New
Delhi:The role of money exchanger RM & RM Associates based in Delhi''s
Nizamuddin and a chartered accountant working with Tablighi Jamaat is being
scrutinised by Crime Branch sleuths of Delhi Police to ascertain foreign remittance
received by Jamaat, a senior IPS officer said on Saturday.The role of money
exchanger RM & RM Associates was flagged by senior police officers in
the case against Tablighi Jamaat. DCP Joy Tirkey has been directed to probe the
financial aspects in the case. Senior officers have issued directions to Tirkey
to question owners and employees of RM & RM Associates."They
should be thoroughly questioned about amount of remittance received from
foreign countries by the Tabhlighi Jamaat," the direction stated.He was
also directed to check whether any money was received by Jamaat delegates from
their respective countries. He has also been directed to question a chartered
accountant of Tablighi Jamaat about the funding of the organisation and also "foreign
contribution".Crime Branch has also been asked to liaise with MHA to probe
foreign source of funding as foreigners from across 41 nations joined the
congregation at Delhi''s Nizamuddin in March.
Classification Of COVID19 Cases As Tablighi
Jamaat, Masjid Markaz Leads To Communal Antagonism: Plea In Delhi HC
A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court
seeking court's direction to the Delhi Government to not to use terms such as
'Tablighi Jamaat' or 'Masjid Markaz' while referring to COVID19 cases.Filed by
Advocate MM Kashyap, plea claims that using such terms for classifying
coronavirus cases leads to religious profiling and communal antagonism.While
highlighting that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal himself used these terms in
his tweets, the Petitioner argues that such a classification has a potential of
fuelling communal tension in the capital city.It is submitted that the
situation in the city can potentially get worse considering that it already
witnessed communal riots in the recent past, in the northeast districts.'...it
was the need of the hour that the nation is united in the fight against
coronavirus and giving communal angle to the cases would hamper the same', the
petition states.While seeking immediate injunction on the communal reporting of
the Tablighi Jamaat incident, the Petitioner argues that Delhi CM has violated
the advisory or guidelines issued by WHO which has strictly advised to refrain
from religious profiling of COVID19 cases.livelaw
Coronavirus: Centre asks states, UTs to
identify, screen Rohingya refugees
Ministry of Home Affairs has asked all states
and Union Territories to conduct Covid-19 screenings of Rohingya refugees in
their jurisdiction as several may have attended last month’s Tablighi Jamaat
congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, PTI reported , citing officials. The
religious congregation later emerged as a coronavirus hotspot.The community’s
members who reside in camps in Hyderabad had attended Tablighi Jamaat “Ijtema”
at Haryana’s Nuh district, ministry said. It added that some of them were also
present at the Nizamuddin event.The notification highlighted that the refugees,
residing in Delhi’s Shram Vihar and Shaheen Bagh neighbourhoods, who had gone
for Tablighi Jamaat congregations had not returned to their camps. The ministry
cited reports from Dera Bassi city in Punjab and Jammu area of J&K about
the presence of Rohingya Muslims, arriving there after working for Tablighi Jamaat.
“Therefore, Rohingya Muslims and their contacts may need to be screened for
COVID-19,” the order said. “Accordingly, necessary measures may be taken in
this regard on priority.” The ministry said there are nearly 40,000 Rohingya
refugees in different parts of the country.scroll
Azamgarh: Rs 5,000 Reward for Info on
Tablighi May Lead to Harassment of Common Muslims, Say Rights Activists
Azamgarh Police last week announced a reward
for information to trace ‘hiding’ members of Tablighi Jamaat, but local
residents and rights activists are concerned that such move will lead to harassment
of even those Muslims who have nothing to do with Tablighi Jamaat and have
never attended its congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz or elsewhere. In
their bid to trace those who attended Tablighi congregation, Azamgarh Police
last week announced to reward Rs 5,000 to anyone who gives a tip off about the
“hiding” members of Tablighi Jamaat in the district. However, local residents
are concerned that such reward announcement may lead to harassment of any
Muslim in the present charged atmosphere of hatred. Some said that the
announcement is about Tablighis, not just those who attended Delhi event.“Here
several rumors are making rounds, like these people (Tablighis) lick their
fingers after having meals and this spreads Coronavirus. There was a local news
here that four skull-capped people were held in Saraimir village and four
skull-capped people were held in Fariha. This description fits to any Muslim,
so common Muslims could be targeted. Fear is engulfing Muslim localities here
due to such rumors being spread by right-wing people,” said eminent social
activist Masihuddin Sanjari. Another local resident said that any Muslim could
be targeted as Tablighi Jamaat is not an organized group which maintains list
of its members. He also said the authorities should have taken Tablighi Jamaat
people into confidence. Rajiv Yadav, General Secretary of Rihai Manch, said
that those Tablighi people who got infected should be seen as victims not
criminals.indiatomorrow
Delhi: No New Corona Cases Related to
Tablighi Markaz in Last 4 Days
New Delhi: National Capital has recorded no
new Coronavirus cases related to Tablighi Jamaat Markaz, in the last 4 days –
from April 14 to April 17. However, in same period, around 150 new cases of the
highly contagious disease from other sources were added to the Delhi tally.The
number of Markaz-related cases was 1080 on April 14 and the figure remained
unchanged till April 17 – it means no fresh cases related to the mid-March
Markaz congregation was reported in Delhi in the last 4 days.clarionindia
14 Jamaat meet participants arrested after
completion of their quarantine term in UP
Bhadohi: As many as 14 Tablighi Jamaat meet
participants, including 11 Bangladeshis, were arrested after completion of
their quarantine period on Friday.Jamaatis were arrested after the completion
of their quarantine period and sent to a temporary jail set up here for them,
said Bhadohi SP Ram Badan Singh.PTI
Over 3,000 students stranded in Kota,
evacuated by UP Govt by spl buses; Bihar CM questions move
Kota: Nearly 3,000 students stranded in Kota
due to the ongoing lockdown left for their home in 100 buses sent by UP govt
but another 7,000 were waiting for their turn in Rajasthan city on Saturday. UP
govt had sent 250 buses to Kota on Friday, estimating total number of students to
be around 7,500, but more students gathered at the 3 boarding points in city
after learning about the travel arrangement. Some of the students were
accompanied by their parents. Officials now fear the buses available could be
inadequate to accommodate all the students willing to return home. But Kota
Public Relations Deputy Director Hariom Gurjar told PTI that UP govt has
assured them that more buses would be arranged if there is a shortfall. Bihar CM
Nitish Kumar, a key ally of BJP, called it an injustice and said it was against
the purpose of lockdown, according to NDTV. “scroll/PTI
Assam Congress MP demands removal of
Foreigners’ Tribunal member for ‘anti-Muslim’ statement
Guwahati: A Congress MP in Assam has demanded
the removal of a member of a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) for his alleged statement
that Tablighi Jamaat attendees who violated rules along with the members of
“Jehadi and Jahil” should not be considered for COVID-19 relief.Barpeta MP
Abdul Khaleque wrote to state Health Minister to draw the attention of Chief
Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to a letter allegedly written by Kamalesh Kumar
Gupta, member of FT, Baksa.newindianexpress
Bidar School, Slapped With Sedition For
'Anti-CAA' Play, Turns Into Covid-19 Quarantine Centre
Two months ago, a school in Bidar in northern
Karnataka was in the news for an allegedly seditious skit. It's now again
making headlines --this time because it's a quarantine centre where about 193
people are currently staying.Thouseef Madikeri, CEO of Shaheen Group of
Institutions says that Bidar district authorities had approached them on April
12 because govt hostel that initially served as a quarantine centre was in a
residential locality, which led to opposition from local people."So they
were searching for another campus and they approached us," he tells
Outlook.The authorities shifted 133 people on April 13 and another 60 people
two days later -- all of them were primary and secondary contacts of COVID-19
cases who are under surveillance. "In this situation, we have to contribute,"
says Madikeri. "We have a kitchen. So we are providing them with three
meals a day and snacks and also masks and medicines." Shaheen's school in
Bidar had been slapped with a sedition case in January after a local activist
complained that the school staged a play during an annual day function
criticising CAA.outlookindia
Coronavirus: 75% cases of deaths in patients
aged 60 yrs and above, 83% have co-morbidities
Health ministry, during the routine media
briefing on coronavirus, said that 75.3 per cent of Covid-19 deaths in India
have been recorded in those who are 60 years of age and above. The ministry
also said that of coronavirus deaths in the country, 83 per cent cases have
been reported to have co-morbidities.Giving an age-wise analysis, Lav Agarwal,
Health ministry joint secretary, said that 14.4 per cent deaths have been
reported in the age group of 0-45 years. He said that 10.3 per cent coronavirus
deaths have been reported in the age group of 45-60 years, 33.1% in those who
fall under the age bracket of 60-75 years and lastly he said that 42.2 per cent
deaths are reported in the age group of 75 years and above.India has reported
991 fresh Covid-19 cases, 43 deaths in the last 24 hours, Agarwal said.Covid-19
death toll in India has now reached 480. Meanwhile, a total of 1,992 Covid-19
patients across the country have cured, which has taken overall recovery
percentage to somewhere around 13.85 per cent, ministry informed.indiatoday
Nearly 30% coronavirus cases linked to
Tablighi event: Govt
Union Health Ministry on Saturday said 4,291
or about 30% of coronavirus cases in the country have been traced to Tablighi
Jamaat congregation in Delhi out of 14,378 cases in the country. In Delhi, 63%
of the reported 1,707 cases are linked to the same gathering.Nearly 40,000
people related to Delhi''s Nizamuddin event have already been quarantined.IANS
India doesn’t figure in top 40 countries
which are doing something to challenge Covid-19
New Delhi: As National Capital is surging
with Covid-19 cases, opposition Congress on Friday alleged that the Delhi
government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was ill-prepared to tackle
this unprecedented health crisis. Presenting a 10-point charter of demands,
Congress pointed out that 55 healthcare workers were contacted with this
disease which is the highest in the country. Addressing a press conference,
party spokesperson and ex Union Minister Ajay Maken took Delhi Govt and Union
govt to the task over the lack of preparation to cope with coronavirus
pandemic. Maken said Delhi has huge scarcity of PPE as Delhi government was
very slow to act and as late as on April 3, Chief Minister ordered to find out
the requirement of PPEs.“It was only in a meeting on 4th of April that CM
directed to provide “a realistic estimates for requirement of consumables like
N-95 Masks Surgical masks, PPE kits etc. in all public scenarios.” Exposing
Modi govt’s hollowness in tackling this crisis, Congress leader underlined that
even India did not figure in the top 40 countries, which are doing something to
challenge deadly pandemic.“ India doesn’t come even in top 40 countries, which
are doing something to challenge this virus. So, India doesn’t figure even in
first 40 countries, so imagine what we are doing!”muslimmirror
MHA to ask states to be vigilant against
Ramazan gathering
New Delhi: The home ministry is set to ask
states to ensure there are no gathering of people at mosques or other places
during the month of Ramazan which will begin in a week. “We will urge community
leaders to issue statement asking them to stay at home and offer prayers while
maintaining social distance and hygiene,” a senior official said. Lockdown
regulations have banned religious, cultural and social gatherings and have
directed authorities to use drones to deter congregations at religious places. Officials
also said states will also be asked to use Haj centres to quarantine Tablighi
Jamaat members tracked after massive contact-tracing exercise.economictimes
Lockdown: Maharashtra Govt Urges Muslims to
Break Fasts, Offer Ramzan Prayers at Home
Maharashtra govt on Saturday urged Muslims to
offer prayers and break their fasts during the month of Ramzan, which begins
next week, inside their homes instead of gathering at mosques or any other
public place in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Union Minority Affairs
Ministry has already urged Muslims to not congregate for offering prayers and
Iftar during this period.PTI
Jamaat Islami Hind Provide Aids Worth Rs. 10
Crores To People Affected With Lockdown
New Delhi:Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has come
to the aid of millions of people across the country affected by the lockdown.A
statement released by the organisation claimd to provide aids worth nearly Rs.
10 crores to around 9 lakh families across the country. Mohammed Ahmed, JIH
National Secretary - Social Service, said, “By the Grace of Allah, the support
of our well-wishers and the hard work of our volunteers, we have been able to
provide food and other relief to almost a million people all over the
country. Most of them are extremely
poor, who lead a hand to mouth existence and many migrant labourers, who were
caught in the lockdown. According to the reports from various states, cities
and towns we have provided relief to 8,38,417 people across the country, at a
cost of around Rs 10 crore. We distributed 5,80,519 food kits, 4,32,228 cooked
food packets, 3,88,852 face masks and 3,970 sanitizers. We have also extended
financial help to 10,06,553 people and other services to 44,503 people.”India
Tomorrow
Yale study finds a majority of India’s poor
women likely to miss Centre’s cash transfers
A study by Yale Economic Growth Centre
released on Friday makes out a case for a universal PDS system in post-COVID
India and community kitchens. Cash transfers alone, the study suggests, is
unlikely to reach all the poor in the country. The study welcomed the
initiative to distribute low-cost grains to all NGOs engaged in relief work but
pleaded for the release of additional grains to sustain community kitchens in
all states. Universal access to food rations as in Tamil Nadu would also be
needed in rest of the states, the study says.The study has been jointly
authored by Rohini Pande, Simone Schaner, Charity Troyer Moore and Elena
Stacy.nationalheraldindia
2017 Video Used to Falsely Claim Islamic
Preacher Asked Tablighi Jamaatis to 'Spit'
Narrative around coronavirus pandemic has
taken a turn for the worse in India with a majority of social media users and
mainstream media outlets not only pinning the blame on the Muslim community but
also accusing it of intentionally spreading infection.In an April 11 broadcast,
India TV praised govt for working “24×7” to fight the virus outbreak. However,
the channel claimed that efforts are being derailed because of the weakest link
i.e., Tablighi Jamaat. “There is another big accusation against Jamaat – of
spitting. Where did they catch the disease of spitting? Which Mulana gave them
the symptoms of the virus, India TV has investigated.”The channel subsequently
played a video of a preacher saying, “To save yourself from the clutches of
demons, read Surah Al-Ikhlas and spit thrice on the left-hand side,” and paused
before he was finished. Video played by India TV is 3 years old. It was shared
by the YouTube channel IRC TV on Oct.25, 2017. Faiz Syed is an Islamic preacher
and the founder of IRC.The video is titled, “Agar Kisi Ko Allah Ki Zaat Par
Waswasa – Whispers Aaye To Kya Kare By Adv. Faiz Syed”. This translates to –
“What should one do when they get whispers (evil or negative thoughts) about
the existence of Allah.”Alt News spoke with an Islamic scholar who explained
that the ‘spitting’ is not literal ejection of saliva but a gesture. “When evil
thoughts come to one’s mind during prayers or meditation, they recite the Surah
Al-Ikhlas and make a gesture of spitting on the left side – either say thoo
thrice or spit out air. This is a psychological way of believing that after
taking Allah’s name, the act of ‘spitting’ ejects the Shaitan out of the body.”
Alt News
Old video of TikTok user Shadab Khan falsely
shared as him showing how to spread coronavirus
A video of TikTok user Shadab Khan, inarguably
repulsive, has been widely shared on social media platforms.Twitter user Deepak
Khandwal shared the clip stating, “Shabad Khan has 11 million followers on
TikTok and he is promoting how to spread coronavirus. (#शादाब_खान के टिकटोक पर 11 मिलियन से ज्यादा फॉलोवर हैं, और
ये प्रमोट क्या कर रहा है
कि #कोरोना_वायरस को
कैसे फैलाना है.)”A
rummage through Sadab Khan’s TikTok profile revealed that the video was created
on February 6, 2020, weeks before coronavirus either became a part of the
national discourse or was declared a health emergency in India. Khan has made
several videos related to coronavirus. Below is a TikTok video where he is
advising people to stay at home. While Khan has uploaded videos in the past
that are distasteful and/ or sexist, an old video has been cherry-picked from
his profile and is being shared as if he is promoting the act of spitting in
the middle of a pandemic.altnews
Old video shared as recent incident where
police was attacked during lockdown in Aurangabad
On April 15, it was reported that locals in
Bihar’s Aurangabad attacked health workers and police personnel during a
routine visit for screening residents. Eleven people were injured in the
stone-pelting in Ekauni village under the jurisdiction of Goh police station.
The police has arrested 44 people for the attack. A video is now viral on
social media with the claim that it depicts the incident.A Facebook page that
goes by the name The News Khazana shared the video with the following claim: “औरंगाबाद जिले के एकौनी गांव में ग्रामीणों ने
पुलिस टीम पर
किया हमला ,जांच के लिए
पुलिस मेडिकल टीम
के साथ गांव पहुंची तो ग्रामीणों ने हमला कर
दिया, डीएसपी सहित
12 लोग जख्मी #Bihar #Lockdown2”Kashish News reporter Sohan Singh also shared the
video with the claim that it shows incident from Ekauni village. He later took
down the tweet. Upon reverse-searching a keyframe of the video, we found that
it pertains to an incident from September 2019.
altnews
Old, unrelated image from Malaysia shared as
migrants stranded in Gujarat due to lockdown
An image of a crowd of people sleeping in the
lobby of a building is getting shared on social media. It is being claimed that
the image is from Gujarat and it depicts the plight of migrant workers stranded
in the state. Twitter handle ‘Media Aalochak’ posted the image with message, “गुजरात मे
इन #मजदूरो के बारे मे
#दलाल_मीडिया का
क्या ख्याल है।इनके पास ना तो
खाने के लिए
राशन है ना
ही राशन खरीदने के लिए पैसे है ना ही
रहने के लिए
रूम है।यह लोग
जाये तो जाये कहाँ #मीडिया को
असली तस्वीर छुपाने के लिए #जमाती और #मस्जिद वाला मुद्दा चाहिये ताकि नफरत का माहौल गरम
रहे. (What does the sold-out media think about
these migrants in Gujarat. They neither have food nor ration or money to buy
ration or a room to live. Where will these people go? Media is hiding the real
picture behind the issue of Jamaat and mosque while the atmosphere of hatred is
being heated up -translated)”. It had garnered more than 800 retweets before it
was taken down. This image was published along with an article by Bengali
website Daily Fulki on Dec.25, 2019. The article said that the image depicts a
crowd gathered at immigration office in Malaysia after the country announced to
facilitate the ‘Back for Good’ program. It gave a chance to illegal immigrant
to return to their homes after paying a fine.altnews
Muslim clerics should boycott ‘godi’ media
channels : Delhi Minorities Commission chief Zafarul-Islam Khan
Delhi Minorities Commission chairman Dr
Zafarul-Islam Khan on 15 April said that Muslim clerics should “boycott godi
media” [outlets that apparently favour Hindu nationalist BJP party-led
government] and reject any call from them to appear on their shows.He issued an
appeal on Twitter over the same. In his appeal, Khan said, “Fabrication and
humiliation of invited guests by godi channels, like Republic, Times Now and
Aajtak etc., have crossed all limits.” He added that “innocent Maulanas
[clerics] and enthusiastic laymen” provide them an opportunity to humiliate
them and the whole community.If anyone approaches you to appear on their shows,
ask them to invite Prof. Tahir Mahmood, Prof. Faizan Mustafa, Abdul Khaliq
[LJP], Anil Chamadia, John Dayal and Shamsul Islam, he added.Khan maintained
that he is boycotting Republic and Times Now since long. “I have told Times Now
that I will not appear on its shows during this life-time and have told
Republic that I will not appear on their shows even in my next life,” he
said.muslimmirror
Migrant’s last earning before suicide: Rs
2,500 from sale of phone
35-year-old Chhabu Mandal, a migrant from
Bihar who worked as a painter in Gurgaon, sold his phone for Rs 2,500 on
Thursday and used the money to purchase a portable fan and some ration to feed
his family — his wife, her parents, and his four children, youngest 5 months
old. His wife Poonam was delighted when he returned home —family had not had
anything to eat all through Wednesday, and even before that, had been relying
on meals being distributed for free in their area, or the generosity of
neighbours.Before she started cooking, Poonam went to washroom, while her
mother took the children and went to sit under a tree near their home — 2
shanties standing side by side in Gurgaon’s Saraswati Kunj, with tin sheets for
walls and roofs. Mandal’s father-in-law slept in the adjacent shanty.While his
family was out, Mandal closed the door of his shanty and, using a rope, hanged himself
from the ceiling.“He had been very troubled ever since the lockdown started; we
had been struggling to get food. There was no work and no money. We were
completely dependent on free meals to feed ourselves, but these also did not
come every day,” said his wife.Gurgaon Police officers, when contacted, said
Mandal was “mentally troubled”.Officials from district administration also
insisted 35-year-old was “mentally disturbed”. The closest food disbursal point
for residents of Saraswati Kunj, as per a list released by district
administration, is Community Centre in Sector 56.“There is one in Sector 56 and
there is one in Wazirabad also, from what we have heard, but those are very far
for us to walk to. I am disabled, my wife is also aged, and the children are
young. Walking that far for food is not possible, that too on a hungry
stomach,” said Mandal’s father-in-law Umesh.Firoz, another resident of
Saraswati Kunj, who also hails from Bihar, said residents were also scared to
venture out since “some policemen are aggressive”.Official from district admin.
said the gaps, if any, would be plugged. indianexpress
‘Told no need to eat twice a day to live’:
Woman at Pune camp for migrant workers
Pune:Every evening, a voluntary group comes
and distributes boxes of cooked rice to a camp of about 100 migrant labourers
living in 6 tin sheds at Ambegaon Budruk, on outskirts of Pune city.This is the
only food that this camp of labourers gets in the day.On Wednesday evening,
Fatima Begum, a woman in her 30s, walked down the hill to collect food provided
by the officials of Pune police who had found her while trying to walk from
Pune to Madhya Pradesh along with around 150 others in the morning hours of
Wednesday.Grateful for the food that the camp was receiving once a day, Fatima
said with despair,“If we ask for more food, we are told that we do not need to
eat twice to live. Once a day is enough for you, they tell us.”Residing at a
remote settlement near Sachhai Mata temple in hill-area of Shaninagar area in
Ambegaon Budrukh, cluster of tin sheds which are home to these labourers from
Madhya Pradesh, does not permit movement of two adults at once.On Tuesday,
these labourers and their children had made a failed attempt at walking to
Madhya Pradesh from Ambegaon in Katraj, Pune.HT
West Bengal: Several people defy Covid-19 lockdown,
gather for Friday namaz in HooghlyIndia
Kolkata: Defying lockdown orders, at least 50
people gathered to offer namaz at a mosque in West Bengal's Hooghly district
amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.Around 60 people had gathered
yesterday afternoon to offer Friday namaz at Taldanga mosque in Hoogly's
Chinsurah.According to locals, police rushed the spot and immediately asked the
Imam to evacuate the mosque. When police questioned the Imam about the gathering,
he said despite telling people to offer namaz at their homes, they are still
coming to the mosque.timesnownews
Mamata removes Murshidabad SP who allowed
mosque prayer
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
came down heavily on Mursidabad district SP Ajeet Singh Yadav and ordered that
he be transferred. The move came after reports of hundreds gathering for Friday
prayers last week at Gopipur mosque in his jurisdiction, breaking norms of
social distancing during the lockdown. Chief Minister also expressed concern
over the porous Bengal-Bangladesh border in Malda district, from where people
were coming into the country. freepressjournal
Gujarat: Muslims perform Hindu rituals to
help cremate Bhavnagar woman
Amreli: Amid stringent lockdown, Gariyadhar,
a town in Bhavnagar district famed for small-scale diamond cutting and
polishing industry, set a glittering example of communal brotherhood on Friday
when Muslims went all out to help in cremation of a 70-year-old Hindu
woman.Ranjan Bhadreshwara, who lived with her two sons Bharat and Rasik in
Ghanchiwad area on Palitana Road, died a natural death on Friday morning. As
most of their relatives who live in Ahmedabad could not make it for the
cremation due to the lockdown, the Muslim neighbours immediately took up the
responsibility to help this family do the final rites as per Brahmin rituals.In
fact, the Bhadreshwaras have been the only Hindu family in Ghanchiwad area where
there are nearly 50 Muslim households, for the past nearly 25 years.
Number of containment zones in Delhi reaches
66
The number of containment zones in the
national capital reached 66 on Friday including one in Sangam Vihar where four
family members tested positive for the coronavirus. 6 new containment zones are
-- Gali No. 26 and 26 B, H.No. 2056 to 2092 and Gali No. 27 and 27 B, H.No.
2063 to 2083, Tughlakabad Extension; the entire effected area around H.No.
859/20, L--II, Sangam Vihar; in and around the area of C-105, Hari Nagar; in
and around the area of B-333, Hari Nagar; in and around the area of C-785,
Third Floor, Camp No. 2, Nangloi; in and around the area of RZ-168, K2 Block,
Nihal Vihar.A house in Delhi's L-II, Sangam Vihar, was contained today after
four members of a family tested positive of COVID-19.The office of SDM, Saket,
issued the containment order today in this regard station.ANI
Babita Phogat Faces Criticism Over
Controversial Tweets On Tablighi Jamaat, Complaint Lodged Against Her
A complaint was filed against Babita Phogat
in Maharashtra over her recent tweets against Tablighi Jamaat members even as
the wrestler-politician claimed that she is receiving threats. The complaint
lodged at City Chowk police station in Aurangabad against BJP politician and
Kangana Ranaut's sister Rangoli Chandel said their tweets were intended to
create disharmony among communities.The complaint was filed by a man associated
with Jamaat and will be forwarded to places where Phogat and Chandel live, an
official said.30-year-old international wrestler, who joined BJP last year,
said she stood by her tweets against the Tablighi Jamaat.outlookindia
1.7 lakh vs 4000: Swara Bhasker shares Hindu
pilgrims vs Tablighi Jamaat 'statistics' to counter 'hypocrite' Babita Phogat
Twitter is abuzz with Swara Bhasker trending
for calling out wrestler Babita Phogat, who said that Tablighi Jamaat was the
biggest danger in India, followed by coronavirus. Swara shared a statistical
chart of footfalls at religious gatherings in India from March 9 to 19.Numbers show
that Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin accounted to only 4000 people, whereas Hindu
congregations at several temples round up to 1.7 lakh.Swara wrote, “Babita ji
See also this statistics! Have these millions of devotees been corona tested?
Please comment on this too! And why did Delhi Police give permission to the
program of Tabligi Jamaat ..Raise this question too! The rest of us are your
fans!”freepressjournal
Kangana Ranaut Defends Sister Rangoli Chandel
And Babita Phogat For Commenting on Tablighi Jamaat, Says ‘Ban Twitter’
Twitter had suspended Rangoli Chandel’s
account after jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali among others reported the
account to authorities for spreading hatred against one community. Now, in a
new video message, Rangoli’s sister Kangana Ranaut talked about the entire
issue while defending her sister. In an official video released from her Instagram
account of her team, Kangana is seen telling all that Farah’s claims of Rangoli
talking about Muslim genocide in her tweets are false. The actor also requested
Central govt to take action against Twitter and make sure that it doesn’t shut
those people from the platform who are talking about their nation and promoting
nationalism. india
BJP MLA in Facebook video: ‘Maintain distance
from Tablighis, their community’
Noida :A BJP MLA from Chaprauli has called
for the segregation of people from Tablighi Jamaat sect and those from “their
community”, asking people in his constituency to “maintain distance” from
them.Sahendra Singh Chauhan, a former RLD member, made the comments in a
Facebook video. indianexpress
Action will be taken against hospitals if
they turn away patients: Union Health Minister
Action would be taken against health-care
personnel if any patient in need of immediate attention is turned away from
hospitals without treatment, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has
warned.Chairing a video-conference with Delhi LG Anil Baijal, Health Minister
Satyendar Jain and medical superintendents of major Central and city government
hospitals and municipal commissioners of Delhi, Vardhan said he has received
complaints about denial of treatment to people suffering from critical
ailments, other than coronavirus .PTI
Delhi Hospital Fires Doctor for Social Media
Posts on Shortage of Protective Gear, Masks
Hindu Rao Hospital, which comes under North
Delhi Municipal Corporation, has terminated the services of an orthopaedic
surgeon who had raised the issue of there being a shortage of “proper equipment
and masks” at hospital for staff despite COVID-19 pandemic.An order terminating
his service was issued by the medical superintendent and it accused him of
“bringing disrepute to the institution.”It was a month ago, on March 16, that a
showcause notice was issued to Dr Piyush Singh by the medical superintendent of
the hospital in which it was stated that he had “uploaded a video of the
orthopaedic emergency ward of the Hindu Rao Hospital at 4:29 pm on 14.3.2010 on
Facebook along with derogatory statements.”thewire
Delhi’s Defence Colony guard, blamed for
spreading coronavirus, tests negative
New Delhi: A 54-year-old man employed as a
guard at a Defence Colony residence, against whom Delhi Police had filed an FIR
following allegations that he infected 3 members of his employers’ family after
hiding the fact that he visited Nizamuddin Markaz, has tested negative for
coronavirus. FIR, which included IPC sections such as ‘negligent and malignant
act likely to spread infection of disease’, was filed on April 8. DCP Atul
Kumar Thakur claimed at the time that “through local sources, we found out that
he had visited the Nizamuddin Markaz”.On April 8, the man’s sample was taken.
As per the report by the Department of Microbiology, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia
Hospital, it was tested on April 11. The report came back negative. A resident
of Southeast Delhi’s Okhla Phase II, the man had earlier been sent to a
quarantine centre and is now back home.indianexpress
Aarogya Setu is a surveillance app, will not
help those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, say experts
In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest
address to the nation, the point he stressed the most was that Aarogya Setu,
COVID-19 contact tracing app, must be downloaded. The week preceding that
Department of Telecom sent at least 2 messages everyday asking people to
download app, which was developed under the guidance of National Informatics
Centre through a public-private partnership. Unlike TraceTogether, contact
tracing app in Singapore, that asks only for user’s number, Aarogya Setu app
asks for names of the users, age, health details, profession and GPS location.
When these details are given, it provides an idea about the person’s religion,
caste and social status. When GPS location is recoded, it gives away the
address of person. The location is not required for contact tracing. All of
this data is recorded on a central cloud server.What Aarogya Setu app does is
that it uses Bluetooth to connect with those in close proximity, provided of
course the Bluetooth function is switched on. This helps the app trace those
who the user has met, when and where they met. So, if a user of this app tests
positive, govt will inform all the registered users of this app that the
infected user met in the last 30 days. “Aarogya Setu is nothing but a
surveillance app. In the name of contact tracing, Aarogya Setu collects
registration details, GPS locations, nearby device data and this can be used to
identify your social graph. The app collects too much information on
registration and none of this data is required for contact tracing,” pointed
out Anivar Aravind, who analysed various contact tracing apps.nationalheraldindia
Moradabad: Doctors Forced to Quarantine a
Woman in "Iddat", Locals Pelted Stones
Why did the people in Moradabad pelted stones
on a team of doctors and paramedical staff who had gone to Nawabpur locality to
fetch family members a man who had died of COVID-19?The media, which must carry
the views of all parties involved in an issue, has ignored to mention the
version of those who have been accused of the stone pelting.The reports being
published by newspapers, broadcast by TV channels and carried by digital media
are giving only one side of the version showing as if the people resorted to
stone-pelting simply because they were opposing the quarantining of the
family.Local people, when asked by India Tomorrow on the reason for the
stone-pelting, said that people had resorted to stone pelting on health
department staff because they were forcing to quarantine a woman who was in
“iddat” after the death of her husband. (“Iddat” in Islam is generally the
period of four lunar months and 10 days a woman must observe after the death of
her husband or after a divorce). The
local people alleged that the woman’s husband had died of COVID-19 and that was
why the doctors had come to pick her up and other family members.India Tomorrow
‘Virus jabs’, ‘detention camps’: Rumours lead
to attacks on medicos
New Delhi: A mix of rumours on social media
and misinformation about quarantine centres could be provoking mobs to attack
medical teams. In at least two recent instances — in UP’s Moradabad and Indore
— where doctors and cops were attacked while trying to take people to
quarantine centres, local residents told TOI that videos and messages about
alleged mistreatment in such places were circulating in the days preceding the
assault.On Thursday, Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
tweeted that rumours about isolation centres were being floated and there was a
need to educate the public on it.A woman at Nawabpura told TOI, "The
medical team had come to pick up four members of a family that had already lost
two men within days of each other, one of them in a quarantine centre. This
fanned fear that something was going on in these centres. Soon there was a
video which claimed people were being sent there to die. This made everyone
anxious."In Indore’s Tatpatti Bakhal area, where a medical team was
attacked on April 1, Mohammad Ishrat Ali, shahar qazi, said a message had been
circulating on social media that health workers were "injecting members of
a community with coronavirus". Other social workers said the debate about
CAA and NRC was still raging when Covid-19 outbreak occurred. "They
connected the quarantine centres to detention camps," an activist said.TOI
AMU Alumnus Biochemist Nadeem Develops
Coronavirus Rapid Testing Kit, Gets Approval of ICMR
New Delhi:When Coronavirus disease is
spreading in the country and people are not getting tested in large numbers, a
Noida-based lab has come up with a cost-effective rapid testing kit which, it
claims, can give results of Coronavirus within 15 minutes. “What we have
developed is anti-body based kit. It is also called rapid testing kit because
it gives instant results. Technology of RT-PCR kit is different from rapid
kits. RT-PCR requires a machine, skilled hand, extraction kit and expert hand.
What we have developed is a very simple, easy to handle, cost effective and
will help screening of more people in less time. The objective of our process
for this kit was to give results instantly and easily and it is affordable,”
Nadeem Rahman, Director of NuLife Consultants & Distributors (Pvt) Ltd,
says in a video interview to The Wire. He has set the price of the kit between
Rs 500-600. On lateral flow technology, it is first COVID-19 testing kit
developed in India. “I should acknowledge the support we got from ICMR which
sent our product for approval and validation very fast and gave us results. We
have got clearance from the govt and then have launched the product,” he
said.His team was able to launch the product in 2 and a half weeks. indiatomorrow
21 Indian Navy personnel test positive for
Covid-19, several feared infected on INS Angre
A total of 21 serving personnel of the Indian
Navy have been tested positive for Covid-19 within naval premises at Mumbai.
Among these are 20 sailors of INS Angre, a shore establishment at Mumbai.Many
at INS Angre have tested positive for coronavirus. The number of infected Navy
personnel could go up as many test results are awaited.It works as a base depot
for ships and units based in Mumbai.This is the first time Indian Navy is
fearing coronavirus cases. Most of the cases are asymptomatic and have been
traced to a single sailor who was tested positive on April 7.The group of Navy
personnel who have tested positive resides in the same accommodation block at
INS Angre. All of their primary contacts have been tested for Covid-19.indiatoday
Jammu: Gujjar Milkmen Facing Boycott Supply
Free Milk to Quarantine Centres
Jammu: Mohammad Qasim would travel from R.S.
Pura to Jammu city – nearly 34 kilometres – early in the morning, covering his
face with a scarf, to supply milk to 40-50 households even amidst the lockdown.
After his milk can emptied, he walked back to R.S. Pura, tired but satisfied
that he was able to put food on his family’s table.About a week into the
lockdown, however, videos appeared on social media showing 2 Gujjars, on a
bike, being stopped and beaten by J&K police for violating lockdown
orders.Advocate Shah Mohammad Choudhary said that the video is from Kathua and
condemned the police action, saying, “We are a democracy and we are governed by
the rule of law. If they have violated lockdown, they can register an FIR,
produce a challan and produce it in a court of law. Beating is not an option.”A
few more days passed by before Dodhi Gujjar community approached their leaders
with tales of boycott and hate propaganda.thewire
Families of Detained Kashmiris Struggle to
Get Their Sons Back During Lockdown
Srinagar: For the past 7 months, Abdul Ahad Bhat
from Tral has moved from pillar to post to get his son released from jail.
Finally, when the permission came, he got caught in the lockdown.With a file of
documents in his hand, the 62-year-old fruit vendor is now pleading with the
authorities to somehow get back his 25-year-old son, Bilal Ahmad Bhat, from the
central jail, Agra. “I do not have the money to get my son back – please help
me by arranging transport.”Narrating his ordeal to The Wire, distraught Abdul
said that the orders to release his son were issued on March 12. It took a week
to complete the documentation process and other formalities. “Finally when I
was about to go to Agra, entire country was put under lockdown.”thewire
Kashmir: COVID-19 Lockdown Adds to Woes of
Apple Growers and Traders
Shopian: With apple blooms sprouting, growers
are worried that they may face huge economic losses due to disruptions in the
supply chain due to the continued nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus,
which has been extended until May 3.Even as they spray pesticide and fertilizer
in their orchards, a considerable number of growers are worried. Many of them
are yet to sell their produce from the last year, held in cold storage. They
are neither able to send their produce to different mandis across the country
nor are there any buyers due to the intense lockdown.Ghulam Mohammad, a grower
from the district is busy spraying the second round of pesticides in his
orchard. He is among hundreds of growers who stored their produce from the last
harvesting season, storing around 600 boxes. In normal circumstances, he says
he would have sold them by now. But he is a worried man now. “How will I pay
for the fertilizer and pesticide that I have used if I am not able to sell the
fruit?” he asks.He has made frantic calls to other growers, enquiring if they
have sold their produce but has found that they are facing the same
fate.thewire
Amidst Lockdown, Deve Gowda's Grandson's
Wedding Draws Several to Farmhouse
Bengaluru: Several people thronged a
farmhouse on Friday to get a glimpse of wedding of former PM and JD(S) supremo,
H.D. Deve Gowda’s grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy, ignoring appeals not to visit
the venue in view of the ongoing lockdown to check COVID-19 outbreak.Nikhil,
son of ex CM H.D. Kumaraswamy, tied the nuptial knot with Revathi, grand-niece
of ex Karnataka housing minister M. Krishnappa.The marriage was solemnised at
Kumaraswamy’s Kethaganahalli farmhouse at Bidadi. After wedding was over Kumaraswamy
took to Twitter to thank his party MLAs, leaders and workers for staying away
from the event and blessing his son from their houses. In a series of tweets,
he said social distancing was maintained and all precautionary measures were
taken throughout the event.PTI
Lockdown breach: 10 held for gathering in
mosque to offer Friday prayer in UP
Bahraich: 10 persons were arrested in
Kaiserganj area here for gathering in mosque to offer Friday namaz in breach the
lockdown provisions, police saidBahraich ASP Ravindra Singh said in
Bairimaheshpur village some persons gathered to offer Friday prayers despite
lockdown. Police arrested 10 persons and lodged FIR against them, he said.PTI
Police detain 15 persons for violating
lockdown in Jaipur
Jaipur: 15 people were detained here on
Friday for defying social distancing norms and lockdown rules as they gathered
at Ayesha mosque to offer prayers, police said.An FIR has been registered
against the violators and strict action will be taken against them, according
to police.ANI
Delhi schools told to charge only 1 month’s
tuition fee at a time
New Delhi: In view of financial hardships
being faced by a large number of parents due to the nationwide lockdown, Delhi
government on Friday decided that private schools will only charge tuition
components of school fees from parents, and that too one month at a
time.thewire
Delhi: Spitting in public to soon cost you Rs
2,000
The red paan-stained pillars in Connaught
Place, staircase corners in public offices and almost all road dividers are
testimonies to the spitting menace in Delhi. Civic agencies have had a tough
time in stopping people chewing gutkha, khaini and paan from spitting due to
their indifferent attitude.However, things are all set to change now as the
municipal corporations are going to introduce stiff penalties on violators with
the help of checking squads. The ministry of home affairs has made spitting a
punishable offence under Disaster Management Act in the revised guidelines for
lockdown issued on Wednesday to contain Covid-19. Bhupendra Gupta, standing
committee chairperson of South Delhi Municipal Corporation, said a 10-fold
increase in penalty is being recommended to executive wing. “We will soon form
dedicated teams on the lines of pollution control teams, which will be
empowered to carry out raids in markets and open areas once the lockdown is
lifted,” he added.TOI
Lockdown cuts India's fuel demand 50% in
first half of April
Indian state retailers sold 50% less refined
fuel in the first 2 weeks of April than the same time a year ago as a
nationwide lockdown to stem spread of coronavirus hit transportation and
industrial activity, industry sources said.State companies - Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan
Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum - own about 90% of India’s retail fuel
outlets.Reuters
Agriculture Sector, Private Offices Among
Those Operational From April 20
New Delhi: The government has released a new
list of activities and services that will be functional from April 20 in parts
of the country least affected by the coronavirus outbreak.The revised list -
another was released this week - includes health services (inclusive of AYUSH),
agriculture and horticultural activities, fishing (marine and inland),
plantation activities (tea, coffee and rubber with maximum of 50% of workers)
and animal husbandry.It also includes financial and social services sectors and
commercial and private establishments like print and electronic media and
hotels, homestays and small lodges accommodating tourists and persons stranded
by lockdown.ndtv
Kerala to Allow Restaurant Dining Till 7pm,
Odd-Even Scheme in Non-Hotspots After Flattening Curve
Kerala
govt on Saturday released detailed guidelines to reopen Kerala in a staggered
manner from Monday as it divided the state into four zones – Red, Orange A,
Orange B and Green.The districts in red zone- Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode,
Malappuram - will not have any relaxations, the guidelines said, and hotspots
in each of them will remain sealed and have only two entry/exit points for
supply of essential goods and services.news18
Air India Opens Flight Bookings for
International Travel from June 1, Domestic from May 4
Air India, national air carrier has announced
to resume bookings for international flights with travel date from 1st June, following
a travel ban on all flights due to coronavirus lockdown. Air India has also
resumed bookings for select domestic routes starting 4th May, 2020. The select
domestic routes include important metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,
Chennai, and Bengaluru.
With Eye On China, India Revises FDI Policy
To Shield Firms Amid Pandemic
New Delhi: Companies in any country that
shares a border with India will have to approach the government for investing
in India and not go via automatic route, Commerce and Industry Ministry said in
a press note spelling out its new foreign direct investment or FDI policy for
neighbouring states.FDI in India is allowed under two modes - either through
the automatic route, for which companies don't need govt approval, or through
the govt route, for which companies need a go-ahead from centre.The revised FDI
rule seeks to curb "opportunistic takeovers or acquisitions of Indian
companies due to COVID-19 pandemic", the ministry said.
*CORONAVIRUS
– WORLD*
Saudi grand mufti: Ramadan, Eid prayers to be
done at home
Saudi Arabia's grand mufti, highest religious
authority in the kingdom, has said prayers during Ramadan and the subsequent
Eid al-Fitr festival should be performed at home if the coronavirus outbreak continues,
according to a Saudi paper."Ramadan's Taraweeh [evening] prayer can be
performed at home if it cannot be performed at mosques due to the preventive
measures taken to fight the spread of coronavirus," Grand Mufti Sheikh
Abdulaziz al-Sheikh said in response to a question, adding that the same
applies for Eid prayers, Okaz newspaper reported on Friday.On Thursday, Prophet
Muhammad's mosque in Medina said it was banning events which dispense evening
meals to those in need during Ramadan to break their daily fast.The kingdom has
reported 6,380 cases of COVID-19, and 83 deaths so far.On Sunday, Saudi
indefinitely extended a curfew in force due to the coronavirus amid a surge of
new infections.aljazeera
Thermal cameras installed at Prophet’s Mosque
to combat coronavirus
Jeddah:Thermal cameras have been installed to
monitor the body temperature of all those who enter the Prophet’s Mosque, Saudi
Press Agency reported.The move is part of the efforts made by General
Presidency for Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque to prevent
the spread of coronavirus.The thermal imaging devices can scan the body
temperate of 25 people at a time with high accuracy within a distance of 9
meters. They work nonstop and give real-time video and audio reports for
everyone.
saudigazette
'Painful': Al-Aqsa closed for Ramadan over
coronavirus
Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound will be
closed to Muslim worshippers throughout the holy fasting month of Ramadan due
to the coronavirus pandemic, Muslim clerics at Islam's third-holiest site have
announced.Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, Jordan-appointed council that oversees
Islamic sites on the sacred compound, called the decision "painful".In
a statement , the council said the move was "in line with legal fatwas
[clerical opinions] and medical advice". The decision to ban Muslim prayer
at the complex, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, extends a March 23 ban on
Muslim prayer there. Typically large Passover prayers at Jerusalem's Western
Wall, the holiest place Jews are allowed to pray in the city, were attended by
only a handful of worshippers. At Church of Holy Sepulcher, what are usually
festive, pilgrim-filled Easter ceremonies at the shrine revered as the site of
Jesus's crucifixion and burial have been marked by small groups of clergy,
often wearing face masks.aljazeera
Ramadan: WHO issues COVID-19 guidelines for
religious practices
Geneva: Ahead of Ramadan, WHO issued interim
guidelines for religious practices during the month of Ramadan. These guidelines were issued in the context
of COVID-19. It may be noted that these guidelines are common for all
countries.As per WHO guidelines, healthy people should be able to able to fast
during the holy month. However, COVID-19 patients can breakfast in consultation
with doctors. The organization also mentioned that no studies of fasting and
risk of COVID-19 infection have been performed. WHO strongly suggested
cancellation of any social and religious gathering.siasat
Global coronavirus death toll crosses 150,000
The number of deaths linked to the novel
coronavirus reached 150,000 on Friday.The first death came in the central
Chinese city of Wuhan on Jan. 9. It took 83 days for the first 50,000 deaths to
be recorded and just eight more for the toll to climb to 100,000. It took
another eight days to go from 100,000 to 150,000.The death toll is still far
short of the so-called Spanish flu, which began in 1918 and is estimated to
have killed more than 20 million people by the time it petered out in
1920.Reuters
Coronavirus cases in US cross 7,00,000,death
toll over 35,000
The number of the coronavirus cases in the US
crossed 7,00,000 on Friday, while over 35,000 people have died from the
COVID-19 pandemic, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University, as
President Donald Trump assured his people that America was “very close” to
seeing the light “shinning brightly” at the end of the tunnel.New York, the
financial capital of the world, has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic.
More than 14,000 people have died in the city and over 2,00,000 people have
tested positive so far. Neighbouring New Jersey has more than 78,000 cases and
3,800 deaths.PTI
Looking into reports that coronavirus
'escaped' from Wuhan lab: Trump
US is looking into reports that novel
coronavirus, which has killed more than 150,000 people globally,
"escaped" from a Wuhan lab in China, President Donald Trump has said.
"We're looking at it, a lot of people are looking at it. It seems to make
sense," Trump told reporters at a White House on Friday when asked if
there was an investigation into whether the coronavirus disease escaped from a
lab in Wuhan, China."They talk about a certain kind of bat, but that bat
wasn't in that area if you can believe this," he claimed. "That bat
wasn't sold at that wet zone....That bat is 40 miles away."indiatoday
Arab Parliament calls for releasing Palestine
prisoners in occupation prisons amid spread of coronavirus
On the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners’
Day, which falls on 17 April every year, Arab Parliament called on UN,
international human rights bodies and the International Committee of the Red
Cross to assume their legal and humanitarian responsibilities and compel
Israeli entity, the occupying power, to release Palestinian prisoners and to
stop violations against all norms and international laws, which are continuing
against them.Arab Parliament stressed in a statement that the suffering of
thousands of Palestinians, including children, women and elderly detainees, in
the prisons of the occupation has worsened with the spread of the coronavirus,
especially after announcement of a number of infections among
them.middleeastmonitor
Report: Israel arrested 357 Palestinians in
March despite coronavirus lockdown
A number of Palestinian associations
concerned with Palestinian prisoners’ rights said Israel arrested 357 Palestinians
including 48 children and four women in March despite the spread of the novel
coronavirus and an almost complete lockdown to combat the highly contagious
disease.
Israel: Netanyahu’s son criticised for hoping
elderly leftists die from coronavirus
Eldest son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu sparked outrage online after posting controversial tweets wishing
death upon elderly leftists, according to Times of Israel. In response to the
head of the left-wing Meretz party, Nitzan Horowitz, posting a picture of
himself standing among the socially distanced crowd wearing a face mask, Yair
Netanyahu, who is known for his controversial outbursts on social media, wrote:
“I hope the elderly who die following this protest will only be from your
camp.”He wrote: “So statistically, there is a good chance that the left-wing
protesters tonight caused the future deaths of elderly people. I prefer them
not to be ours.”middleeastmonitor
*OTHERS*
'Unending Witch-Hunt of Muslims': Academics,
writers, filmmaker Condemn Targeted Arrests of Anti-CAA Protesters
New Delhi: Reacting to the arrests of several
activists involved in protests against CAA, nearly 2 dozen academicians,
filmmakers, activists, writers and lawyers have issued a statement condemning
the “unending witch hunt of Muslim scholars and activists”. “Instead of
engaging with the protestors, the state has chosen, if predictably, to unleash
its naked power on them: detaining, and arresting them under harsh penal provisions,”
read the statement, which also noted that “anti-CAA protests mark a poignant
moment of constitutional recovery, and reclamation of the republic from a
turgid and toxic hyper-nationalism.”According to the statement, “the present
regime has unleashed a war on young Muslims.” Released by ‘Campaign Against
Witch-Hunt of Anti-CAA Activists’, some of the prominent persons who have
signed and released the statement are: Aakar Patel, columnist and writer; Alok
Rai, retired professor of Delhi University; Anand Patwardhan, filmmaker;
Chander Uday Singh, senior advocate; Jairus Banaji, professor of SOAS,
University of London; Maitrayee Chaudhuri, professor of JNU; Mukul Kesavan,
writer and historian; Nandini Sundar, professor of the Delhi School of
Economics; Radha Kumar, academic, author and former interlocutor for Jammu and
Kashmir, appointed by the Government of India; Rupa Viswanath, professor at the
University of Gottingen; Saeed Mirza, filmmaker; Sanjay Srivastava, professor
of Institute of Economic Growth; Shohini Ghosh, professor of Jamia Millia
Islamia university; Akeel Bilgrami, professor at Columbia University; and Yug
Mohit Chaudhry, advocate, Mumbai.thewire
Delhi riots: ‘25-30 arrests from north-east
since lockdown’
New Delhi:Firoz Khan, who works as a driver
in Delhi, was arrested during the lockdown on April 2 in connection to the
riots that broke out in north-east Delhi in February this year. His wife Afsana
(38) has visited Mandoli jail twice since then but has not been able to meet
him so far.The police said arrests were being made regularly despite lockdown
due to COVID-19 pandemic. A senior officer said over 800 arrests have been made
so far. Advocates dealing with the riot cases said around 25 to 30 arrests have
been made from the area since March 22. Ms. Afsana from Mustafabad said she and
her husband had gone to her mother’s residence in Noor-e-Ilahi while her sons —
16 and 14 — were at home. “The police entered our house and took one of my sons
to Dayalpur police station, which I found out from my neighbours. I went to the
police station with a few other women and the policemen said they would release
my son only if my husband reached the police station,” she said. Firoz
eventually arrived and that was the last time Ms. Afasana saw him.She said: “He
doesn’t even have clothes to change and in times like these, hygiene is of
utmost importance. He is the only earning member of the family. I don’t even
know what to do and who to ask for help. I can’t even go out. I have visited
the Mandoli jail twice but they didn’t let me meet him. I haven’t even received
a call from him.”In a similar incident, Anas (20), a resident of Mustafabad,
was arrested on April 7. His brother Israr said: “The policemen from Dayalpur
called and said they just want to a few questions but when we went, there were
other boys too. They took him into a room and that was the last we heard from
him. The next day, he was produced before the court and my father saw him but
we could not talk to him.” He added that the family is clueless in which jail
he is lodged because of the lockdown.A senior officer said lockdown has not hampered
the investigation. “Investigation in cases is ongoing. There is a Standard
Operating Procedure, which is being adhered to by officers during the
lockdown,” he said.Advocate Abdul Gaffar, along with his associates, who is
representing many of those arrested in connection to the riots, said:
“According to the information we have, around 25-30 arrests have been made from
north-east Delhi ever since the lockdown started.” Advocate also said advocates
who are dealing with the riot cases are facing issues because of lack of
information. thehindu
Release Declared Foreigners in Detention Camps
for More Than 2 Years: Gauhati HC
Gauhati high court has asked the Assam Police
to ensure that ‘declared foreigners’ lodged at the state’s six detention camps
be released on bail if they have completed more than two years of stay in
custody. The high court directive on April 16 was in response to a Supreme
Court order on April 13, which in turn was in response to a PIL seeking their
immediate release due to the fear of the spread of coronavirus.Assam, so far,
has reported 35 COVID-19 positive patients. Of them, 5 have reportedly
recovered and one has passed away.On April 13, three-member bench led by CJI
S.A. Bobde had modified the SC’s 2019 order which had allowed such people to
leave the camps on bail only if they had competed three years in detention, and
on furnishing two personal bonds worth Rs one lakh each. They would also have
to present themselves at the local police station every week.So far, 27 such
persons have reportedly availed themselves of the earlier order of the apex
court to get out of detention.
Delhi Police slaps sedition charge against
Sharjeel Imam, claims his speech led to riots in Jamia
Delhi Police has slapped sedition charges
against JNU researcher Sharjeel Imam and has alleged that his speech
"promoted enmity" between people that led to riots in and around
Delhi's Jamia Mila Islamia on Dec 15. The chargesheet against Sharjeel has been
filed in the Saket district court in Delhi.Police said on Dec.15 last year,
riots broke out in consequence to the protest march organised by students of
Jamia Millia Islamia against CAA. It said these riots broke out in New Friends
Colony and Jamia Nagar areas, both adjacent to the university."The mob
indulged in large-scale rioting, stone pelting and arson and in the process
destroyed many public and private properties. Cases of rioting, arson and
damage to public properties were registered. Many policemen and public persons
were injured in the riots," Delhi Police said. The police said Sharjeel
Imam was arrested based on the charges of “instigating and abetting riots” in
Delhi, due to his “seditious speech delivered on Dec.13, 2019”.indiatoday
Elgar Parishad case: Mumbai court extends NIA
custody of activist Anand Teltumbde till April 25
A special court in Mumbai on Saturday
extended activist Anand Teltumbde’s custody with NIA till April 25 in Elgar
Parishad case, PTI reported. NIA told the court that it had yet to complete the
investigation, and hence custody should be extended by 7 days.Teltumbde and
another activist, Gautam Navlakha, had on April 14 surrendered before the NIA
court in the case. scroll
Nepali Citizens Condemn 'Politically
Motivated' Arrests of Teltumbde and Navlakha
‘Politically
motivated’ arrests of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha are not just a
message to Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, and other minorities in India but also to
those in other parts of the subcontinent who have looked to example of India’s
secular and democratic innovations for inspiration, says a statement issued by
over 200 Nepali citizens.Nepali citizens have said the allegations against
Teltumbde and Navlakha in the Bhima case are “absurd”. They note that 9 human
rights activists (Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling,
Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, and Vernon Gonsalves)
have “already been incarcerated for almost 2 years now in connection with the
Bhima Koregaon case, with no sign of a trial commencing”. thewire
Shopian Encounter: Police Say Killed
Militants Unidentified; Two Families Claim Otherwise
On one hand, Jammu and Kashmir police say 2
militants killed early Friday morning in South Kashmir are unidentified. On the
other, two families of the area claim killed militants to be their kin and
accuse the police of burying them secretly in North Kashmir. Early Friday
morning, two militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Keegam
area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district. Police said the duo remains
unidentified and did not reveal their names. “From his hiding place, my brother
Asif Ahmad Dar called me and said that he had been trapped. I informed the
concerned police officer that once the encounter is over, their bodies should
be handed over to us. I told him I got a call from my brother who is trapped
and gave him number his number as well,” said Rafiq Ahmad Dar, brother of one
of the encountered militants. However, later when the families went to the
police station to collect the bodies, they claim they were told that killed
militants have not been identified and they were not shown the bodies. They
were informed that the bodies have been sent to Uri for the burial, Rafiq said.
He added that his brother was pursuing BA when he joined militancy early last
year. PTI
3 Men Brutally Killed By Mob In Maharashtra,
Police Arrest 110
Mumbai: A small village in Maharashtra's
Palghar district has reported a horrific case of mob killing; 3 people,
including a 70-year-old man, were attacked and killed on Thursday night after
rumours they were kidnapping children to harvest organs, including
kidneys.Shocking visuals show angry residents of Gadchinchale village, armed
with sticks and stones, out of control and attacking a police team as they try
to restore order and rescue 70-year-old man and the two others. 2 of those
killed are sadhus, the third was the driver of the car they were travelling in.
In one of several videos of the assault a man can be heard shouting "Oye,
isko maro (Hey, hit him)" and 70-year-old victim can be seen, surrounded
by an armed mob and bleeding badly from his head, begging for his life as cops
try to control the situation."We are investigating the incident and 110
people have been taken into custody," Kailash Shinde, Collector
said.Police have said there were rumours of thieves taking advantage of the
nationwide lockdown. 3 men who were killed have been identified as Sushil Giri
Maharaj (35), Nilesh Telgane (35), who was driving the care they were travelling
in, and Chikane Maharaj Kalpavrikshgiri (70). Two of them were sadhus. ndtv
*WORLD*
Netanyahu threatens to boycott elections if
prevented from leading govt
Israel has been witnessing an escalating
crisis due to the failure to form a new government and the increasing
likelihood of heading towards the fourth elections to the Knesset. As a result,
head of the Blue and White Party, Benny Gantz, has threatened that if there is
no agreement between his party and Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, to form a unity government next Monday, he will support the
enactment of a law that prevents Netanyahu from chairing a government on the
background of the indictment against him for serious corruption
offenses.Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted, on 17 April, Gantz as stating during a meeting of his
party’s bloc in the Knesset on Thursday, that the Knesset will return to full
activity next Monday.middleeastmonitor
HRW: Saudi's mass trial of 68 Jordanians and
Palestinians raises serious concerns
HRW announced on Friday that the mass trial
of 68 Jordanians and Palestinians held by Saudi Arabia raises serious concerns
about due process, amid charges of committing violations against the detainees.In
March 2018, the Saudi authorities carried out an arrest campaign targeting a
group of Palestinians and Jordanians who had been living in the kingdom for a
long time, based on vague allegations of supporting an unnamed “terrorist
entity”. After some detainees were held for nearly two years without being
charged for any crimes, the Saudi authorities started a mass trial behind
closed doors on 8 March 2020, at the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh. middleeastmonitor
Several Philippine soldiers killed in clashes
with Abu Sayyaf
Philippine troops have clashed with dozens of
Abu Sayyaf armed fighters in the country's southern island of Mindanao, leaving
11 soldiers dead and 14 others wounded, military officials said. Regional
military commander Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana said on Friday that the
army scout rangers had been manoeuvring for an assault when they engaged about
40 Abu Sayyaf fighters in the forested mountains off Danag village in Patikul
town in Sulu province.aljazeera
*views, Articles, FEATURES*
Coronavirus Spread in India
Sparks Intolerance Toward Minority Muslims:Niala Mohammad, voanews
Afraid and Confused, Tamil
Nadu’s Fishermen Suffer as Lockdown Ravages Their Livelihoods:Kunal Shankar
Lockdown Gives Centre Power
Without Responsibility, Easy to Pass Buck for Failure to States:Kabeer
Shrivastava
ABP News v/s Rubika
Liyaquat: 180-degree turn on communalising migrant crisis near Bandra
station:Jignesh Patel
Unsympathetic and
Insensitive Behaviour of Officials Led to Moradabad Violence:By Affan
Moradabadi
Muslim Vendors Face
Violence and Discrimination, Thanks to Fake News: Zafar
Aafaq | Clarion India
Between virus and violence:
The horror of being Muslim in India:Khaled A. Beydoun, alaraby.co.uk
Universities In Kashmir
Bolstering Fight Against COVID-19 With Machine And Manpower;Naseer Ganai
100 Million And More Indian
Jobs Are At Risk After COVID-19 Lockdown. Is Your Job Safe?Lola Nayar, Jyotika Sood,
Yagnesh Kansara, Salik Ahmad
Corona gets communal in UP:
Man sneezes outside former minister’s house, says, no worries, he is not
Muslim!Aas Mohd Kaif
As India battles a grave
health and economic crisis, it must put humanity centrestage
Compiled
and edited by Anwarulhaq (Released at: 7:06
PM).
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