Category: Opinion

Misery And Hope In Covid-19 Days

By Amit Sengupta

The relentless exodus of the migrant workers continues, on train, trucks and tempos, and, of course, on foot, unabated. Scores have died in road accidents, several at a railway track in Aurangabad, as they slept after a long trek, and a goods train crushed their emaciated bodies. All that was left on the tracks was their blood and a few dry chapattis, even as the Prime Minister, for reasons only he knows, refuses to release free food from the Food Corporation of India godowns to the poor and the workers. The godowns reportedly store around 70 million tonnes of food grain, while the summer harvest will create another bounty.

At least 40 million workers are going to lose their jobs and livelihood in the post-pandemic era in India. This might just be a conservative estimate because most of these workers are outside the organized and formal structure of the Indian workforce, constituting almost 93 per cent of the labour force, almost half of them Dalits and from extremely backward castes, including adivasis and women. They have virtually no trade union rights, no fixed daily wages, no holidays, no maternity leave or crèche for children, no provident fund or pension, not even fixed work days. They are the eternal ‘free labour’ floating in an exploitative market, outside the gambit of trade unions.

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That is why, perhaps, the call of 10 trade unions for a nation-wide strike against the new, draconian labour laws on May 22 last, did not elicit much response on the ground. The labour laws are a direct attack on rights won after decades of struggle including the 8-hour work day, and the Inter-State Migrant Act, among other laws. The suspension of a large number of labour laws for three years by the Yogi Adityanath government in UP and the ‘hire and fire’ policies in several states will not only adversely impact the formal sector workers, but also the migrant workers who have no trade union rights.

Those who will be hit the hardest are those who are at the bottom of the unequal ladder. During the Covid-19 pandemic, for instance, the garbage-pickers, dressed in tatters with no protective equipment, not even masks, do their jobs diligently, and without any thanks from any corner whatsoever. You can see them carrying the huge pile of urban waste of the consumer society on their ramshackle carts, stopping only to greet other garbage collectors – the rest of the society really cares two hoots for them.

Some of the sanitation workers in Delhi, indeed, as reports say, have been silent victims of Covid-19. Not too many reporters are chasing their daily life stories, or their health situation. Many of them remain anonymous in their tragic destinies; those who go through the trauma are reportedly never compensated.

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Of the scores of stories which have been missed in the lockdown because reporters can’t go to the ground due to difficult circumstances, strict regulations and containment zones, the everyday stories of the heroic garbage-collectors and sanitation workers too have been missed. They remain invisible, condemned and exiled – as in so-called normal times.

Those who have become invisible are only becoming visuals of infinite tragedy, like an endless film with no intervals. A dead mother lying on a thatched funeral bed with her two little sons crying, touching her forehead. A young mother carrying two children on her two shoulders. A woman climbing on the side of the truck, while another man holding a child just about sliding up from the side. A desperate man, crying aloud, trying to make a phone call to someone no one knows. Women with sacks on their heads walking on the highways, the streets, in empty landscapes, as if in a long march to nowhere. Men holed up in the b lack hole of a truck like cattle for slaughter. Feet smashed with earth, broken, destroyed, ravaged skin, nails, toes. Feet full of blood.

There are moments of optimism too, when hope floats. A smiling child with a plateful of food. A rare moment. A Muslim man standing with a placard: Please stop, take rest, eat and drink something. This is the duty the Muslims are doing during the daily fasts in the holy month of Ramzan. Location unknown.

The Gurudwaras, as usual, are distributing food to thousands of people. Their big hearts are there for all to see, as the big meals they prepare in big utensils. God is with them.

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Shariq and his friends distributing food and fruits to far-away nooks and corners day after day since the killings started in Northeast Delhi. No publicity, no fanfare, no photo-ops. A daily task.

Scores of the others are doing the same, opening their hearts and doors, giving food and love, day after day. In Varanasi some students wake up all night because the workers are travelling in the night to escape the heat and the police: they are distributing food and water. Jadavpur University students have made a commune and collective kitchen: distributing food and sanitisers to cops, traffic cops, vegetable vendors, slum-dwellers, for weeks.

One man goes alone to a highway with butter milk every day, somewhere in south India. He spots a man walking from Bangalore to Madhya Pradesh – an old man. So he gives him Rs 400, and that is all he had.

Surprise, surprise:  the old man calls him and thanks him. He has reached home with the Rs 400, hitch-hiking on a truck half-way. So what does the old man tell the ‘butter milk man’: “Come, visit my village; and send me your address, I will return the money. He also says that we should not lose hope because there are still people who are ready to share and help. Humanity and humanism lives. Yes, it does.”

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A man writes a hurried letter in Hindi. He is a migrant worker and the letter is addressed to the owner of a cycle, perhaps his employer. He says he has a handicapped child and no money, and he has to reach Bareilly, so he is stealing the cycle. He is a ‘gunahagar’ – he has done a crime, he confesses in the letter.

A migrant worker who has returned to Gurgaon called a female volunteer of the collective, Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch who make 30,000 meals a day for the workers, and have fed lakhs of workers since the pandemic began. He says he has rejoined work but can he and his co-workers get food. She says, we are providing food to jobless and homeless workers, but do give your address, we will try to reach you. So what does he say in response?

“Didi, now that I have a job, I will manage. Give the food to those whose kids are hungry.” With tears in her eyes ‘Didi’ thanks him profusely.

Indeed, even as huge unemployment and starvation stare millions of migrant and organized workers in India, eminent economists are repeatedly appealing to the Centre to drastically revise its strategies. Former RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan, for instance, has yet again said that the economic crisis is so huge and relentless that much more needs to be done. He told a portal in a recent interview: “I think it is particularly so in the case of India because we have years of economic drift in which our growth had slowed, our fiscal deficit has gone up. There is a lot more we need to do to put economy back on track. We have to pull all stop.”

Kashmir Headed For A Hot Summer

By Lt Gen Ike Singha

While the nation including the politicians, bureaucrats, police, public and last but not the least Corona warriors that include doctors, nurses and hospital staff are busy combating Covid-19, militancy in Kashmir is picking up with the onset of summer months. India need to remain vigilant.

Traditionally, there is a spurt in infiltration attempts with the opening of passes but the last month has seen unprecedented bloody encounters resulting in the death of 22 security personal including Col Ashutosh Sharma, Maj Anuj Sood and three other brave hearts. The tracking down and final elimination of a prominent leader of Hizbul Mujahideen Riaz Naikoo, is a shot in the arm of security forces, but should not be termed as retaliatory or revenge operation as covered by the mainstream media.

While the world is desperately fighting against the global Coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan has been continuously perpetuating proxy war. It is reliably learnt that Pakistan is motivating Covid-10 affected terrorists to infiltrate and carry out violent actions against Indian security forces so that they can go to heaven after their martyrdom. While Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-Ul-Hind remain the main active Tanzeems, Lakshar-e-Taiba leadership in Pakistan has floated a new outfit called The Resistance Front to give an indigenous look and ward off the pressure from Financial Action Task Force.

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A lid was kept on the internal security situation with a heavy hand by overwhelming deployment of security forces ever since article 370 was abrogated in early August 2019 but the dissatisfaction and disenchantment amongst the Kashmiris was brewing over time. Come November and as winter set in, the infiltration from across the Line of Control (LoC) came down to a trickle.

The central government thought that the security forces were on top of the situation; but it was the combination of the curfew, crowd control measures, uncertainty, prolonged house arrest of political leaders, blocking of internet and social media and the inclement weather that did not allow terrorists groups to reorganise and operate freely during the winter months. This period also witnessed a reduction in number of stone throwing incidents as the locals were not sure whether the security forces will continue to show restraint or use adequate requisite force.

At the beginning of this year, schools and colleges in Kashmir started reopening, internet was restored and the situation appeared to be inching towards normalcy in the Valley. Ironically, as the 70-odd Kashmiri political leaders including Abdullahs were released in March from house arrest, the rest of the nation was confined to homes due to the threat of Covid-19 and Kashmiris came at par with the rest of the countrymen. The security forces in Kashmir had to have a balancing act of fighting on two fronts, militancy and Covid-19. That is not an easy task.

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A few questions have arisen as to why the armed forces are facing so many casualties including those among senior officers. The answer lies in the ethos of the officers of the Indian Army.

The Indian Army has a tradition of officers leading from the front. This was evident during the various wars fought after Independence. Officer casualties have been proportionately higher than the other ranks.

This is also true for some other armies of the world. Israel is a shining example. In the Armoured Corps Memorial and Museum at Yad La-Shiryon, Latrun, there are over two thousand names of officers and enlisted men who have died between the age of eighteen to twenty years.

It was heartening to see that one section of the museum in Israel is dedicated to an Indian army officer; Lt Gen JFR Jacob, a Jew who was the brain behind the meticulous planning of operations in East Pakistan, later Bangladesh, in Indo-Pak War of 1971. Incidentally, in the 1971 War a large number of casualties were officers from the batch that got commissioned on 13 November 1971, from Indian Military Academy, barely three weeks prior to the war.

In Kashmir, Handwara has traditionally been a hot bed since it has thick forests around it like Machipora, Kainyar, Kandi, Harfudda, Saren, Dalar, Surhalu and Galganjan. Its proximity to the LoC gives it the correct positioning for reception areas after the infiltrations. Infiltrating groups come to these forests, have their rest and the recoup and plan operations using these forests as bases.

Invariably over the years, there have been bloody encounters with security forces. The army has always had one to two Special Forces teams operating in these areas alongside the Rashtriya Rifles and regular infantry battalions operating in a grid pattern in the hinterland.

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Detailed analyses of the counter insurgency operations in J&K since 1989 reveal that the maximum casualties to own troops are either at the beginning of the operation when the exact location of the terrorist is not really known to the troops and they are fired upon by terrorists hiding in houses or under natural cover; or at the end of the successful encounter when own troops in a rush of adrenaline, close in to mop up the operation but some half dead terrorist opens up at close range knowing fully well that he is going to die. In both cases, the officers are generally leading and have greater chances of becoming casualties.

The 15 Corps Commander, Lt Gen BS Raju in a recent interview claimed that the leadership of various Tanzeems active in the Valley and named above; has been eliminated. Basu says local recruitment has come down by 45 percent. However there are further dangers.

The US pullout from Afghanistan will give Pakistan leverage over Afghan terror groups who can be easily diverted to Kashmir. The foreign constituents of terrorist networks would substantially be increased. Regarding the leadership, most of these Tanzeems work in cellular system and there is always a standby leader who takes the place of the slain leader. Sometimes the same alias like Abu Bakker is also inherited by the new leader.

Since Pakistan was not able to get adequate traction and leverage in its relentless diplomatic efforts to isolate India internationally after the abrogation of Article 370, it is likely to push a large number of terrorist groups into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir this summer. Our brave officers and jawans are having to fight on two fronts, the Covid-19 pandemic and the terrorist escalation from across the border. The launch pads and training areas as per the Corps Commander, are working at full capacity and therefore we need to be fully prepared for a hot summer in the Kashmir Valley. Ready the Indian Security Services will be.

Modi’s Gujarat Model Blown Apart By A Virus

By Anita Katyal

How myths collapse when faced with reality! When Narendra Modi swept to power in 2014, his meteoric rise from chief minister to the national political stage was attributed essentially to the success of his Gujarat model of development which was touted to have transformed his home state into a living paradise. But six years later as India battles the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gujarat model of development is unravelling.

The fancy infrastructure in the state’s main urban centres, the uninterrupted power supply, the extensive road network and the flow of private investment have proved to be of little help in handling the rising number of novel coronavirus cases. 

For the record, Gujarat is among the top three states along with Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu which have the highest number of corona infections and deaths in the country. Till May 23, Gujarat had recorded a total of 13,300 coronavirus cases with a seven-day growth rate of 7.66 per cent and over 800 fatalities, second only to Maharashtra which tops the list. 

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Unable to handle the corona crisis, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani has consistently blamed the spread on the large number of Gujarati Muslims who travelled to Delhi in early March to attend a religious meeting of the Tablighi Jamaat, “a missionary movement”.

While this finger-pointing helps push the Bharatiya Janata Party’s communal agenda, the truth is that Gujarat is currently paying the price for its poor public health system. It is an acknowledged fact that successive state governments did not invest adequately in public health facilities. With the state showing little interest in this vital sector, it has been open season for private players whose medical services are more expensive and, therefore, beyond the reach of the poor. 

If Rupani is struggling today to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, Modi has to share the blame as he did little to ramp up the rickety health care infrastructure in the state during the 13 years he was chief minister.   

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The budgetary allocation for the health sector in Gujarat can only be described as meagre. The state’s outlay for health and family welfare sector was Rs.923 crore for 2020-21, down from Rs.10,000 crore spent in 2018-19. These official figures tell their own story. Even states like Rajasthan and Bihar, which are not exactly known for their high-quality health infrastructure, have higher budgetary allocations for the public health care facilities.

In that case, what exactly is the famous Gujarat model of development all about?  This model is essentially focused on building infrastructure – from roads and highways to tall impressive buildings, and attracting foreign and domestic investments. During the years when Modi was chief minister, Vibrant Gujarat summits, were organised every alternate year to attract private investment to the state. This high-profile event was chalked up as Modi’s personal achievement as it brought in private investment to the state. This open invitation to industrialists to set up shop in Gujarat also won him the support of the corporate sector which literally went out on a limb to support Modi’s candidature as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial face in 2014.

But in the process of building infrastructure, encouraging industrial growth and promising ease of doing business, Modi failed to pay sufficient attention to human development which clearly did not figure as a priority area for him. The result was that while Gujarat made impressive gains on the economic front and registered high growth rates, its social indicators lagged far behind. 

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The economic strides made by Gujarat were flouted as a success story, worthy of replication across the country. However, this was only half the story. It failed to tell you that the economic gains had not percolated down to benefit the larger mass of people and had instead been cornered by a small affluent minority. The vast majority continued to live in poor conditions with little access to quality health care or hygiene standards. Whether it is the health of children or the mortality rates of adults, Gujarat does not boast of a good record.  

Then again the Gujarat model has not been kind to the large army of migrant workers who have travelled from as far as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Odisha and Rajasthan to work in the state’s industrial units or in the unorganised sectors. Since most of the migrants are poor and semi-literate and, unable to speak up for their rights. 

If it was not for the corona crisis, the plight of these migrant workers would have gone unnoticed. They have been living and working in pathetic conditions with the host state failing to acknowledge their contribution to Gujarat’s economy. Denied their wages during the lockdown and no proper food and shelter, angry migrant workers in Surat and Vadodara have staged angry protests, which have even turned violent on occasion, to demand food and a passage back home to their native village.

And if it was not for the COVID-19 pandemic, the myth about the Gujarat model of development would not have been busted. It took a miniscule virus to expose the underbelly of Gujrat model.

Weather Reports: The New Frontier Of Indo-Pak war

By Dr. Krishnendra Meena

People listen to weather reports to plan their days or weeks for chores such as when to put out clothes to dry, go out etc. Perhaps the weather man never thought that weather reports can be weaponized. It is India which lobbed the first weather report bomb starting the weather report wars with Pakistan.

The strategy thought out in the secret meeting rooms of the Indian strategic defence cabals is to make a virtual claim on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir as called in India, or Azad Kashmir as named by Pakistan. ‘Doordarshan’ is under instruction to pretend that POK is Indian. It is to give the daily weather reports for all of Kashmir including POK but call it simply Kashmir.

Not to be outwitted, Pakistan retaliated with the same. They are now giving weather reports for all of Kashmir, including Jammu and Ladakh, as if they were all part of Pakistan. It is all about visual representation of territory.

Visual representations of territory have played a significant role in the national imagination of people. Nations and states have reinforced such representations through school textbooks, maps, documents, decrees and legal instruments. In the age of mass media, internet and related proliferation of information, any news can become a source of confrontation between states.

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The Indian official television broadcaster, Doordarshan, has adopted a new media offensive now for over a week. Weather bulletins on Doordarshan and All India Radio have started featuring weather forecasts of Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit-Baltistan area of Kashmir over which Pakistan has territorial control and India claims the territory. In a reaction to this, Pakistan has carried weather reports of the Indian side of Kashmir on its official television channels.

Notably, Indian broadcasts follow the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into two Union Territories (Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 in August 2019.  In the same month, India had already revoked Article 370 of Indian Constitution which accorded special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and involved special provisions for the residents of J&K. Pakistan at that point had raised the issue at the United Nations without much success. India is now unravelling its grand design and making people imagine POK as if it is part of India.

Geopolitically, this is a well-known strategy of claiming territory with the approach of place-naming and place-making and establishing a norm through repeated usage of suitable nomenclature that the place belongs to us. Examples abound of creation of a sense of belonging by such means by India’s erstwhile colonizers, the British. Historically the British were an important factor in the current territorial dispute at India’s northern expanse as to who the territory belongs to.

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An important task of the state is to invoke a territorial image of the state and familiarize the larger population with it. School textbooks and official maps play this role effectively to make its territory and places legible for the state population. Place-making often involves creation of new activities, economic or otherwise at a particular location. In this case, the weather forecasts is one such activity, with which not only the Indian State but the people can also identify.

As critical geographical as it may sound today to investigate the British colonialist and imperial exercises, it is instructive that such methods of place-naming and place-making have existed even in ancient Indian texts like Puranas, the Epics and related texts. The geographical references to seven dwipas, including Jambu Dwipa cover the whole Eurasian expanse in detail with Mount Meru (The Pamir) as the centre of the Eurasian continent. The description stretches to as far as the Mediterranean and the Eastern coast of Africa.

Furthermore, there is astonishing detail about the orientation of the Himalayas and the adjacent mountain ranges. The river systems originating from the present-day Tibet are explained in detail with the directions of the flow of rivers. The “Puranas” include, the origin of the universe and the earth, the oceans and continents, mountain systems of the world, regions and their people and astronomical geography” (Ali, 1966). However such detailed descriptions were never laden with the ideas of capture or control of territory but only for the sake of geographical knowledge.

Within this literature, the expanse of Bharatvarsa is mentioned in detail on numerous occasions. This fact of geographical unity of the subcontinent remained unchanged and unchallenged until the moment of partition in 1947. The partition in 1947 essentially created a rupture in the regional, human and physical geography of the Indian sub-continent into two separate states of India and Pakistan. Perhaps, it is this longer geo-historical imagination that takes precedence over recent history since partition when the weather reports are broadcast on the national television channels.

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The territorial claims in Kashmir are now becoming more visible and perhaps a beginning of a new geopolitical imagination of post 1947 India is being given shape and root.

Since 2014, the Indian government’s approach under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been quite assertive on the issue of Kashmir and related terrorism emanating from Pakistan. The response to acts of terrorism has been more in terms of military action at the Line of Control, But for the first time a nuanced approach to visually construct that represents the whole Kashmir as Indian, has been adopted.

Reports indicate that Mr. Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor who is also an intelligence expert on Pakistan, has been instrumental in developing and implementing this strategy of weather forecasting of the larger territory of Kashmir and thereby indicating that it is Indian. On the other hand, reactions of the international community may only become evident when real world diplomacy resumes after the end of the global shutdown due to the CoVID19 pandemic. Until then, the otherwise innocuous weather report, produced by non-political meteorologists, has become the new political battle ground between India and Pakistan.

Dr Krishnendra Meena is Assistant Professor and teaches at School of International studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

No Lockdown For Liquor

By Mahendra Ved

One change the Coronavirus pandemic has unleashed in India’s private and public lives that was unimaginable only a few weeks ago, is of the state conducting home deliveries of alcohol.

It is dictated by stampedes at many places across the country when the liquor vends re-opened after 40 days’ lockdown, burying physical distancing in the dust. They got even the Supreme Court to nudge state governments to consider online sales and home delivery.

This is a radical departure in a tradition-bound country with a diverse population that practices faiths many of which, per se, disapprove of alcohol consumption.

Add to this, the cultural mores. Although history is replete with evidence of soma, sure and shiraz and mythological narratives talk of ancient Indians drinking, there is no reference to it in Ramayan and Mahabharat, two of the mythology-backed TV serials currently being re-run to keep the Corona-hit locked-in people entertained and home. 

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Whether drink-at-doorstep is progress or if Indians have turned ‘modern’ is debatable. The age-old squeamishness about alcohol consumption has been given a go-bye for the greed to generate revenue, by even adding a hefty “Corona Cess”.  Necessity has become the virtue for central and all state governments except Gujarat, Bihar and Nagaland and the Lakshadweep union territory. It’s supposedly temporary, but one can’t be too sure of the future.

Two very apt lines have gone viral on the social media: “When a drunken man falls, nobody lifts him. But when the economy falls, all the drinking men gather to lift it.”   

Significantly, there is no objection from the politico-cultural czars who dictate what people should wear, eat and drink. They don’t seem to mind their governments profiting from selling liquor. Eschewing beef and bovine urine talk and dress diktats for now, they have shut their eyes to the ill-clad families of daily-wage workers, left hungry and unpaid by their contractors, walking back, shoe-less, from big cities to their villages hundreds of kilometer away.

This tragically contrasts with opening of the liquor vends, especially when the same Supreme Court says it “can’t stop them from walking.”

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This modern-day Marie Antoinettes’ culture is omnipresent. With Gandhi and those who worked with the Mahatma long gone, the original ‘nashabandi’ adherents, now down-and-on-the-political- periphery, are also silent. They never took Prohibition seriously when they ruled and made money, conveniently ignoring Article 47 of India’s Constitution. Also a Directive Principle of State Policy, it prescribes: “….the State shall endeavor to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health”.

All are guilty of shedding principle for practical reasons. Truth be told, Prohibition does not win votes and drains the exchequer. The law, whenever and wherever applied, has been impossible to enforce given the porous international and inter-state borders. Past experiments that failed were by C. Rajagopalachari (old Madras State) and N T Ramarao (old Andhra Pradesh).

Nitish Kumar’s Bihar is the current example. Prohibition is non-debatable in Gujarat, although liquor flows in from nearby states. Erstwhile Bombay state developed ‘bevda’ (double-distilled hooch) culture till as Maharashtra, influenced by its powerful sugar lobby, it gradually went wet.

Alcohol has definitely ruined millions of families. Men resort to domestic violence, incur debt and take to crime. In segments of society where women, too, drink, damage is compounded, without giving women any social or economic advantage.  

Besides some committed NGOs, women where organized in groups, perhaps, remain the sole Prohibition supporters. Liquor bans have often spared them from penury and domestic violence. Sadly, Coronavirus has weakened these womenfolk, seemingly ending the debate if Prohibition delivers medically, socially and/or morally.

The ground has been laid over long years by going easy on collective conscience. Late Jayalalithaa financed her ‘Amma’ welfare schemes for the poor from excise revenue. Things were not different earlier, and not just in Tamil Nadu. They gain momentum before each election when freebies are distributed to the electorate.

If alcohol quenches thirst or kills, it also sanitizes. Thus sanitizers, direly needed to combat Caronavirus has alcoholic content, were consumes by many in Karnataka as a substitute to alcohol. Taking the cue as it were, some liquor manufacturers have used their expertise to make satinizers and donate them. Surely, they also serve who rinse their hands with sanitizer – before lifting the peg.

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Money remains the mantra. Alcohol sale delivered over 15 percent of tax revenues for 21 states in 2018-19. Earnings range from Punjab (Rs 5,000 crores) to Tamil Nadu (Rs 30,000 crores). Going by the booze-boom, the 2020-21 fiscal should witness a whopping rise for all.

These official figures, however, conceal inter-state smuggling and hooch produced and sold through the unorganized sector, statistics for which are seldom available.

India consumed 2.4 litres of alcohol per capita in 2005, which increased to 4.3 litres in 2010 and scaled up to 5.7 litres in 2016, a doubling in 11 years, as per a WHO report. Hence, the estimate to reach about 6.5 billion liters by the end of this year may be upwardly revised.  

“The big picture is that this is the right approach even if Covid were not wreaking havoc,” declares a Times of India editorial in support of home delivery. It seeks to draw a global picture of Covid-driven liquor policies adopted by different countries, confidently adding that “none have reported a conversion to teetotalerism.”

A “non-prohibition” U.S. has seen $2 billion more spent on alcohol in stores since the start of March than last year. Mexico has kept its citizens dry but also kept tequila production going and tequila exports have soared. Sri Lankans have taken to home brewing in the face of their government’s ban on booze.”

Historically, Prohibition is a failed notion the world over. The idea of restrictions on the use and trade of alcohol has punctuated known human history; the earliest can be traced to the Code of Hammurabi, the Babylonian law of 1754 BC Mesopotamia. In the early 20th century, Protestants tried prohibition in North America, the Russians between 1914 and 1925, and the US between 1920 and 1933.

Having presented both sides of the picture within this space, as a social drinker, I must confess to tilting towards ending Prohibition, but with caveats and controls that should come from within. Drinking, after all, is a personal choice that should have family consent and of course, economic and medical ability.   

But one thing is sure: Coronavirus compulsions are unlikely to end this to-drink-or-not-to-drink debate.

The writer can be reached at mahendraved07@gmail.com

Get Ready For ‘New Normal’ In Post-Corona Times

By Sanjoy Narayan

Wherever you are in this recently-turned-surreal world, you’re either locked down at home; or self-isolated with minimal social contact; or, in the worst case, quarantined somewhere. In India, the entire population has been locked down now since March 24, and people’s movement has been severely restricted. The lucky ones have work that they can do from home; the less fortunate are seeing their incomes dwindle. Elsewhere in the world, such as in Finland where I temporarily reside, the population is so sparse that voluntary self-isolation and social distancing are thought to be enough to curb the spread of the deadly Covid virus that has held the world in suspended animation.

But no matter where you are, the weeks of isolation have probably begun to take their toll and affect your life in more ways than you could have imagined. For those eking out a living at the margins of the economy such as daily wage earners, casual workers, or those employed in the informal sectors (in India that means more than 80% of the workforce), the lockdown is like a devastating blow to their lives, a blow from which they could take months, if not years, to recover. For others, it has changed their lives in lesser but still significant ways.

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Some symptoms of those changes are palpable. When liquor sales were allowed in several Indian locked-down states, queues, some of them albeit socially-distanced, snaked outside liquor shops, and, in some places, stretched for several kilometres. Alcohol-deprived, locked-down denizens just wanted to stock up on booze, which to many is a convenient aid to escape the monotony and depression that sets in when movement is restricted, economic fortunes seem uncertain, and fear and anxiety looms large. The queues outside alcohol shops were probably longer than those outside stores that sold essentials such as food during the lockdown.

Several state governments, which get to set their own excise duties on liquor, raised the rate of taxation, some by as much as 70%, trying to maximise the revenues that can earn in an economy that has sputtered to a halt. These high prices for booze are unlikely to decline even after the Corona virus scare has ended (and no one still knows when that could happen).  

Alcohol consumption could be on the rise during the lockdown but there are less visible changes that are already affecting people’s lives. Staying indoors, often with children and other members of the family, 24X7 for weeks on end can take its toll psychologically. Even in a developed country such as Finland, police admit to getting increased number of complaints of domestic abuse and violence towards women and children. In India, data is as yet unavailable for that sort of behavioural changes but with entire families cooped up in (often) cramped homes; strapped for cash; or for even food and other daily necessities, it could be like ticking time-bombs.

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With much of the privileged world shifting to school education online during this period, many parents feel the pressure to cope with enforcing discipline on their children to adhere to the new norms of lessons via the internet—not an easy task, particularly when their children are very young and unaccustomed to the process. According to a few family therapists, in many cases, this could lead to abnormal tensions within families and affect family members adversely. Coupled with their own predicament—job cuts; reduced earnings; and the uncertainties about the future—such pressures, not inconceivably, this could lead to serious long-term psychological effects on people and even lead to familial fragmentation.

No one knows yet when the threat of the pandemic will ebb but psychologists and trend forecasters are already talking about a new way of living that may emerge. In many countries, notably in Europe, restrictions are being slowly relaxed. In Finland, restaurants will be allowed to operate in a limited manner (no more than 50 diners at a time) from June1. Schools are being opened for 11 working days from May 14, ostensibly to gauge whether the virus spreads further or not. In India, in some cities, people are being allowed to move around between 7 am and 7 pm in a sort of curfew relaxation. And standalone stores in many cities are now operating normally. Yet, as the threat of the virus refuses to die down, people have grown cautious about social mingling or being out and about in places where there are others.

These are trends that could come to stay. Many business models that are pinned on attracting volumes or numbers of people to make them viable—such as big restaurants; sports events; shopping malls; and so on—could be hit for a long time as customers and consumers decide to err on the side of caution even after the restrictions are gone. In some Chinese cities, after movie theatres were opened partially, they had to be shut down again not because of the renewed spread of the virus but because people just didn’t want to go and watch movies with others as they normally would have.

ALSO READ: How Coronavirus Will Change Our Lives

The flipside of the pandemic-led paralysis of society could be in the form of innovations. Artists and musicians have already begun online virtual concerts on platforms such as YouTube with a pay as you please business model. Restaurants are cutting their overheads and focussing more on home deliveries of their fare as customer feel more comfortable and secure eating at home rather than visiting public places. Air travel is likely to change forever as business and leisure travel shrinks and people and businesses use the Internet to get work done. For many businesses that could lead to substantial reductions in cost.

Many may believe that these will only be a short-term impact of the pandemic. But perhaps not. The after-effects of the pandemic could be longer lasting. The ongoing crisis that the world is experiencing could upend many of the ways in which we live, communicate, and consume. The new normal after the Corona scare is over (whenever that is) would be very different from what we have been used to till now. It could be a not-so-brave new world.

Statism In Time Of Pandemic

By Anita Katyal

Politics, it seems, is one part of national life that does not go into lockdown. Beneath the appearance of the whole country united in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the undercurrents of State-Centre relations continue.

These are testing times for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who hopes to come out of this with national as well as international compliments on his handling of the crises.

But it is the chief ministers who are actually doing all the heavy lifting in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic in their respective states. And they are not all getting the equal recognitions or complete support they deserve.

Faced with a serious public health emergency and a looming economic crisis, the chief ministers have a lot at stake and are, therefore, putting their best foot forward in managing the deadly coronavirus outbreak. They know they will be judged by their handling of the crises.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot have come in for praise for their quick and deft management of the pandemic. Kerala was a step ahead of other states as a proactive chief minister lost no time in announcing a slew of social welfare measures and initiated steps for setting up quarantine centres and testing facilities. Kerala has an advantage over other states as successive governments have invested heavily in health infrastructure. Gehlot also displayed similar alacrity in ordering an immediate shutdown, door-to-door surveys, testing and monitoring in Bhilwara when it was hit by a rush of infections. The Bhilwara model has since been replicated in other states.

ALSO READ: What Rest Of India May Learn From Kerala

Among the other chief ministers – Bihar’s Nitish Kumar and West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee – face a big challenge as Assembly elections are due in both the states. Bihar goes to polls later this year while elections in West Bengal are due next year.

Of the two, Nitish Kumar has to be on top of his game because the Bihar Assembly elections are to be held this November which gives him a small window of opportunity to contain the pandemic. The chief minister’s handling of the corona crisis will predictably be a major issue in these polls and have a huge bearing on Nitish Kumar’s electoral prospects. Though his government is making all-out efforts to procure testing kits and protective equipment for the medical staff, the chief minister has a tough task on hand as Bihar does not boast of a strong health infrastructure.

Then there is the troubling issue of migrant workers from Bihar who have been working in other states but now wish to return home as they have no jobs or money. Nitish Kumar was initially reluctant to facilitate their return as there was a fear that the infection could spread to the rural areas with the influx of such a large population. He first transferred a sum of Rs. 1,000 each to the one lakh-plus stranded migrant workers but later agreed to ferry them back after the Centre made necessary arrangements for their journey home by train. Nitish Kumar was forced to give in because migrant workers are an important vote bank as most of them invariably come home to cast their vote.

As BJP’s alliance partner, Nitish Kumar has been fortunate to get special treatment from the Centre which is more than willing to bail him out. The saffron party also has a big stake in the coming assembly election in Bihar. Nitish Kumar is further lucky as the opposition in Bihar is leaderless and hopelessly divided.

WATCH: Covid-19, Lockdown And Farmers

Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, has a match on her hand as she has to contend with a strong and powerful rival in the BJP.  There is simmering tension between the Modi government and Mamata Banerjee with the Centre accusing her of withholding accurate figures of the corona cases and for not providing adequate quarantine centres and further lagging behind in testing. She has also received a lot of flak for indulging in minority appeasement by not enforcing the lockdown too strictly in the minority-dominated areas during Ramzan. To make matters worse, West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar has shot off a series of letters to Banerjee charging that she had committed “monumental blunders” in handling the pandemic.   

Desperate and working hard to expand its footprint in West Bengal, the Centre has been particularly critical of the Trinamool Congress chief as the BJP believes this is an opportunity to show Mamata Banerjee in poor light.

Although West Bengal had ordered a lockdown before the Centre’s announcement and took necessary measures to manage Covid-19 cases, the Modi government chose to send an inter-ministerial team to the state for an on-the-ground assessment of the situation. This led to a war of words between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress with Mamata Banerjee accusing New Delhi of playing politics by singling out West Bengal for this treatment. Banerjee further alleged that the Centre had deprived West Bengal of its share of taxes and ignored her requests for additional funds required by the state to manage the pandemic.

While the Centre has not missed this opportunity to discredit Mamata Banerjee, it has been more generous towards BJP chief ministers. Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Gujarat’s Vijay Rupani and Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath are struggling to contain the rising number of infections in their state but not too many questions are being asked of them by New Delhi. 

ALSO READ: The Invisible Indians In Pandemic

Chouhan has a convenient explanation that he did not have sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements to deal with a crisis of this magnitude since he had taken over as chief minister when the pandemic had already gained a foothold in the state. However, Chouhan has no explanation for the fact that he had failed to appoint a health minister for nearly a month after he was appointed CM.

Unlike Chouhan, Vijay Rupani ought to have done far better as he inherited the famed Gujarat model of development, put in place by Narendra Modi when he was chief minister. This was expected to serve him well in the current situation. As it happens, the rate of infections in Gujarat is high and is continuing to climb.

Rupani’s lacklustre performance in managing the pandemic is matched by his poor handling of the large number of the restless migrant workers who were housed in makeshift camps in Surat and Vadodara. There have been several instances of violent clashes between the police and the migrants who wanted to go back home, giving the distinct impression that no one was in charge. 

Similarly, Yogi Adityanath’s efforts in dealing with the pandemic have also been found wanting. He is not helped by the fact that Uttar Pradesh’s health care infrastructure is shoddy to say the least. But, in his trademark style, Yogi Adityanath has conveniently added a communal tinge to Covid-19 pandemic and blamed the minorities for spreading the virus after a number of infections were traced to the Tablighi Jamaat assembly in Delhi. This has been exploited as a timely distraction from his government’s incompetence. 

Though Modi is being heaped with praise for his decisive leadership in this hour of crisis, the fact is that it is the chief ministers who have led from the front in this battle. There have been some signs of tension between the Centre and the states over the lack of funds and centralisation of powers by New Delhi but, for a change, the Modi government has chosen to listen to the chief ministers. It agreed to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol, as demanded by the chief ministers, as it had deprived the state governments of a  huge source of revenue which, it was pointed out, could have been used to ramp up their health infrastructure.

It is now to be seen if the Centre will put aside politics, be a uniting force, go a step further and release the pending share of taxes to the states and provide them with the monetary assistance they have demanded to help them deal with the corona crisis, whether they are pro or anti BJP.

State-Centre politics has not gone into lockdown, but it will be wise for Modi’s BJP to suspend it at least until the nation gets through the crises.

Bollywood In Red Zone

By Mahendra Ved

The loss in a single day last week of two Bollywood stalwarts, Irrfan and Rishi Kapoor, compels us to worry about the health and well-being of those on whom billions ride.

Equally important, and more urgent, is the need to see the potential impact of Coronavirus, or Covid-19 that is the new game-changer. Will India’s cinema/entertainment industry, especially Bollywood, dependent on crowds, survive and rise to entertain again with the same verve even as it suffers from stars dying, cinemas closed and filming stopped?

The worldwide pandemic is unlikely to leave soon. Having humbled societies and wrecked economies, it has imposed conditions that have already begun to influence our – including those who entertain us — behaviour, individually and collectively.   

My own perceptions are limited and the space here, even more so. But I am not alone when I ask how world’s largest cinematography, making 2000-plus feature films annually, that is estimated to have touched $3.7 billion this month, can respond to this mix of complex circumstances.   

Not all of India’s film-making centres follow the Bollywood model and not all have money-spinning stars. But all of them depend upon viewers in cinema theatres, on television and now, increasingly through streaming.

Covid-19 is only the latest health-scare. None asked “Was it Corona” about the two stars. It was well known they were cancer survivors back after being treated in the United States. Bollywood’s list of cancer patients/survivors currently includes Manisha Koirala 49, who has returned to the screen.

ALSO READ: How Coronavirus Will Change Our Lives

Precisely two years ago, Vinod Khanna had succumbed. With Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood’s “first superstar” who too died of cancer in 2012, Vinod strode the Bollywood scene in the 1970s.

Cancer is a killer. One of Rajesh Khanna’s most memorable roles was in and as ‘Anand’ (1971). Smiling his winsome smile he hid his agony instead of being overwhelmed by cancer, poking fun at “lymphosecoma of the intestine”. The last line was an ode to life amidst pain: “Anand maraa nahin; Anand martey nahin” (Anand is not dead – Anands do not die.) This was a significant departure from the suffering protagonist, staggering with eyes half-closed, do-gooding till the end, winning audience sympathy.

A social media post in the wake of Irrfan/Rishi deaths lists so many marquee names suffering from one complication or the other and offers a thought. Well-off, these stars hit the gym even before they debut, eat special diet and work hard to maintain their physique. They live well. They go abroad to relax and get the best treatment money can buy. What they can get is not available to the common man. Yet, they suffer like any ordinary being and go when their time comes, leaving their fans in tears. Disease and pain are great levelers.

Covid-19 has made everyone feel more vulnerable than ever. Bollywood appears to have responded well and fast, surprisingly, without waiting for a political diktat. All cinema theatres are closed. All indoor and outdoor shootings are off. Paparazzi are out-of-job since the stars are strictly indoors. Very few attended the two funerals.   Some Award Nites are cancelled. There’s no way Bollywood can shoot crowd scenes, anywhere.  Lockdown is complete and like other film-making centres, Mumbai remains in Covid-19’s “red zone.”

All this means losses in man/days, gate-money revenue, ad earnings and services worth billions. With the overall economy in doldrums and production jeopardized, the impact on entertainment business, public’s ability and inclination to spend on it and perhaps, the utility of the stars we adore remains uncertain.

ALSO READ: Can DD Re-Run Sustain Epic Magic

The stars seem to realize their own vulnerability. They use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay in public eye every single day. Their unease is discernible the way some of them called cameramen to film their doing “jharoo-ponchha”, doing yoga and for a change, cooking their own frugal but healthy meals. This may have killed some of their glamour and closed the enormous gulf they maintain, both physically and in their lifestyle, from the public.     

Everyone fears that not all jobs lost may return. Covid-19 is changing basic norms that may stay substantially, if not fully. It has already forced us to work from home, to go digital in business and banking, to keep fit without gym and outdoor sports and to shop and be entertained without visiting malls.

The irony of empty roads that can’t be traversed and clear skies but no flying cannot be lost. How much of the present can be retained and how much of the past shall remain relevant is uncertain.

But I remain optimist about Bollywood’s ability to adapt. Hence, on a different note altogether, I am tempted to explore the past and wonder: can Bollywood make a disaster film on Covid-19? 

Frankly, there is not much to go by. Of man-made disasters, Burning Train (1980) showed journey of a brake-failed passenger train. Kaala Patthar (1979) sought to reenact mining disaster at Chasnala Colliery. Multi-starrers, they were essentially entertainers, with some serious moments.

In Aman (1980), a rare health-related disaster film, the mandatory entertainment quotient was high with love songs. It highlighted perils of a nuclear disaster Japan has suffered. But that came only in the second half. Even then, alas, the focus shifted from nuclear radiation to the dead hero’s journey back home. 

ALSO READ: Devdas, Show Isn’t Over Yet

To be fair, the hero saving fishermen caught in a nuclear zone was not about disaster, but about suffering that radiation victims endure and long-term damage caused by atomic weapons. This anti-war film featured a rare cameo by Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell. To its credit, Aman did not treat disaster as an amoral affliction.

Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946) took political/ideological route while India was still under the British rule. It was about an Indian doctor’s role in Chinese resistance to Japanese invasion during the World War II. It was filmed immediately after that war.

Producing, directing and playing the doctor, V Shantaram enacted a real-life story of Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis who responds to appeal by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Bose to join the medical mission. While other Indians return sick, Kotnis, married to Chinese assistant, continues and eventually dies of epilepsy.

Kotnis’ sacrifice and Shantaram’s film have been India’s strongest bridge to Sino-Indian relations, winning praise from Mao Dzedong to Hu Jintao. Till she died in 2005, Guo Qinglan, the real Mrs Kotnis, was unique to the cultural ties between the two distrusting neighbours. The glow endured despite the numerous fluctuations, including the 1962 conflict. Alas, old memories are fading.

Wuhan figured in Kotnis’ journey — the same Wuhan where Modi met President Xi Jinping in 2018 — the same that is supposed to be the cradle of Covid-19. Described as heavenly then, the world now calls it hell. 

After 9/11 happened spiking Islam-phobia, Bollywood produced My Name is Khan. Does it really need a disaster like Covid-19 to make its presence felt? It will rise again in its full glory from this ashes as it has done many times before because it knows how to. Its creativity is its resilience.

The writer can be reached at mahendraved07@gmail.com

Covid-19 – What Rest of India May Learn From Kerala

By Amit Sengupta

Fighting an epidemic like Corona requires scientific temper, humanism and a spirit for inquiry and reform. I strictly follow scientists and experts than those who eulogise on the imagined benefits of cow dung and cow urine.
–KK Shailaja, Health Minister of Kerala

As early as late March this year, impossible things were happening in Kerala. An old couple, aged 93 and 88, were admitted to the Kottayam Medical College. Their son and his family, upon return from Italy during the last week of February, had infected the elderly.

Placed in the high-risk category by international standards, considering the high mortality rate of older people globally due to the pandemic, they were already inflicted with multiple ailments, typical of old age. The man had heart and breathing problems, which deteriorated into a heart attack in the hospital; he was put under a ventilator.

Indeed, when the entire health system in the country and world over had put their hands up on old patients, especially those above 60, the medical staff and doctors at the Kottayam Medical College successfully saved the lives of the husband and wife. Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja ‘Teacher’ was directly in touch with the hospital staff, assuring total support of the government, and successfully implementing the policy of decentralized micro-management. Almost a month later, a warm farewell was given to the couple by the hospital staff as the two left for their destination to Pathanamthitta.

ALSO READ: How Covid-19 Will Change Our Lives

Indeed, India’s first three positive cases were reported from Kerala, in just about two days in early February this year. The three patients were discharged, totally cared, after 15 days.

Why Kerala has become a model state has many outstanding reasons of current and long-term achievements. For instance, the same health minister led from the front in 2018 and 2019, to combat the Nipah virus outbreak.

During the devastating floods in 2018 and 2019, the entire Kerala, the state, its citizens in the rest of India, and those working in the Gulf, pooled in resources even as the central government gave a pittance as relief. The state machinery worked from the grassroots onwards, one step forward and two steps back, and painstakingly managed to resurrect the ravaged landscape into a new and pulsating entity. Even secularism was strengthened when religious places opened their compounds for prayers, shelter and food for all concerned, even while the waters of the flood roared outside.

This is an era of the information, and we are so proud of the global village. That America is a democracy is proved every day when US President Donald Trump, who hates the hostile free press in his country, holds a press conference on the dot, and answers the most difficult questions. He does not always indulge in a monologue, like the rare ‘speeches’ of the president for life in China, Xi Jin Ping, of what is clearly a totalitarian advanced capitalist nation-state.

At home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not addressed a single press conference since May 2014. And in the current bleak scenario, both his home minister and health minister seem to be decisively missing.

Even an otherwise accessible ‘aam aadmi’ chief minister like Arvind Kejriwal, ground reporters crib, is refusing to answer questions, not even on Whatsapp or in a digital press meet. He diverts questions, and reportedly indulges in a one-way discourse, thereby consolidating what is a total information clampdown, on good or bad news, or what is in store for the people in Delhi and elsewhere.

Not so in Kerala. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has spoken to the media almost every day with regular updates, good and bad, about the state health scenario. Mostly, it is good news, and future projects. The state government, indeed, had agreed to ease local transport for workers, open book shops and restaurants, but the Union home ministry reportedly shot it down, for reasons only they know.

ALSO READ: Langar In The Time Of Coronavirus

Indeed, it will be worthwhile to give credit to the low profile, hard-working, straight-talking, simple and stoic chemistry teacher-turned-politician called KK Shailaja ‘Teacher’.  A hands-on minister, she is at the frontlines with her resilient mantra of ‘science over superstition’ in the most highly literate state in India. In that sense, once can draw parallels the ‘woman of science’ – Germany’s Angela Merkel.

According to reports, as early as in the month of January, when the first ominous signs were emerging from distant Wuhan in China, the health minister noticed the ‘alarm calls’. Her first reaction was that there were students from Kerala out there, perhaps trapped. “I sat together with the health secretary and discussed what to do because we knew a lot of Malayalee medical students were in Wuhan. We had the experience of Nipah, whereby we could not identify the first patient before he transmitted it to four family members.”

Hence, emergency measures were taken from the beginning even as help was reached out to the students. The airports in the state were kept on high alert from the beginning; this reporter was stopped for enquiry at the Kochi airport in early March. What is the origin of your destination, I was asked. When told that it was Delhi, they let me pass, even as foreigners were quarantined in comfort.

ALSO READ: ‘Choked Toilets, Smelly Linen. Quarantine Was Jail’

In top international tourist destinations like at the Kovalam beach resort near Thiruvantharam, or at the bustling Fort Kochi with its exquisite sunsets, old churches, Chinese fishing nets and huge ships sailing into the horizon across the Arabian Sea, there was a heightened state of awareness about the epidemic. Social distancing was being practiced without any overt formality, and the foreigners were treated with utmost respect and friendliness, with the local administration going out of their way to make them comfortable. Indeed, most foreigners have reportedly chosen to stay back.

Kerala’s discharge rate is very high. The mortality rate too is low. Said Minister Shailja: “Coronavirus mortality rate in Kerala is below 0.5 per cent, but in the world it is more than 5 per cent. In some places, it is even more than 10 per cent. Most of the people who are in isolation in the hospitals are stable and very few are in critical stage. We are treating them with utmost care. The discharging or cure rate is also very high in Kerala because of our systematic work. We evaluate everything every day.”

Sources in Thrissur inform that the virus has been declared almost totally controlled in Thrissur, Kottayam and Idukki. This is no mean achievement when the entire world is reeling under the pandemic.

The latest is the robot, as in China. Now ‘Nightingale-19’, designed by young innovators with the solid backing of the health department, is being used to provide food and medicines at the health centres in Ancharakandi in Kannur district. This is also a first in a ‘model’ state, where atleast 4 lakh migrant workers, designated with dignity as ‘guest workers’, have been given rations for three months, comfortable shelters and health care and counseling. In that case, there was no crisis in Kerala, when it came to the ‘guest workers’. So much so, ‘Opposition’ MPs, Mohua Mitra and Shashi Tharoor, joined in to speak to the Bengali workers directly through video, in Bengali, asking them to feel comfortable and not to worry at all.

Indeed, this can only happen in Kerala.

Langar In Coronavirus Times

Langar In The Time Of Coronavirus

By Pankaj Molekhi

It started with ₹20 and has grown into billions now. It is what Guru Nanak, the founder of GurSikhi, called Sacha Sauda. Now during the Coronavirus pandemic, while others have locked down, Gurdwaras around the world have opened up, preparing meals and feeding the vulnerable, the elderly, those at the front line and anyone who is unable to pay for or get the supplies to feed themselves. The number of meals a day are staggering.  During this bleak time, the Nishan Sahib (the Sikh flag) flying proudly at a Gurdwara has become a beacon of hope to millions around the world.

From Amritsar, Delhi, to as far places as United States (notably in California and New York), United Kingdom, Australia and many other countries, Gurdwaras have been busy preparing and distributing langar (meal cooked in a Gurdwara) packets.

Anyone who has been to a Gurdwara knows that langar is a remarkable feature of the Sikhs. There is no charge and there is no feeling of having received charity. In most large Gurdwaras, langar is available from early morning, in some cases as early as 5 am to late night, up to 10 pm in some.

ALSO READ: How Coronavirus Will Change Our Lives

During this Covid-19 crises, preparing the langar, packing them into take away boxes, distributing them safely during this period and delivering them takes up more logistical management than the conventional langar which is offered on the Gurdwara premises. It needs a good number of people to cook, pack, deliver and then wash the cooking utensils. But one thing that can be said for Sikhs is that there is never a shortage of volunteers when it comes to Gurdwara-led service initiatives.

The origin of this goes to Guru Nanak, who was born in 1469. At a young age, he was given twenty rupees by his father to go and buy some goods and then sell them in the village for a profit, in the hope of making him into a businessman. On his way, Guru Nanak met some people who were hungry and wore torn, unwashed clothes.  Guru Nanak spent the rupees for feeding them and buying them clothes. When asked by his father, Guru Nanak said that he had spent the money on Sacha Sauda, ‘true trade’ which was more useful than making money.

“Guru Hargovind Sahib, the sixth of our ten Gurus, said, ‘Garib da muh, Gur di golak’,
which means loosen your purse
strings to serve the needy.”

That was instituted into langar by the second Guru, Guru Angad Dev ji in 16th century and has become a feature of Sikh Gurdwaras since. Today, Sikhs around the world spend billions of their own earnings to run langars in Gurdwaras.

Kulwant Singh, a trustee at Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara in Slough, United Kingdom, explains it beautifully: “Among the basic tenets of Sikhism is an edict that says in the times of a crisis, leave everything you are doing and get involved in the service of the vulnerable. Guru Hargovind Sahib, the sixth of our ten Gurus, also said, ‘Garib da muh, Gur di golak’, which means loosen your purse strings to serve the needy.”

“We are not doing anyone a favour.
This is our duty as a Sikh”

-Kulwant Singh, Trustee of Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara, UK

The Slough Gurdwara was the first place of worship in the UK to set up a Covid-19 Combat team with a bank of 300 volunteers, of which 100 are active at any given time. These workers toil in the kitchen for preparation of food, manage logistics like packing and distribution of hot meals through vehicles and deliver dry ration across the town and beyond to the needy. They also have a helpline manged by 10 to 15 volunteers who take emergency calls for essential supplies and information.

Slough Gurdwara was the first place of worship in the UK to set up a Covid-19 helpline

“Many of these meals are provided to NHS (national health service) workers at their workplace. We are not doing anyone a favour. This is our duty as a Sikh,” says Kulwant Singh. The team has advertised its emergency numbers via posters and online forums, so anyone can ask for help. In the last week of April, the facility was serving 2,000 hot meals a day and supplying weekly dry rations to over 3,000 families. The expenses are entirely borne by the Gurdwara and the members of the congregation. For the appreciation showered at their work, they respond with a brief and humble expression: Guru Kirpa (Divine Grace).

Thousands of miles away in US, the police were so moved by the unflinching work by the Sikhs during lockdown that they decided to signal their gratitude in a novel way. On April 27, California Police cars came with full sirens blazing and entered the Riverside Gurdwara to the surprise of standers by. The posse circumambulated the place of worship in order to pay respect for the langar packets delivered by Sikhs to the needy and the frontline staff.

“When cops showed up at the (Riverside) Gurdwara, there were multiple emotions among us, but the overwhelming one was of gratitude”

Gurpreet Singh, Covid-19 Coordinator of Riverside Gurdwara, US
Videos of California Police circumambulating Riverside Gurdwara on April 27 went viral

“When cops showed up at the (Riverside) Gurdwara, there were multiple emotions among us, but the overwhelming one was one of gratitude,” said Gurpreet Singh, Covid-19 Coordinator of the Los Angeles-based Gurdwara.

“We had not expected any gesture from anyone; our efforts have been entirely voluntary and motivated by our faith and beliefs. Nor did we expect that news to go viral. However, this did give a sense to pride to our volunteers. They felt good,” Mr Singh added

Meanwhile in India in Delhi too, in recognition of the Sikhs rising to the challenge of Coronavirus lockdown, the city police performed a round of the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib with sirens blazing. Gurdwara Sri Bangla sahib, one of the historic Sikh holy places in India, has been providing some thousands of langar packets a day.

“We did feel proud when even the Prime Minister publicly recognised our efforts on social media with a video of Delhi Police team performing a siren salute to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. It gave us satisfaction and boosted the morale of our volunteers”

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, President of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee

The Gurdwaras under Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) have collectively been providing daily meals to lakhs of people amid an unprecedented lockdown.

WATCH: Siren Salute For Gurdwara Bangla Sahib

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, DSGMCpresident, explains: “In Delhi, the Sikh community is working at two levels in these difficult times. One is at DSGMC level and the other is at various local Singh Sabhas or Gurdwara level. At DSGM, we feed nearly 2Lakh people daily, provide shelter and food to Doctors and other frontline health workers, and distribute dry rations to about 20,000 poor families on a weekly basis.”

While there is provision of state aid for such relief work, the Gurdwaras have managed it on our own. “This spirit of ‘sewa’ is being across the world. We did feel proud when even the Prime Minister publicly recognised our efforts on social media with a video of Delhi Police team performing a siren salute to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. It gave us satisfaction and boosted the morale of our volunteers,” says Sirsa.

ALSO READ: Will Humans Turn Better Post-Pandemic?

Gurdwaras were also requested to continue with the langar services by the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib. Sri Akal Takht Sahib is the ‘Vatican’ of the Sikhs, the institution that guides Sikhs and Gurdwaras around the world on matters of practice and interpretation. The custodian of the Akal Takht Sahib is called Jathedar.

At a langar, everything is prepared fresh. Anyone regardless of religion, caste, nationality, background or means can eat at the langar. Usually this involves sitting on the floor. The Sikh practice of people sitting together at langar is called pangat. The richest and the poorest sit together, no one feels a sense of receiving charity. No one is questioned and no one is then given a sermon on the virtues of becoming or turning into a Sikh.

That astonishes many people who always see an ulterior motive, like proselytising, behind anything free. But langar is unconditional. Sikhs call it ‘sewa’ (volunteering) instead of Aid or charity, as they consider it a blessing to donate towards, prepare and give away free the Guru’s langar.

Guru Nanak’s langar has now been recognised as one of the most selfless work around the world. Entirely supported by the community, Sikh Gurdwaras do not hoard money or gold but spend it on public services. Almost all the donations are spent on ongoing services such as Langar. Langar equalises everyone as the richest and the poorest sit on the same level.

The great thing about langar is that it takes away the unequal relationship between donor and the recipient. The Sikhs give to the Guru and the Guru gives to the people. By giving it a sacred context, everyone feels privileged to partake in langar. Hence it is not aid or charity but sewa or selfless service.

The philosophy behind langar is that no one should sleep hungry. In India people know where to get a meal without question. All they have to do is find a Gurdwara. The country is blessed with so many Gurdwaras.

In Amritsar, Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) around a 100,000 people eat langar every day. About 80% are non-Sikhs. It needs considerable organisation to prepare so many meals on a daily basis. In most large Gurdwaras they have mechanised the process with roti (chapati) making machines. Similar numbers are fed at Gurdwaras in many other large Indian cities. There is hardly a town in India that does not benefit from langar.

Occasionally, there have been criticism within the community of wasting so much money without return. Some Sikhs feel that there is no appreciation of this service and Gurdwaras should consider giving leaflets to encourage conversions or restrict numbers. But unconditional service is precisely what Guru Nanak had started. The vast majority of Sikhs continues to dismiss these pressures and proudly provide langar without making the recipient feel humiliated or under pressure. All that is asked is to consider the rest of humanity as one.

It is truly a remarkable and service on a global scale. The Corona Virus has killed many people. But it has neither dented the spirit of the Sikhs to continue with langar nor has Corona lockdown forced hunger upon people as long as there is a Gurdwara around.