The Week RNI No.36122/1982, Registered No. KL/EKM/756/2018-20, Licensed Licence to No.Post KL/CR/EKM/WPP-20/2018-20. Without Prepayment.thJune Published 2020 on Friday 5 DREAM CITY’S NIGHTMARE DREAM CITY’S EYEBALL-TO-EYEBALL WITHCHINA WHERE THEYHAVE THEEDGE MUMBAI CLOSE JERRYPINTO TOTHEBRINK: NO ACTION, NOMONEY NO ACTION, SPORTS LEAGUES ALIAR IS DONALDTRUMP WHY ANITA PRATAP SAYS GUJARAT CMRUPANI GOVERNANCE, POOR CASESDON’TMEAN MORE EXCLUSIVE
VOL. 38 NO. 24 THE WEEK JUNE 14 2020
FOR THE WEEK JUNE 8 - JUNE 14 12 44 61 AP PIB CURRENT EVENTS BORDER TUSSLE @LEISURE Digital diplomacy is here to stay, but The problem for India, in case of a Director Shoojit Sircar knows challenging relationships still require flare-up, may not be of numbers, but exactly how to bring his traditional platforms of command coordination characters to life
16 GUJARAT COVER STORY Interview: Recovery COLUMNS 30 rate in Gujarat is higher than national 9 POWER POINT Sachidananda Murthy average, says Chief Minister Vijay Rupani 21 FORTHWRITE Meenakshi Lekhi The pandemic has exposed the systemic 49 DETOUR ills plaguing the BJP’s Shobhaa De model state 56 SOUND BITE 22 TAMIL NADU Anita Pratap The optimism of the 57 SCHIZO-NATION Palaswami govern- Anuja Chauhan HIGH ALERT ment cannot hide its mismanagement of 74 LAST WORD Residents in Navtej Sarna PTI Dharavi being the pandemic screened for Covid-19 28 KERALA MAX PAIN This is just the inter- Despite an almost three-month lockdown, the outbreak in mission in our fight, bracing for budget India’s financial capital has exposed its already broken medical says Dr B. Ekbal, who cuts and revenue loss infrastructure, leaving patients in a crisis. There is an acute heads the state’s expert committee on 58 CYBERSECURITY shortage of beds, ventilators, ambulances and staff, and the The pandemic has left Covid-19 ever-changing policies have only added to the despair. THE Indians particularly WEEK looks at how Mumbai is battling the pandemic 52 SPORTS vulnerable against Leagues in India are cyber-attacks Plus Author Jerry Pinto says the question is not of survival, but of learning We cannot go about testing randomly, says Dr Sanjay Oak, state task Printed at Malayala Manorama Press, Kottayam, Print House India Pvt force chief Ltd, Mumbai, M P Printers, Noida, and Rajhans Enterprises, Bengaluru, How the pandemic has affected Mumbai’s economy and published from Manorama Buildings, Panampilly Nagar, Kochi-682 036, by Jacob Mathew, on behalf of the Malayala Manorama Co.Ltd., Bollywood is cautiously returning to work, but challenges remain Kottayam-686 001. Editor Philip Mathew • Focus/Infocus features are paid marketing/PR initiatives COVER DESIGN BINESH SREEDHARAN COVER PHOTO HITMAN H./SHUTTERSTOCK
2 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 3 LETTERS
Your cover story helped of society. Nobody in di cult centres. I (‘Starving steeds’, May Editor Philip Mathew Chief Associate Editor & Director Riyad Mathew EXCLUSIVE BANGLADESH FOREIGN MINISTER ADMITS... CRIME in diluting the general should su er during the hope these issues are 31). Whether it is stray YES, INDIA HELPED NAB MUJIB KILLER TECH-SAVVY TEENS Editor-in-Charge V.S. Jayaschandran TERRORISE SCHOOLGIRLS feeling that the economic lockdown. addressed before the dogs, cows or horses, ZOOM’S INDIA HEAD Stanley Thomas WARNING USERS AGAINST Senior News Editor US WAS UNFORTUNATE package was a case Vismay Mathur, scheme is launched! they are all News Editor Lukose Mathew EXCLUSIVE BEN STOKES: BAFFLED HOW VIRAT, ROHIT PLAYED AGAINST US of ‘too little; too late’. On email. During my younger su ering today. Deputy News Editors Mathew T. George, Maijo Abraham, e concept ‘there days, I had a dream Hats o to Ajish P. Joy MODI’S GREAT GAMBLE Resident Editor, Delhi K.S. Sachidananda Murthy No free lunches in the biggest reforms are no free lunches’ is Prepare for it to join the military organisations like the Chief of Bureau, Delhi R. Prasannan stamped all over the e decision of the Army as a commissioned People for Animals that Chief of Bureau, Mumbai Dnyanesh V. Jathar package, including on to introduce the Tour o cer. But, back then, are feeding these horses Deputy Chief of Bureau, Delhi Neeru Bhatia Chief Subeditors Susamma Kurian, the enhanced borrowing of Duty scheme is a the forces were not as and keeping them alive. Navin J. Antony limits of states. e ham- welcome move (‘ ree- keen as they are now It is true that the lives Senior Subeditors Anirudha Karindalam, Anirudh Madhavan PLUS handed manner in which year hitch’, May 31). While in inducting new faces, of humans matter more CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER Subeditors Diya Mathew, Karthik Ravindranath, KRISHNAMURTHY SUBRAMANIAN OUT OF THE BOX IDEAS the migrant crisis was— the intention here has to and the vacancies were than animals. But we Reuben Joe Joseph, Nirmal Jovial ON THE TABLE, TOO P. CHIDAMBARAM and is being—handled by be appreciated, there are not properly advertised should never shy away FORMER FINANCE MINISTER SENIOR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS PRINCIPAL CORRESPONDENTS THIS GOVT IS OPPORTUNISTIC the Centre is inexcusable. bound to be problems. as they are done now. from feeding animals D. SUBBARAO, EX-RBI CHIEF Delhi: Rekha Dixit, Mandira Nayar, Hyderabad: Rahul Devulapalli CRISIS THE RIGHT TIME FOR REFORMS Raveendranath A., While the short stint in So, I ended up in the in our vicinity after we Namrata Biji Ahuja, Soni Mishra, Kochi: Anjuly Mathai On email. the Army may inculcate banking sector. ough make sure that humans K. Sunil Thomas Srinagar: Tariq Ahmad Bhat SENIOR CORRESPONDENTS a sense of discipline I did not lose much, are fed. Lucknow: Puja Awasthi Bengaluru: Mini P. Thomas, Kolkata: Rabi Banerjee Give them money I agree with D. Subbarao among the inductees, I hope young people Tigin omas, Abhinav Singh Delhi: Sneha Bhura e Centre’s economic package will help that a crisis is the most of them may see today will take full On email. SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS Mumbai: Priyanka Bhadani, Delhi: Pratul Sharma, Namita Kohli, Pooja Biraia Jaiswal restart the economy (‘Selective treatment’, right time to make a it as a stepping stone to advantage of the Army’s Pradip R. Sagar May 31). Both the state and the Central commitment to reforms. other lucrative positions latest move, and, with I blame parents Bengaluru: Prathima Nandakumar Thiruvananthapuram: Cithara Paul CHIEF REPORTER governments were already under immense e Central government and may not take their job that exposure, will e Bois Locker Room Mumbai: Nachiket Kelkar UAE: Raju Mathew, Dubai scal stress, and this was the right thing to do. did the right thing seriously. excel in their second is a sheer disgrace and Chennai Lakshmi Subramanian Bhopal: Sravani Sarkar India is showing initial signs of emerging by announcing the Some may demand assignment. I blame the parents Ahmedabad: Nandini Gunavantrai Oza from a slowdown. But the workers’ livelihood economic stimulus extension of Canteen B.C. Unnikrishnan of these boys for not Photo Editor: Sanjoy Ghosh Art Editor: Jayakrishnan M.T. crisis will persist for some more time, and one package. e government Stores Department, Nair, inculcating the right Deputy Photo Editors Assistant Art Editor: Binesh Sreedharan cannot expect instant solution there. claims that the package which o ers items at On email. values in their sons Bhanu Prakash Chandra, Salil Bera Senior Infographic
In India, 020 lakh crore is big. But this has is 10 per cent of the GDP, concessional rates. In the (‘Virtual, vile’, May 31). Chief Photographers Designer: Sreemanikandan S. Delhi: Arvind Jain, Sanjay Ahlawat Illustrator: B. Bhaskaran to be used primarily to help those at the but much of it, I suppose, normal course, a person A stint in the Army will Men fantasise about Mumbai: Janak Bhat, Amey Suhas Mansabdar Layout Artist: B. Manojkumar receiving end of the lockdown. e money is already injected. undergoes two years of bring in discipline, women, and women Photographer Designers: Deni Lal, Job P.K. should be there in the hands of the people, Mobility of migrants rigorous training before con dence, teamwork fantasise about men. Delhi: Aayush Goel Graphic Designer: Syam Krishnan Chief Picture Coordinator Artists: Rajesh A.S., Sumesh C.N., and not in the air. requires a carefully being commissioned into and a sense of at is all perfectly ne. Bimal Nath C. Sujesh K., Ajeesh Kumar M., Jairaj T.G. e migrant labourers su ered the most considered framework the Army. In the proposed patriotism in young But none of us should Research: Jomy M. Joseph Senior Researcher: Rani G.S. during the lockdown, followed by people who and it should be move, the training period people. is is a right demean ourselves to Photo Archivist: Deepak Joy T. did various menial jobs for survival. At least constantly overseen by is only six months. is move. Many countries such extent. THEWEEK.IN 50 per cent of the bene ts of the economic the Central government. may lead to two types of in the world are Vrinda Gopi, New Media Coordinator Neeraj Krishnan package should go to such people—directly or All migrants should be commissioned o cers already following such On email. Deputy New Media Coordinator Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl indirectly. given xed cash when within the force, leading a system. Once they Senior Subeditors Hazeeda Vijayakumar, Sumitra Nair, Vaisakh E. Hari, Ancy K. Sunny, Tapesh Nagpal, they are unemployed. to internal rivalries. e leave the Army, these Great service Jose K. George, Justin Paul George On email. e same applies to ‘Tour of Duty’ o cers also young people will get Last Word by Shashi Subeditors Vinod V.K., Anita Babu, Varun Ramesh Balan other weaker sections may try to dodge postings so many bene ts. I am aroor (May 31) was a Senior Researcher Saju C. Daniel 40 now. How I wish stark reminder that all of Multimedia Rahul J. Mohan, Vipin Das P. the government had us owe a deep gratitude Executive Director George Jacob brought this scheme a to the sherfolk, who Vice President, Marketing, Advertising Sales Varghese Chandy SUBSCRIPTIONS/CUSTOMER CARE CIRCULATION Hyderabad: BUREAU ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE EDITORIAL decade earlier. are in distress during For all subscription related inquiries Bengaluru: 040-23314168/23324692 Bengaluru: Manorama Buildings, P.B. No. 26, Manorama Buildings, Vice President, Circulation M. Rajagopalan Nair please write, email or fax to 080-22247735/22247736 Kolkata: 033- 24198233 080-22867345, 22867050 Kottayam 686001, Kerala, India. P.B. No. 4278, Panampilly Nagar, Nandagopal G., the lockdown. is Senior General Manager, Sales Hari M. Varrier Senior Manager, Circulation, Bhopal: 0755-2557937 Kottayam: 0481-2563646 Kolkata: 033-24556995, Tel: 0481-2563646 Kochi 682036, Kerala, India. MUMBAI 24198344, ext.216 Manorama Buildings, Lucknow: 0522-2341576 REGIONAL CO-ORDINATING On email. community has rendered Resident Chief General Manager Shree Kumar Menon Chandigarh: 0172-2724699 Chennai: 044-66918500 [email protected] PB No. 4278, Panampilly Nagar, Mumbai: 022-24901331, OFFICE CHENNAI Kochi - 682036. Kerala Chennai: 39495969 Delhi: 011-23354920 Tej Building, 1st Floor, Bahadur http://www.theweek.in yeoman services time Hyderabad: Regional Chief General Manager K.C. Suresh Email: [email protected] 044-66918530/31 Patna: 0612-2233809 Shah Zafar Marg, Feed them please and again. We cannot Coimbatore: 040-23314168, 23324692 New Delhi 110 002. +91 484-4447888 BENGALURU Toll free no.: 18001035981 Jaipur: Mumbai: 022-22074604, Cochin: 0484-4447507 0422-2241911/2245470 0141-2368360/4005808 Tel: 011-23354920, 23354921, I felt sad to see the thank them enough. Regional Chief General Manager Ranjit Kurien 22004358 +91 484-2315745 For advertising: +91 98953 95097 Delhi: Thiruvananthapuram: 23359541, 23355801, 23356537 NEW DELHI Bhopal: 0755-2431001 Fax: 43541354 plight of saddle horses P.M. Gopalan, Email: [email protected] 011-23379718, 23379719 0471-2328198 Lucknow: 0522-2701725 Chief Marketing Officer (North) & during the lockdown On email. Head, Special Projects R. Rajmohan TheWeekMag @TheWeekLive TheWeekMag 85 89 99 48 69 4 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 5 APERITIF THE BIG PICTURE
LOCKS DOWN! The nationwide lockdown may have slowed economic growth, but it did aid the growth of hair on many heads. Now, as the nation unlocks, salons have started welcoming eager customers, albeit cautiously. This team of stylists in Kolkata, for instance, dons PPE while working on each patron.
PHOTO BY SALIL BERA
6 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 7 APERITIF
POWER POINT SACHIDANANDA MURTHY POINT BLANK MILESTONES
GO PAPERLESS On June 1, a three-member bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud Political porcupines held the first-ever paperless We can take a leaf out of the their [RSS proceedings in the history of the and BJP] book.... e Congress has Supreme Court. The judges used s the Covid-19 and migrant crisis grips the duty of the opposition to cooperate during a failed in marketing itself at the national laptops to go through cases instead country, the ruling parties at the Cen- national or state crisis, rather than criticise. is level. We believed that the people of of paper files. Atre and in the states are becoming very is not the rst time that ruling parties are taking the country would assess us by seeing sensitive to criticism by the opposition parties. If exception to opposition criticism. When United what we did. the BJP at the Centre complains that the Congress Progressive Alliance ruled at the Centre, Modi,
PTI D.K. Shivakumar, Congress leader and left parties are weakening the morale of the who was chief minister of Gujarat, was accused ght against the twin national crises of health and of playing politics during the 2008 terror attack economy, the ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra is in Mumbai and the 2013 oods in Uttarakhand. People might think that I am arrogant attacking the BJP for the same reasons. ough the parties in power argue that there is because sometimes it’s not their way Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and CPI(M) gen- a broad convention that the opposition does not of life. I am too straight. A lot of people, eral secretary Sitaram Yechury have been caustic criticise the government in critical times, the in the last 10-11 years, have given me in their remarks about how the Union government same parties, while in opposition, do not con- the feedback saying that you should GOEL AAYUSH has handled the pandemic. e Shiromani Akali sider it an ironclad rule. Normally during tense try and be a little diplomatic because straight trees are cut rst. GREAT INDIAN STORY Dal, which is part of military confronta- R. Ashwin, cricketer Writer Kritika Pandey, 29, became the National Demo- tions, the Congress and the regional winner (for Asia) of the cratic Alliance, has the BJP say that as the Under the shadow of the glitzy malls, 2020 Commonwealth Short Story ayed the Congress government has all the the upward mobility of middle-class Prize. Her award-winning story, government in Punjab. information, it should Indians, and stories of India’s emer- The Great Indian Tee and Snakes, e Congress, which take the decisions. gence as a global economic power, explores the romance between a invited left parties But this principle has there is the harsh truth of millions of Hindu woman and a Muslim man. for an opposition been honoured more the poor hovering precariously just conclave in Delhi, has in the breach than in above levels of absolute poverty, living been lambasting the the observance during in unliveable slums, part of an un- Left Democratic Front both UPA and NDA mapped unorganised sector, bereft of a government in Kerala. regimes. social safety security net, and eking out In West Bengal, it is Another conven- a living from one meal to another. the ruling party at the tion is that the prime Pavan K. Varma, author and former Centre versus the state minister should not be diplomat
PTI ruler—Chief Minister criticised when he is e rst gure that comes to mind As an actor, I feel like a child MATTER SOLVED Mamata Banerjee complains she is being targeted out of the country, but this old British precedent while describing the achievements of left in a playground to play Researchers from Curtin University particularly by the Centre, while the BJP alleges has been abandoned. While Manmohan Singh the rst year of the second Narendra and explore. A good director found the universe’s “missing that her Covid management is poor. Interesting- was criticised by the BJP for his discussions with Modi government is zero. e people and team won’t let you fall o baryonic matter”—which amounts ly, in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party is Pakistan, Modi, too, came under criticism for of this country will remember the func- that swing. ere’s a sense of to half of the total matter in the keener on attacking a fellow opposition party, the his impromptu visit to Lahore to meet Paki- tioning of the rst year of the second both freedom and challenge. universe—hiding in the vast space Congress, than the Yogi Adityanath government. stan prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Suave prime Modi government as zero. It’s like working in wonder- between stars and galaxies. The e ruling parties insist that the claims of ministers like A.B. Vajpayee and P.V. Narasimha land. Derek O’Brien, Trinamool Congress researchers used mysterious fast mismanagement, for example, of the migrant Rao used to brief the opposition leaders much Aditi Rao Hydari, actor leader radio bursts for the discovery. crisis are a direct attack on frontline workers like more intensively than Modi and Manmohan the railway workers. But the critics argue that the Singh. After the national lockdown, Modi held an WORD PLAY railway workers were ready to move migrants all-party meeting via videoconference. Several This is the age of hyperleaders, and digital media is responsible for their creation. Hyper- from day one of the national lockdown, but the chief ministers also held all-party meetings. But leaders are those politicians who are more popular than the party they lead, and who use rail links were shut by an order of the political the coronavirus has not stilled the political noise. social media aggressively to widen their political influence. A hyperleader may have a far executive. Ministers and leaders of ruling parties e clamour has only grown day by day, as in larger social media base than his party, and this may even help him float above the party. of all colours and ideologies argue that it is the most other democracies around the world.
ILLUSTRATION BHASKARAN [email protected]
8 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 9 APERITIF PARTY SNACKS
POSTER CHILD, NO MORE A Congress leader in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, was arrested for putting up missing posters of Jyotiraditya Scindia. But, perhaps, the BJP posters in his hometown may have given Scindia TO BE CONTINUED more heartburn. e BJP’s Gwalior e two-year-long celebrations of Mahatma unit, like all other units, came up Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary came to a with publicity material on the rst shuddering halt because of the lockdown. anniversary of Modi 2.0. Photographs e programmes, which started in 2018, were of all prominent and local party scheduled to end on October 2 this year. leaders were included, but new entrant Now, the culture ministry has proposed that Scindia’s photographs were missing. the events, especially those planned abroad Later, the district president expressed in association with Indian embassies and regret, but, by then, the rumours that high commissions, be held after normalcy Scindia was unacceptable to the BJP returns. e ministry also suggested that the cadre had started making the rounds. celebrations be continued beyond Gandhi Jayanti, in order to complete them.
PERSONAL TOUCH More than two dozen journalists had requested the Telangana health department to test them for Covid-19 as they were on the eld covering the pandemic. After the rst batch underwent tests in Hyderabad, there seemed to be only one question they wanted answered—whether they were positive. Surprisingly, Health Minister E. Rajender himself broke the news to the journalists who were positive and counselled them to not worry.
CLASSES FOR THE MASSES BACK AT THE HELM AIR VOLUNTEER Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP MP from Saran, Home Minister Amit Shah had kept a low Vijayan’s Covid-19 news conferences Bihar, has been ying commercial pro le during the lockdown, leading to have been among the most watched planes for a decade. During the various theories, including about “health TV programmes in the state during lockdown, he ew a cargo ight to problems”. As the rumours fell thick and fast, the lockdown period. But now, he Dhaka, Bangladesh, carrying raw he even issued a statement about being in seems to have some competition from material for personnel protective perfect health. Now, as the Centre makes unexpected quarters—government equipment. He even carried food for his the transition from lockdown to phased school teachers. After the state six-member crew. Before the charter, reopening, he is back in the limelight. Shah education department started online Rudy took the time to tweet a video from had telephone conversations with chief classes on June 1, the teachers taking an eerily vacant Delhi international ministers, addressed media conclaves, and classes in the government-run channel airport; dressed in his pilot’s uniform, even attended the BJP’s virtual rallies. While have become the talk of the town. Many Rudy reassured people that all e orts Prime Minister Narendra Modi is busy with of them got dedicated social media fan were being made to tackle the crisis. international engagements, Shah is holding pages on day one itself. the fort at home.
ILLUSTRATIONS JAIRAJ T.G. 10 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 11 CURRENT EVENTS DIGITAL DIPLOMACY
TALKING HEADS PIB Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with the heads of Indian missions abroad through videoconferencing; (below) Australian Prime Minister with Scomosas and mango chutney
videoconference. Modi, meanwhile, involves hectic lobbying, seems a more cost-e ective and climate-sen- has held 42 such meetings. “Virtual certainty, with diplomats working the sitive, virtual engagement is likely to diplomacy will be the new normal in phones. be the way forward. e decision to Virtual turns real post Covid times,’’ assert sources in “ e digital [era] is also transform- hold a digital summit with Australia Being cost-e ective and climate-friendly, digital diplomacy is here to the MEA. “We are fully prepared to ing the space for track-1.5 and track-2 has shown that concrete outcomes use technology and innovative tools diplomacy,’’ says Sanjay Pulipaka, with like-minded countries do not stay, but challenging relationships still require traditional platforms to ensure business as usual.’’ who has co-authored a paper with always require in-person interaction. Gopal Bagley, the Indian high Mohit Musaddi on digital diplomacy. Pulipaka and Musaddi point out commissioner to Sri Lanka, became “ ese initiatives have all moved in their paper that digital diploma- BY MANDIRA NAYAR between Prime Minister Narendra to zero physical interaction to en- the rst Indian to present his creden- online.” With digital platforms being cy existed and thrived even before Modi and Australian Prime Min- hance cooperation and even to signal tials virtually. Syed Akbaruddin, one Covid-19. “Ever since the telephone DECLASSIFIED documents from ister Scott Morrison, scheduled to displeasure. India, for instance, of India’s most illustrious perma- found its way into diplomatic con- the British foreign o ce on the 1942 be held on June 4, will be a staid issued a virtual demarche to Pakistan nent representatives to the United versations, it has remained indispen- Moscow summit between British a air, despite its historic nature. e in April over the killing of civilians on Nations, retired from service with a sable,’’ says the paper. US president prime minister Sir Winston Churchill summit will certainly be a success, the border. It involved a terse phone virtual namaste. George H.W. Bush made 35 calls in and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin but there will be no drinks, food or call to the Pakistani high commis- Multilateral interactions, too, the rst 10 days after Iraq invaded show that the breakthrough came photographs, only a joint statement. sion, followed by an email. And, now, are happening virtually. From the Kuwait on August 2, 1990. President in the wee hours of August 16. After e warmth in bilateral ties, however, the MEA is all set to virtually host the extraordinary G20 summit held Barack Obama went ahead with the hours of tortuous negotiations failed will be felt across the digital divide. Australian prime minister. on March 26 to the World Health now-dead nuclear deal with Iran to bear fruit, Stalin invited Churchill “Covid has brought about disruption “While this may be the rst time we Assembly held on May 18 and 19, following a telephone conversation to his apartment in the Kremlin to in all aspects of life. Diplomacy is are hosting a virtual summit, engage- multilateral engagements have with president Hassan Rouhani. continue negotiations over dinner, no exception,’’ says Australian High ment with world leaders over digital moved online. Diplomats have real- Handling trickier relationships, which featured copious amounts Commissioner Barry O’Farrell, who platforms is not new for us,’’ say MEA ised that prickly conversations and however, will continue to be a of alcohol and food, including a digitally presented his credentials sources. “Our leadership has virtually lobbying can happen without leaving challenge. “Virtual diplomacy works suckling pig. Finally, at around 1am, to President Ram Nath Kovind last connected with our partners across the comforts of their seats and for normal, day-to-day a airs,’’ says Churchill summoned his permanent month. the globe in the past few weeks.” o ces. e UN is looking at a virtual retired diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar. undersecretary, Sir Alexander Welcome to diplomacy 2020, Between March 1 and May 11, Ex- General Assembly meeting this year “But where there are critical and vital Cadogan, and gave him the good where the rules of engagement have ternal A airs Minister S. Jaishankar with pre-recorded speeches. India’s issues, whether it is trade or security, news. changed. e virtual has replaced the has had 52 conversations with election to the non-permanent seat you need to see the person and look
In comparison, the virtual summit real. Diplomats have learnt to adapt foreign leaders over telephone or via in the UN Security Council, which TWITTER COURTESY: him in the eye to make a judgment.’’
12 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 13 CURRENT EVENTS DIGITAL DIPLOMACY
Hard negotiations almost always happen behind closed I INTERVIEW Q/Australia has demanded an FASHION • ART • BOOKS • MUSIC • THEATRE • LUXURY • FOOD • PEOPLE • REVIEWS • CINEMA • SERIES doors, often with a little help. e independent inquiry into the origins of Russians believe in vodka diplo- Covid-19. macy, with the liquor helping in A /The call for an independent review loosening tongues. e Chinese came from the conviction of the rely on their unending banquets. global community to know how we got e Finns are proud of their Covid-19 and as an attempt to improve saunas. Back in 1960, Finland’s Barry O’Farrell, Australian international institutional response president Urho Kekkonen men high commissioner to India to future pandemics. We welcomed ded ties with the Soviet Union by the resolution of the World Health hosting a birthday party for Nikita Assembly, committing to an impartial, Khrushchev in a sauna. Indira Can’t believe independent and comprehensive Gandhi used to send Alphonso review, supported by 138 member mangoes to the shah of Iran. China wants to states, including India. Australia shares Modi, too, has used gifts as a an economic and strategic partnership diplomatic tool. e shawl sent to be an unreliable with China. But our decisions are guided Pakistan prime minister Nawaz by common sense and national interest. Sharif’s mother was a perfect gift partner I am not unmindful of the issues that In- in a less than perfect relationship. dia is facing on its borders in the north. But those are for India to resolve. When diplomacy turns digital, BY MANDIRA NAYAR DIGITAL STAGE Screen grabs of Bubble, a such tools, however, may not be play by AKVarious Production, and (below) available, especially while dealing Q/India and Australia have come closer Q/Your views on an increasingly Lockdown Love by Kommune on Zoom with challenging relationships. militarily. How do you see this space assertive China? “It is certainly successful in the evolve, especially after the Mutual A /I find it hard to believe that China case of India and Australia where Logistics Support Agreement is in place? wants to be seen as a less than reliable there is commonality of views,’’ A /The India-Australia defence trading partner. Many countries includ- says Harsh Pant of the Observ- relationship is overlooked sometimes. ing Australia and India have engaged er Research Foundation. “I am In the past few years, we have seen in trade with China for a long time. sceptical how e ective it will be the number of defence engagements We have seen actions that have been when there are divergent views, quadrupling. We have AUSINDEX, which characterised in particular ways. But in The rtual act and diplomacy is really need- is Australia’s largest and most complex the long-term, it makes no sense for any With auditoriums and theatre spaces closed, artistes are ed.’’ e 2018 Wuhan summit [defence exercise] with India. I think it is country to get the reputation of being embracing online platforms to express their creativity between Modi and Chinese Pres- going in the right direction. unreliable. ident Xi Jinping, which helped Australia has been quite passionate BY PRIYANKA BHADANI bring down temperatures after Q/Faced with the threat of Covid-19, Q/ how do you assess the potential of eco- about the India-US-Japan-Australia Quad. the Doklam crisis, could not have nomic ties between the two countries? Is A /The Quad is developing as a good taken place in a virtual format. the door to the Regional Comprehensive forum for like-minded democracies Tough situations, even now, Economic Partnership (RCEP) still open? to coordinate approaches towards need old-fashioned diplomacy. A /The pandemic has demonstrated the important issues such as maritime As the Afghanistan situation importance of resilient supply chains. security, cybersecurity and counterter- seemed to be getting out of The Indian government is looking to en- rorism. Those issues are real today. We hand, US Special Representative courage more common investment, with share a commitment and responsibility Zalmay Khalilzad ew down to many companies seeking to diversify for maintaining a secure and stable Qatar, India and Pakistan in early their production bases to make sure they Indo-Pacific region. May to salvage the situation. are not crippled by being caught in one While in Delhi, he suggested country in the midst of a crisis. There Q/The dates for the Indian cricket opening a channel of communi- are natural commonalities between team’s Australian tour have been cation with the Taliban. Such a India and Australia. There is potential in announced. conversation could never have education, energy resources, biotech, A /Cricket is the shared passion of both happened over a screen. But for advanced manufacturing, health, water countries. The series will lift spirits as now, digital diplomacy might just and agricultural services. The door we keep fighting this terrible virus. It can be the way countries engage with remains open for India to join the RCEP. assist in repairing mental health and one another. But that decision is to be made by India. morale in both countries.
19-04-202012-04-202022-03-202029-03-202026-04-202022-03-202029-03-2020 19-04-202012-04-202022-03-202029-03-202010-05-2020 14 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 62 THE WEEK • MAY 31, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 15 MAY 31, 2020 • THE WEEK 63 GUJARAT EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
apparatus. We have created Q/We knew that Dhaman-1 was Vijay Rupani, separate lodging facilities for not efficient. Why did we wait Gujarat chief minister doctors, nurses and other until a few days ago to ask for medical staff who come in quality ventilators? contact with patients. In case A/We were in talks to produce PPE any of them show symptoms, a kits, masks and ventilators in Guja- complete checkup is conduct- rat. The idea was to get ventilators ed, which includes testing, manufactured immediately, using Recovery rate quarantine and treatment. expertise available within the state. A Rajkot-based firm took Q/But why is there a short- up the challenge. They success- age of safety equipment? fully developed a ventilator, and in Gujarat is A/The state government has we named it Dhaman-1. The first I agree, sufficient stock. We have also model is efficient in supplying engaged additional manufac- oxygen; ideal for patients who Ahmedabad has a turers to increase production require a steady supply of oxygen. high mortality rate. higher than the capacity. The administration Dhaman-3, an advanced version, is But our analysis has enough PPE (personal now ready to be used for treating protective equipment) kits for critical cases. We have 67 patients has revealed that national average not just government medical on ventilator in Gujarat at the mo- a large number of BY NANDINI OZA staff, but also doctors and ment. We have sufficient high-end medical staff at private clinics ventilators and we are upgrading Covid-19 patients and hospitals. others in a phased manner. who lost their A LOT SEEMS to be wrong with Gu- collaborated with 31 private hospitals the national average. (Around 10,000 lives were people jarat’s fight against Covid-19. Cases to treat patients. We run 3,500 tests patients have recovered, and about continue to multiply, with more than per day; we have tested more than 2.16 5,800 are being treated now.) aged 60 or above, 17,000 infections and 1,000 deaths. lakh people. I agree, Ahmedabad has a high with co-morbid There are complaints of negligence at mortality rate. But our analysis has conditions like the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, one of Q/Gujarat is one of the top three revealed that a large number of the largest Covid-19 hospitals in Asia, states in cases and deaths. Covid-19 patients who lost their lives blood pressure, while the row over the alleged poor A/In Gujarat, a large number of cases were people aged 60 or above, with hypertension and quality of Dhaman-1 ventilators, devel- [were because of] people who entered co-morbid conditions like blood pres- oped by a Rajkot-based company, rages the state after attending the Tablighi sure, hypertension and heart ailments. heart ailments. on. Even the expertise of Dr Randeep Jamaat markaz in Delhi. This was a We also found that a major share of Guleria, the All India Institute of Med- challenge for us, as these people not patients were already critical when ical Sciences director who was flown only hid their travel history but also met they were admitted. in a special Air Force plane last month, a large number of people after returning does not seem to have had an effect. to Gujarat. A large part of those who Q/Do we have an adequate number Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has his returned are in the 600-year-old walled of beds in Gujarat? back to the wall. In an exclusive inter- city of Ahmedabad, a densely populated A/Gujarat has three types of Covid-19 view with THE WEEK, he talked about area. In Ahmedabad, 75 per cent of facilities—dedicated hospitals, health the challenges faced by his government cases have originated from 25 per cent centres and care centres. Currently, and how he plans to tackle them. of this area. the state has 133 dedicated hospitals Excerpts: The recovery rate in Gujarat is above with more than 12,000 beds; there are 45 per cent, which is higher than the 2,200 ICU beds and 1,200 ventilators. Q/How has your government tackled national average. It does not matter Additionally, we have 68 dedicated the Covid-19 crisis? whether Gujarat is at number three health centres with 4,700 beds and A/Before the first case was reported or four. What matters is the strategy 125 ICU beds. on March 19, we had screened and adopted by the government to control quarantined over 20,000 international the spread. Q/There are allegations that doctors passengers. A core team was formed and paramedics are not being tested, and we announced dedicated Covid-19 Q/In Tamil Nadu, which has more despite many of them showing hospitals in four megacities with a total cases than Gujarat, the death toll is symptoms. capacity of 2,200 beds. less than 200. In Gujarat, it is more A/We are following the testing guide- As an added measure, we set up than 1,000. How do you explain this lines and protocols prescribed by the Covid-19 hospitals in all districts with a high number of deaths—especially in Indian Council of Medical Research. minimum capacity of 100 beds. Gujarat Ahmedabad? Doctors and other medical staff is the first state in the country to set up A/The recovery rate in Gujarat stands involved in treating Covid-19 patients
such dedicated hospitals. We have also at 48.13 per cent, which is higher than are provided with all necessary safety PATEL JANAK
16 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 17 GUJARAT GUJARAT EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW CRISIS MANAGEMENT
Q/The Puducherry government has among hospital sta . cancelled its order for Dhaman-1. Is Gujarat’s battle against Covid-19, Gujarat going to continue using it? too, seems to have become a tragedy A/The Puducherry government had of errors. Gone are the rosy stories ordered Dhaman-1 from the Ra- jkot-based company. However, after of the initial days of the ght, when the Congress politicised the matter, there were viral videos of patients Puducherry cancelled the orders. It praising the quality of medical care has been done to further the agen- at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, da of the Congress, which rules the and the state government regularly Union territory. briefed the media on the measures being taken to contain the outbreak. Q/Spitting in public is a major rea- ings went south in barely a son for the spread of Covid-19. Was month. e brie ngs stopped and it advisable to let paan masala and stories of apathy and mismanage- gutkha shops reopen? A/There are a large number of people ment at the Civil Hospital began doing the rounds. ere are more earning their livelihoods through these SPREADING than 5,300 active cases in Gujarat The Puducherry small shops. So a decision was taken CONCERN government to reopen such shops in a phased Patients at a now—4,000 of them in Ahmedabad. had ordered manner. We have ensured that they quarantine Nearly 1,100 people have died, with are open only for takeaways. facility at the Ahmedabad accounting for 80 per Dhaman-1 from Ahmedabad cent of the toll. Q/Migrant labourers have gone the Rajkot- Civil Hospital PATEL JANAK e pandemic has exposed the back to their states. As industries failings of the BJP’s model state, based company. reopen, will there be a shortfall in which Narendra Modi had run for 14 manpower? weeks. The committee will assess However, after years before he became prime min- A/A large number of migrant labour- sectoral and sub-sectoral losses the Congress ers wanted to go home to meet their and provide necessary measures for ister. As the number of cases soar, the politicised families. It was an emotional need for revival. government appears clueless about them. We understood their concerns The committee will also review Model of how to restore normalcy. Business- the matter, and facilitated their journeys by the fiscal and budgetary position of es have been allowed to reopen, Puducherry arranging Shramik trains. Gujarat Gujarat and provide suitable sugges- except those in containment zones, cancelled the has sent the maximum number of tions for improvement. This will in- but there seems to be no detailed, migrants—more than 14.25 lakh—back clude revising fiscal deficit estimates mishandling longterm roadmap for recovery. orders. It has been home through 966 Shramik trains. and the current tax administration. e only silver lining, one that is That is, we have operated one-third of It will also analyse labour availability done to further Covid-19 has exposed the systemic ills highlighted by the state government, the total trains in India. and provide recommendations to the agenda of the There are around 3.25 lakh improve it. It will devise a strategy plaguing the BJP’s model state is the rate of recovery from Covid-19 Congress. industrial units that have resumed to create an ambient environment in the state, which is higher than the operations with 27 lakh workers. As of to attract foreign companies looking national average. But then, questions today, industrial electricity consump- to relocate their base from other BY NANDINI OZA are being asked about whether the tion in Gujarat has reached 85 per countries. rate shows the real picture. Recently, cent of its full consumption capacity We have also introduced the DEVRAM BHISIKAR, 70, died of ward. Shocked and confused, two a patient collapsed and died hours of 7,500MW. I am hopeful that, as Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Sahay Yojana, Covid-19 on May 29, a day after he relatives rushed to the hospital, after he was discharged from the the situation improves, the migrant wherein we provide a loan of up was admitted to the Ahmedabad only to be informed that the call Civil Hospital; the apparent cause of labourers will come back and resume to Rs1 lakh to small traders and work. self-employed people at a nominal Civil Hospital. His grieving family was a mistake and that the body death was lung failure. interest rate of 2 per cent. The re- collected his body, wrapped from they had cremated was indeed e government’s response to the Q/What is the action plan to maining 6 per cent interest for it will head to toe in opaque plastic sheets, Bhisikar’s. ey returned home outbreak has been error-prone. Poor bring Gujarat back on track in six be borne by the state government. and headed to a nearby crematori- crestfallen. But in the afternoon, coordination, a awed testing strate- months? In addition to that, a core committee um. ey did not have a last look at they received another call. Bhisikar gy, lack of quality care, overburden- A/A special economic revival commit- for Covid-19 conducts regular meet- him because of the fear of the virus. was in recovery, apparently. eir ing of junior doctors, late reporting of tee headed by Hasmukh Adhia has ings to assess the situation across e morning after the funeral, hopes were rekindled, but once infections and patients with co-mor- been formed. The committee will sub- Gujarat. I am hopeful that such the family received a call from the again cruelly dashed. It was nally bid conditions have made matters measures will gradually put Gujarat mit a comprehensive action plan with hospital. ey were told that Bhisikar con rmed that Bhisikar was dead, worse. e situation is so grim that necessary inputs within a month. An on the path of fast-paced develop- had tested negative for Covid-19 and and that the goof-up happened the Gujarat High Court recently interim report will be submitted in two ment in a post-Covid world. that he was being shifted to a general because of a miscommunication ayed the government for its inept
18 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 19 GUJARAT CRISIS MANAGEMENT FORTHWRITE MEENAKSHI LEKHI response. Apart from taking up a batch of public interest petitions, the court is also looking into an anon- ymous letter from a doctor at the Civil Hospital, detailing the systemic People from Europe and the US Support, don’t mindlessly criticise problems a ecting treatment. landed in western and northern More than 200 doctors in the state have contracted Covid-19. e Civil India. In Kerala, people mainly he economic stimulus package of 020 lakh constitute 24 per cent of the GDP from service Hospital recently lost its head nurse. landed from Gulf countries, where crore, announced by the Narendra Modi activities, but also provide employment to approxi- She had fever for days apparently, the strain was less potent. Tgovernment is one tight slap on the faces mately 120 million people. ey promote inclusive but was given proper attention only Dr Parthiv Mehta, an Ahmedabad-based pulmonologist of all his critics. e package was followed up by growth by providing employment opportunities after she developed breathlessness. a series of announcements intimating how and in rural areas, especially to the weaker sections of e failure to scale up tests and where the funds will be utilised for the four Ls— society. e nance minister has announced 03 the violation of social distancing land, labour, law and liquidity. It is a comprehen- lakh crore emergency working capital facilities for rules have accelerated the spread sive package that has touched upon major sectors businesses, including 45 lakh MSMEs. of the virus, especially in cities. of the Indian economy, along with encouragement In another step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat Carriers from urban areas have enough,” he said. “Prevention is bet- of H.K. Arts College in Ahmedabad. to supporting sectors. It is a clearly de ned leap Abhiyan, no global tenders will be allowed in the been spreading the disease in small ter than the cure. See the example Himani Baxi, assistant professor of towards economic reforms that will help India government sector for up to 0200 crore. e Cen- towns and villages across Gujarat. of Kerala, Karnataka and Assam. In economics and public policy at Ah- become self-reliant and resilient. tre also announced a scheme to provide homes to Even people in power have been lax these states, primary health care medabad University, said decentral- e Covid-19 virus has changed migrant labourers and urban poor in taking precautions. Ahmedabad facilities are also good.” isation was an issue. “Health care is the face of the world economy. at a ordable rent. It has extended Mayor Bijal Patel has made public Gujarat spends very little on primarily the responsibility of urban Import and export sectors have the interest subsidy scheme for appearances and given interviews health care. is year, it allocated bodies,” she said. “Over the years, experienced a cascade e ect. middle-income families till March without wearing a mask. 011,243 crore for health and family the state government kept certain Self-reliance or ‘Atmanirbharta’ is 2021 to boost housing demand. Dr Hariprasad Iyer of Ahmedabad, welfare, which is just 5 per cent of nancial powers with it and did not the only way to be now. e prime e Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme who is on Covid-19 duty, said people the total outlay. “As per the National let the urban bodies grow.” is, she minister is hell-bent on realising a was also extended up to March became overcon dent and broke Health Policy of 2017, the health pointed out, is completely di erent dream that any economy strives to 2021 and it will bene t approxi- social distancing rules. “People budget should be 8 per cent of the from the Kerala model, which em- achieve, a sense of self-su ciency mately two lakh middle-income are educated, but not disciplined state budget,” said Prof Hemant Shah powers civic bodies. and least dependency on imports. families. ere was also the e prevalence of co-morbid When the rst case of Covid-19 announcement of the one-nation- conditions among patients is also hit the country, not even a single one-ration-card scheme to allow ROCKY ROAD a challenge. Jayanti Ravi, principal PPE kit was being manufactured migrant workers to access public In early secretary at the health ministry, in the country. But, within a span of less than two distribution system bene ts from any fair price May, some told THE WEEK that 84 per cent of months, an average of 1.5 lakh PPE kits was man- shop across the country. e schemes have proved residents of patients who died of Covid-19 had ufactured locally. is impossible task was being that the government has its heart in the right place, Shahpur area co-morbid conditions. “In Gujarat, realised by the hard work of the Central health caring for all with utmost sensibility and of Ahmedabad the mortality rate of seasonal u has ministry, with support from local industry. e sensitivity. pelted stones also been high. Probably, this is the critics, backed by the opposition, are trying hard Apart from these, there is a series of other at the police same in Covid-19 as well,” she said. to paint a dreaded picture, concentrating on a few schemes and bene ts that have been announced who were negative cases. by the government, like a booster for animal hus- enforcing the One reason for the high mortality lockdown rate, say experts, could be that most Due to the monetary help provided by the gov- bandry and sheries department for the holistic patients have contracted the L strain ernment, crores of poor, directly or indirectly, are growth of the nation. e sad state of a airs is that of the virus, which is more virulent being free-fed on a daily basis since the beginning the opposition chooses to stick to little loopholes and aggressive. “People from Europe of the lockdown. Financial assistance of 034,800 it can nd in the larger good of the country and and the US landed in western and crore, using digital payment infrastructure, was spread make-believe stories against the Modi gov- northern India,” said Dr Parthiv provided to some 39 crore bene ciaries. e 20 ernment in a constantly failing attempt to revive its Mehta, an Ahmedabad-based pul- lakh crore package includes 01.7 lakh crore for sunken ship. It is high time the opposition realises monologist. “Looking at the graph providing free foodgrains to the poor and cash to that working with the Modi government to rebuild of progression, the virus seems to poor women and the elderly. the nation in these testing times will be a smarter be following the trajectories in Italy e medium, small and micro enterprises are idea than to mindlessly criticise the policies and and the US. In Kerala, people mainly the backbone of Indian economy as they not only make oneself a laughing stock. landed from Gulf countries, where ILLUSTRATION BHASKARAN Lekhi is member of Parliament • [email protected]
JANAK PATEL JANAK the strain was less potent.”
20 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 21 TAMIL NADU TESTING TIMES Enough is not enough The optimism of the Palaniswami government cannot hide its mismanagement of the pandemic
BY LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN
ON MAY 31, the last day of lockdown 4.0, as the Tamil Nadu government issued orders for phased unlocking, 1,149 fresh cases and 13 deaths were reported in 24 hours. e daily count had touched a four-digit number for the
rst time. e 804 fresh cases from Chennai continued to PTI worry medical professionals. But with the increased test- HOME, BOUND ing, high recovery rate and low mortality, the government Migrant labourers wait near the indicated that all was well in Tamil Nadu. Chennai railway station, looking for a “ ere is nothing to panic,”said J. Radhakrishnan, spe- way to return to their native states cial nodal o cer for Chennai corporation, appointed to coordinate Covid-19 e orts. “ e situation is completely mission,” said Dr J. Amalorpavanathan, former director, Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi for the rise in cases, say that this is because of lack of quarantine facilities for under control.” He emphasised that the spike in cases was Institute of Vascular Surgery, Madras Medical College. then the Koyambedu cluster. en, on May 20, the non-resident Tamils. because of increase in testing. But the situation is contrary “ e focus now should be on testing asymptomatic pa- health department’s bulletin pointed ngers at those e state constituted 18 expert committees to handle the to what Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami predict- tients, tracking their contacts and isolating and treating coming from other states. pandemic but none of those have released a proper set of ed, on April 17, when he said that “the number will come them. e government has to focus on increasing the e government also kept changing its stance on an- recommendations till date, except for the medical expert down to zero” within three days, and called it a “disease of testing inside the containment zones.”He says the very nouncements. TASMAC liquor stores were reopened committee. On the other hand, Palaniswami is growing in- the rich”. Tamil Nadu now has over 23,000 cases, of which purpose of introducing more testing centres in the state on May 6 but closed the next day as social distanc- secure of his own people. When Health Minister C. Vijaya- over 10,000 are active. e government might deny it but in May has not been served. ing was not followed. Later, Kamal Haasan’s Mak- baskar started becoming popular for dealing with the crisis, epidemiologists say there is “widespread community “ e virus will take its own course,” said Dr kal Needhi Maiam went to the Madras High Court, he was sidelined. e responsibility was given to health sec- spread” in parts of Chennai. Jayaprakash Muliyil, epidemiologist and former prin- which then ordered for closure of the shops. e state retary Dr Beela Rajesh; but when her press brie ngs drew “What we are seeing now is that the cases are increas- cipal of CMC, Vellore. “At the moment, there is com- government appealed to the praise, the chief secretary was asked ing at a linear pace. We might not see a declining trend as munity transmission. I don’t think the government has Supreme Court and the shops to take over. Eventually, Palaniswami in Italy or China, in the next few weeks,” said Dr Shanthi to feel embarrassed about it. is is not their failure, were opened again, except in delivered the daily brie ngs himself. Ravindranath, a senior gynaecologist and secretary of Doc- because this is the nature of the disease and this is how Chennai. Another major incident e early announcement of the open- tors Association for Social Equality. In the last two weeks, an epidemic grows.” was regarding the Class 10 public ing of the Mettur dam for irrigation in people tweeted about the poor levels of testing. eir On March 7, when Chennai detected its rst Covid-19 exams. e government rst the Cauvery delta was allegedly staged posts suggested that only one person per family was being case, the chief minister and his colleagues maintained scheduled the exams for June 1 There is community to cover up the poor handling of the tested, even if the others had symptoms. For instance, a that only children and the elderly were vulnerable, and later postponed it to June 15, transmission. pandemic. 58-year-old woman in Royapuram, one of the most a ect- and the infection would not spread. ree days after when even public transport will The government Despite growing concerns, on June ed areas in Chennai, died just a day after she developed Palaniswami said that the number would come down not have opened in full swing. need not feel 2, Palaniswami once again said that symptoms. While her son, who had tested positive, was to zero, the number of cases per day was in three digits. e state has denied permis- the government is working hard to shifted to the government hospital in Omandurar, she was And since May 3, the number has exceeded 500. sions for ights that would bring embarrassed. This contain the pandemic. He highlight- turned away from the testing centre. “ is was the result of an unplanned lockdown,” said in Tamils living abroad, unlike is not their failure. ed the fact that the death rate was e government maintains that the health department Ravindranath. “ e chief minister calling for a strict what neighbours Kerala and —Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil, less than 0.80 per cent. “We need not is doing more tests than other states (11,300 on an average lockdown within a lockdown led to the Koyambedu Karnataka did for their stranded epidemiologist and former principal panic,” he said. “ e infected are being per day), but experts feel it is not enough. “ ere is no cluster and then came the increase in numbers.” e residents. Highly placed sources of CMC, Vellore treated and we ensure that they go point in [arguing] about the presence of community trans- state rst blamed the people who returned from the in the state health department back home.”
22 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 23 SOCIETY A HELPING HAND
in the most a ected areas of Indore the National Network of Sex Workers like Palda and Malwa Mills, providing (NNSW), have managed to provide ration kits to people who lost their relief to more than 5,000 families livelihood during the lockdown. “We in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, distributed grocery kits along with Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, soaps to about 600 needy families,” Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. says Rajendra Bandhu, executive Apart from providing groceries and director of Samaan Society. other essentials, the NNSW has been e organisation essentially works creating awareness about the pan- for women empowerment, but has demic among the community. “Hav- now busied itself with relief work. ing su ered from HIV, sex workers Several such organisations have are quick to understand the threat of reached out to those in need during viruses,” says Seshu. “ ey were told the pandemic, going beyond their about the contact spread of Covid-19, usual area of service. Apart from asked to use face mask and sanitisers NGOs and people's networks, these and keep buckets of water and soaps civil society groups also include for clients, even before the pandemic informal groups that were formed threat peaked in the country.” during the Covid-19 crisis. e help from NNSW has been Sachin Jain of Vikas Samvad, a much appreciated by Prema from Caring Bhopal-based advocacy group, Kanyakumari. “I am not infected which is documenting such e orts by Covid-19, but a ected by men- across India, says that not everyone tal stress and anxiety due to loss of had access to big donors; they fund- income,” she says. “ is help from ed their relief work jointly or through NNSW has been a great support in contributions from friends. While during such di cult times.” there were attempts to weaken and Cut to Kalyani in West Bengal, vilify civil society groups by closing where students of Bidhan Chandra funding avenues and using laws Agricultural University came togeth- crisis against them, he adds that the work er to help migrants. In the early days that is being done by these groups of the lockdown, they got distress During the pandemic, needs to be discussed. calls from villages that they had Take, for instance, the work being visited for eld work. “ e villagers civil society groups are done by Sangram Sanstha, which initially sought information about walking the extra mile to has distributed grocery kits to 689 Covid-19,” says Julekha Perveen, a sex workers in Maharashtra’s Sangli, third-year student at the university. assist those in distress Miraj, Karad, Satara, Ichalkaranji and “Slowly, they started telling us about Kolhapur districts. Meena Seshu of the situation faced by their kin who BY SRAVANI SARKAR the Sanstha talks about a 27-year-old had migrated across the country for DOORSTEP DELIVERY A volunteer of Vikas Samvad and Rew- sex worker who immolated herself work. So, my friends, Tamonath Roy anchal Dalit Adiwasi Samaj Seva Samiti in March after she developed fever. and Chandan Bhattacharya, and I distributes ration kits to residents of a “She did not test positive for Cov- decided to do something concrete.” remote village in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh id-19,”she says. “She was probably e trio collected 060,000 from anxious, distressed about the loss of friends, family and teachers and ON THE AFTERNOON of April 23, even after blood transfusions, she “Lalita didi not only took Asha and from the hospital. “As part of Samaan livelihood, of having to send her six- bought groceries for the needy. With Devendra Ujle, 26, stood forlorn in was referred to MY Hospital for deliv- me to MY Hospital, but also persuad- Society, we do relief work in the city year-old child to her parents’place help from other student volunteers— front of Prakashchandra Sethi Gov- ery. Being a Covid-19 hotspot, Indore ed the blood bank o cials to give a and therefore have curfew passes,” and her lover stopping his visits. We now around 60—they contacted ernment Hospital in Indore. He had was totally shut down, and Devendra bottle of blood to Asha,” says Deven- says Lalita. “So I simply helped when did counsel her, but she took the ex- migrants from West Bengal scattered been frantically trying to nd a vehi- could not nd any mode of transport. dra. “She was with us till 11pm when I saw them in trouble.” treme step. Her case is typical of the across the country. us was born cle to shift his pregnant wife, Asha, to at is when Lalita Ujle (not related my daughter was born. But for Lalita Lalita is part of Samaan Society’s situation that most of them are in.” the informal Joint Forum Against MY Hospital. An anaemic Asha was to the couple) arrived. Lalita, 31, is didi, I don’t know what would have 'Sakha Cabs' for women. She and Like other daily wage earners, sex Corona Crisis. close to her due date, and had been a driving instructor with Samaan become of my wife and daughter.” three other women drivers now de- workers, too, were deeply a ected “We started connecting migrants at the government hospital for two Society, an NGO. She was on her way When the Ujles were discharged, liver relief material to those in need. by the lockdown. But organisations with local organisations so that they days. But as her condition worsened home when she spotted the couple. Lalita drove them home, about 10km e organisation has been working like Sangram Sanstha, that are part of could get food and other help. If
24 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 25 SOCIETY FOCUS A HELPING HAND
we did not nd anyone, we would transfer some money to them,”says Perveen. One such bene ciary is Sushanta Sarkar, a jewellery artisan Success is from Burdwan, who is stranded in Jaipur. Sarkar says he and his ve friends are surviving on the money synonymous with provided by the forum as none of them have been paid their salaries. e forum also introduced migrants to apps of government schemes that our ability to adapt could help them nancially or return home. “It was not easy to explain it to MUKUL VASHISHT Way back in 2007, my grandfather—Mr Raj Rajendra Vash- them, so we made small videos using isht—taught me the three questions any business would and screenshots of these apps and sent DIRECTOR should ask itself: them,” says Perveen. WHAT [ the product] Technology has been an e ec- HOW [factory manufacture, source and import] tive tool to provide help during FOR WHOM [clients] The supply-demand problem arose because we didn’t ask the pandemic. When incidents of the right questions at the right time. violence against Covid-19 workers took a communal colour in Indore, Likewise, local mosque committees members of Aim for the Aware- were activated for Covid-19 relief " Any successful enterprise would need to ness of Society (AAs) realised that work. “ ey already engage in relief manufacture, source or import their products people were anxious because of the work from time to time, but we acti- How do you think enterprises are coping with the at a price that gives them a competitive pandemic and the unavailability of Lalita didi not only vated them and connected them with lockdown and the current crisis? advantage in the value chain. Such benefit can medical sta to treat other ailments. each other to create a wide network,” In the last decade we have seen all sorts of things. This took Asha and me only accrue if our institutions allow reform and So, AAs compiled a list of a dozen says Dr Rauf Malik of Koshish. unprecedented crisis has acclimatized us and taught us doctors who were ready to provide to MY Hospital, but In the tribal-dominated villages of to appreciate opportunity. Such is the pull of a fall that build efficiencies of scale." you are more determined to push yourself back up. free telemedicine services. Posters Rewa, Satna, Umaria, Panna, Niwari also persuaded the We are only witnessing a period of silence before our We need to identify our core strengths —whether it is were put up with phone numbers and Shivpuri of Madhya Pradesh, workforce storms past the gates of development with manufacturing, sourcing or import—and ensure that we and availability hours of the doctors. people are pleasantly surprised when blood bank officials unrelenting activity and dynamism. With the financial stay competitive in that. Only on this basis can we think Volunteers also visited homes of to give a bottle of they receive grocery kits, including package announced and as movement and restrictions of increasing our exports and serving the international patients to facilitate phone calls to nutritious items like jaggery, sattu ease, we feel the time to gear up and transform the way market. doctors and delivered medicines. blood to Asha. (powdered, roasted gram) and laai we do business is now. “I was already helping people Devendra Ujle (above) with wife, Asha, (rice product), at their doorstep. Bho- As an example of India Inc’s fortitude and sense of What do you think about the PM’s new slogan of being through phone counselling, but daughter and Lalita (in blue kurta) pal-based Vikas Samvad Samiti and social responsibility, many businesses have felt the ‘vocal for local’? when AAs contacted me, I thought its associate organisations are under- need to serve and assist institutions in need of their From what I understand the slogan essentially means that this could formalise my work,” says taking relief work. ey have already acumen. Success is synonymous with our ability to we should be our own biggest ambassadors. This is true for Dr Azhar Qureshi, who continues to delivered grocery kits to more than adapt. anything that we do—whether it’s manufacturing, services work as an intensivist at a local hos- 3,000 families. Also, the kitchen And when all the books you’ve read have already been or an enterprise of any form, shape and size. pital. “Now I get 20-25 phone calls gardens set up by the organisation read by other people, it’s up to you to write a new story. every day and suitably guide them. classes in dance, yoga, aerobics and at community and home levels have Also, do you think credit advances by the government People with anxiety as well as the kin Japanese language. “We also helped helped villagers get fresh vegetables There has been much talk of the shortfall in PPE will increase the contribution of manufacturing? of critical patients contact me. I also send children stranded in di erent and fruits during lockdown. kits and other protective equipment. How do you While the stress on manufacturing is much needed, think enterprises are addressing that? domestic industry has always been driven by its people. call them for followups.” educational institutes including ma- A widow with two daughters, Pan Numerous businesses have evolved to support the According to the India Skill Report of 2019, only 45.6 per Also, AAs has created videos and drassas, back home,”says Iqbal. Bai Gond of Kataria village in Umaria fl u x i n d e m a n d , a n d o n e s u c h t r a n s f o r m a t i o n h a p pend cent of youth graduating from our educational institutions text messages, inclusive of religious In Jammu & Kashmir, which was is grateful for the help from groups. at One Stop Creativity as we collaborated with our is employable. We need more investment in skilling our teachings, to encourage people to under lockdown long before the She was forced to seek alms during stakeholders in pharma and health care industries workforce. Also, existing suppliers need an incentive to undergo tests, if needed, and not pandemic, Koshish has been using the lockdown. “But one day, two to help close the supply-demand gap, ensuring start manufacturing locally. Collateral-free loans can help, confront the administration in this technology to create awareness and persons came to our house with a accessibility of masks, PPE safety kits and infrared but may not always be consistent with the ways a profitable regard, says Waseem Iqbal of AAs. carry out relief work. Audio and vid- bag of rice, wheat, pulses, oil, jaggery, thermometers. business works. Since it handles Child Line in Indore, eo messages in local languages have spices and other things,” she says. AAs is keeping children in shelter been circulated on social media and “Now we have enough to eat for a To know more about One Stop Creativity, visit: www.onestopgifts.in homes engaged through online are also being played at mosques. month.” Write to Mukul on [email protected] or call +91-9818867921
26 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 27 KERALA EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Dr B. Ekbal, chairperson, expert committee on Covid-19 management, Kerala This is just intermission in our
BACK HOME fight against Covid-19 Indians who were stranded in the BY CITHARA PAUL UAE arrive at the Kozhikode DR B. EKBAL wears many hats. He is a neurosurgeon, an academic, international
PTI airport a public health activist and an established tabla player. He is also the chairperson of the expert committee that advises the chief minister of Kerala on all matters related to Covid-19. “I have learnt a lot more in the not going to end soon. district hospitals have been witness- the state reported the country's rst But I personally feel that had it been last three months than I did in my entire life,’’ says Ekbal in an exclusive ing dramatic improvements in infra- set of cases. We had our war room delayed by one week, the distress interview with THE WEEK, referring to his experience of leading a team Q/ How long will it last? structure and funding. is vibrant ready under the chief minister, it caused to the population, espe- of experts drawn from all elds to ght the pandemic. But he warns that A/ We have only reached the in- and robust health care system in turn quarantine cells in all district cially the migrants, could have been the battle is not over yet. Excerpts from the interview: termission. e second half of our boosted the morale of our health care hospitals and rapid response teams avoided. But I feel there is no point in Covid story need not be similar to the sta to ght the pandemic. Equally in all districts as early as January, judging something in hindsight. Q/ Kerala is gradually phasing across the world and this is bound to rst half. It can be totally di erent. If crucial is the role played by Chief while for other states, Covid-19 was out the lockdown, although the increase the number of positive cases one goes by the history of other pan- Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health something that was happening in Q/ What impact do you think the number of infections and deaths dramatically. It is unavoidable and demics, I would say that it can take Minister Shailaja Teacher. e chief far away China. is phase of early monsoons will have on Kerala’s are going up. we are prepared to deal with it. Our up to one year to 18 months for the minister anchored the whole thing preparation was a game changer. By ght against the pandemic? A/ Kerala's Covid story is at a focus at this juncture is to contain the virus to mutate and to become an ep- and led from the front. is gave the the second phase—the lockdown A/ Kerala is yet to recover fully from turning point as we are entering spread of the disease from NRKs to idemic and then an endemic. But it entire system the much-needed con- phase—the system was very much the shock caused by two consecutive the third phase of the ght against others, which could lead to commu- need not mean that the virus will be dence. So it is this combination of a in place and we ran it e ectively. oods. e monsoons will naturally the pandemic. We could manage nity spread. this virulent for such a long time and good system and a good leadership Now we are entering the third bring back all the scary memories. well till now because of our well- that is a relief. I am also hopeful that that helped Kerala in its ght. phase—the post lockdown phase— Along with it, a gamut of commu- planned contact tracing, stringent Q/ How much more worse can it get? a vaccine will be found in between. which is going to be very very tough. nicable diseases like dengue and quarantine measures and e ective A/ I don't want to give numbers, but Q/ What are the key strategies that But with our past experiences and leptospirosis will also come. e implementation of quarantine. But it can be really bad. We are entering a Q/ What are the key factors that Kerala adopted in ghting Cov- with a proper system in place, we management of non-Covid cases, as the lockdown is going to be lifted, phase where all restrictions are being helped Kerala in its successful ght id-19? will be able to overcome this, too, I which have been ignored till now, is we are entering a new phase which lifted and it is bound to increase the against Covid-19? A/ Kerala, with its high density of believe. equally important. e fact that only is going to be very challenging. At risks. ere are many variables that A/ Kerala's success story is also the population, high percentage of Covid deaths made it to the front the same time, it is only realistic that determine whether one succeeds success of its unique social capital the 60-plus population and a large Q/ Was the lockdown e ective, pages does not mean that non-Covid the lockdown be phased out. ere or not in the ght against Covid —its decentralised and robust public number of people with comorbidities considering the human cost deaths have disappeared. All those is an extent to which any govern- and system eciency is one crucial health care system, its vibrant local is among the riskiest states in India involved? illnesses are still around. As the ment can hold on to lockdown as factor. It can improve or deteriorate governance and its educated and when it comes to Covid-19. So our A/ From a medical point of view, I lockdown is coming to an end, the a protective measure. Kerala must as challenges increase. We all must informed community involvement. ght had to be extra aggressive. We am certain that the lockdown has reporting of comorbidity cases is expect a huge in ow of non-resident be conscious that the system is not In fact, Covid has come at a time can divide Kerala's ght into three de nitely helped in reducing the bound to escalate. All these are going Keralites (NRKs) from red zones fatigued as the ght against Covid is when our primary health centres and phases. e initial phase was when number of infections and deaths. to be huge challenges.
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The city of HIT BY COVID-19 AND AN EARLY MONSOON, MUMBAI HAS NEVER SEEMED SO CLOSE TO THE BRINK perils BY JERRY PINTO
TWISTS AND TURNS FOR MUMBAIKARS At the Bandra-Worli Sea Link AMEY MANSABDAR
30 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 31 COVER STORY MUMBAI
Covid-19 case was con rmed. A mar- ket sprang up on the street; it began at 7am and was done two hours later when the rst police vehicles and municipality vans began to scour the streets. Security sta turned into entrepreneurs. A Gorkha family y aunt, Ce- went from standing ornamentally in line Coelho, front of shopfronts to selling onions, is a retired potatoes, tomatoes and the occasion- teacher. al bunch of coriander. Meanwhile, She lives the news went from worries about on her own citizenship to being intensely local. M in a studio Everyone wanted to know where apartment “cases” had been located. Friends with a patch of carefully tended inaugurated calls with: I hope you garden. Over the last six weeks, she are okay? And then went on to: And LONG ROAD has been looking after herself, wash- your building? AHEAD Migrant ing her clothes and ironing them, But no one was sure about what labourers on cooking her meals and eating them happened next. In a building nearby, the Mumbai- alone. She has no smartphone, no a doctor tested positive. e hazmat Ahmedabad computer, no laptop, no Net ix. She suits appeared and took down the highway, en route has books and her writing. She is 84 names and numbers of everyone in to their homes and for me, she is a hero of the lock- the building, and then some munic- in Dahanu, in Palghar district down. But even heroes have lessons ipal workers came and cleaned the of Maharashtra to learn. “I have always valued my staircases, and that was it. Life went
independence,” she said to me over on as usual. e building was not AMEY MANSABDAR the phone. “What the lockdown has locked down leaving the residents taught me is how dependent I am on feeling slightly let down and deeply other people.” relieved. Since there was never any courage each other not to feel bad if to get our children back from the to death and we would get on with marginalised of the city—the home- It is a lesson every Mumbaikar is clear information about what to we have not been productive today. If United States, where they have our lives. at does not seem to have less and the poor. is year, with learning quickly. is is being written expect, and newspapers were not you have money in the bank, you can been studying, migrant workers die happened. Covid-19 out there, it will be much, as Cyclone Nisarga begins to sweep being delivered, everyone became skip a day because you are feeling of starvation. Last night, I woke up to a familiar much worse. inland and netizens are reading an expert. Everyone could tell you blue. If you are a daily-wage earner, What keeps us going is schaden- sound—the thunder of rain on the Will the city survive this? “Oh, the Amitav Ghosh’s warning message what the chief minister was going to not being productive means, you go freude, a German word that means weatherboarding. is has always city has had its obits written again about stocking up on candles and do until he went and did something to sleep hungry. the joy we feel in the pain of others. been a special moment. Practically and again,” says Naresh Fernandes, drinking water. It is being written just else. As for the poor, they have been the I hear of a colleague whose father the only poem I responded to viscer- editor of Scroll.in and author of City after we were told that the locusts Otherwise, the city functions as it target of our twin sins—a besetting su ered a stroke on the second ally in the da odil-strewn English Adrift: A Short Biography of Bombay. were coming. e locusts are now in always did. e rich have left. ey apathy and a lack of empathy. While day of lockdown. She got him to language curriculum was How Beau- “In our lifetimes, the city was pro- Maharashtra and eating up the crops. have incarcerated themselves in we tell each other that there is no hospital, she got him home, she got tiful is the Rain (Rain in Summer) nounced dead after the riots of 1992, We have never seemed so close to their farmhouses and post pictures shame in not learning something him a bed and carers, she also got by Henry Longfellow. “Like a river the bomb blasts, the great deluge, the the brink. of themselves doing chores. e rest new, the poor have learned how to Covid. en began a saga of fever down the gutter roars, the rain, the terrorist attack on the Taj….” One of the phrases I use to de- of us are supposed to respond to this live on one meal, if they are lucky, and pills, and the discovery that welcome rain,” he wrote. e question is not of survival, I scribe my city is “an emergency in virtue signalling by being charmed handed out by a passing NGO. While living in a single room on your own I got up and walked into a night believe. e question is of learning. slow motion”; another way is “anar- at the sight of beautiful people doing we show o the ham and cheese is solitary con nement, and can newly cooled. I let myself breathe Can we learn to connect? Can we chy with a veneer of functionality”, the sweeping and swabbing. is, croquettes we baked, and our friends break the bravest soul. But if she deep of petrichor—the smell of earth learn to reach out? Can we demand and over the last couple of months, as we get on with the sweeping and post drooling emojis, migrant work- steps out of that room, and passes wetted by rain. I let myself be trans- decent living conditions for the least this has been demonstrated again swabbing, which we never did either. ers leave the city, walking, cycling on the infection, her father, who ported back to a childhood of bounc- of our citizens, without asking what and again. We thought we would not us, the middle class has less or on trains that lose their way. (A is in his late eighties, will be put at ing into puddles with my Duckback religion they follow or what caste get our fresh veggies in Mahim where time for its favourite pastime—priv- train loses its way? How does that risk. raincoat heavy on my back. I allow they belong to? Can we hold the na- I live when the Gopi Tank Market— ileged complaining. e food porn happen? On second thoughts, do At the beginning of the lock- myself this moment every monsoon tion’s richest municipal corporation famed across the city for its produce pics on Instagram continue. ere not tell me. I do not want to know.) down, we assured each other that before I remember that these three accountable? Or, will we go back to and its sh—closed down when a are loads of memes in which we en- While we put together Twitter storms the summer would burn the virus months will be very trying on the the joys of social media posturing?
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Maximum damage anks to the broken medical infrastructure, policy ip- ops and dense SYSTEM population, the Covid-19 pandemic has OVERLOAD brought Mumbai to its knees Bharatratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar BY DNYANESH JATHAR AND POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL Municipal General Hospital nspector Amol Kulkarni, 33, policemen succumb to the disease in Kandivali, Mumbai. Most collapsed in the bathroom every week. civic hospitals of his house in Sion on e city of Mumbai is reeling un- in the city are May 16. He was imme- der its biggest health care crisis since overburdened I diately taken to hospital, the plague of 1896. Reports say on
but was declared dead on average 30 people died of Covid-19 AMEY MANSABDAR arrival. He had got himself tested for every day in the city in May. e lock- Covid-19 three days earlier, when down might have helped in limiting he went to a hospital with cold and the numbers, but the disease’s unre- and residents—jostle for space Sunita, tears streaming down her KEM Hospital, an institution which the ventilators. Neither do they have fever. His test results, which were lenting spread has scared the people with relatives of patients. Buckets eyes. e Khades live in Dharavi, has been at the forefront of Mumbai’s an option nor do we,” said Jay Savla, positive, came a few hours before his like never before. Reports of frontline of used masks and gloves are one of Mumbai’s worst hit areas with battle against the pandemic from an intern. Ten of her batch-mates death. Kulkarni’s last rites were done health care workers being stopped kept alongside trolleys of fresh around 3,000 cases and 71 deaths. the beginning. Now it looks like a have been quarantined after testing by the ocers and constabulary at by housing societies from returning medical equipment. People walk “It has been so long, but the disease battered soldier who has given up the positive. Shahu Nagar police station, as his to their homes are a manifestation of in and out as they wish, some does not seem to abate,” she said. ght. Dreadful images of dead bodies Kirit Somaiya, vice president of family was quarantined. “You are how deep the fear has set in. even without protective masks. “We have no work and no dignity of Covid-19 patients in body bags the BJP in Maharashtra, described our family,” Kulkarni’s wife told his e total number of Covid positive “We cannot keep a tab on every- left. We do not want charity and we lying in the corridors of the hospital the chaos at KEM through the story colleagues. “Please perform Amol’s cases in Mumbai crossed 42,000 on one,” said a nurse. “ ere is only do not care for this disease. is have been doing the rounds on social of Sudhakar Khade. A resident of last rites.” June 3, which is about one- fth of the so much we can do.” is the reason many people in our media. “We see 100-150 suspected Lalbaug, Khade, 70, was admitted Another death that hit the head- total reported cases in the country. Balu Khade, 58, got admitted neighbourhood are afraid of coming Covid-19 patients every day. I have to KEM on May 14. He was shifted lines was that of Dr Chittaranjan e emergency ward of the Lokman- to the hospital a few days ago out to even get tested or report the administered IV lines, catheters and to the ICU on May 18 and was put Bhave, an acclaimed ENT surgeon. ya Tilak Municipal General Hospital with fever and breathlessness, disease—the fear of quarantine, lack oxygen tubes to patients lying on on ventilator. e following day, the He died on June 2 of complications in Sion is a heart-wrenching picture. but his swab was yet to be col- of beds and ill treatment. Nobody the oor. Some of those who died hospital informed his family that he that followed Covid-19 infection. Two patients share each of the 15 lected for testing (at the time of wants this.” could sure have survived had they was missing. e hospital authorities Doctors and nurses are getting beds and the attached oxygen tanks going to print). “I will also get A few kilometres from the Sion been transferred in time to the ICU. and the police failed to trace Khade, infected in droves, and at least two in the ward. A sta of four—nurses infected with him,” says his wife, hospital, stands the 95-year-old But we just did not have the beds or and his family was running from
34 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 35 COVER STORY MUMBAI
pillar to post. On June 1, Khade’s they sent us back home. From the body was found in the mortuary of next morning I was trying for an the hospital. ambulance, which nally came Yet another case of mismanage- Our homes are not so big that four hours after he passed away.” ment was that of Constable Deepak we can be expected to stay A report by the Maharashtra Hate. He was treated for Covid-19 indoors at all times. If not of the Medical Education and Drugs and discharged from the facility at virus, we will die of suffocation. Department, which analysed the National Sports Club of India data for 2,315 deaths, says 69 per n INTERVIEW on May 31. He died in a few hours. Mamta Tanshikar, who lives in a hut in cent of Covid-19 patients who “His son and daughter are admitted Wadala with eight others died had comorbidities. “ ere Dr Sanjay Oak, state task force chief, Maharashtra at Seven Hills Hospital and both are is no doubt that a comorbidity corona positive. His wife is awaiting makes the immune system weak, a test report. I entirely blame the but there have been so many government for this misery of the instances when non-Covid-19 We cannot test randomly Hate family,” said Somaiya. patients, who had other medical BY POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL e crisis has exposed Mumbai’s Antony Jolly, a resident of e man was a suspected Covid-19 conditions such as brain haem- broken medical infrastructure, Andheri, recounted the horri c patient and no Christian burial orrhage, stroke, kidney diseases Q/Asymptomatics are not being ry. Dr Zarir Udwadia (researcher) says which su ers from an acute short- experience of an elderly woman ground was willing to take the body. and diabetes, have died because tested. Is this not dangerous for a that as there is no concrete evidence age of beds, ventilators, ambu- who had to wait for hours to get an “He should not have died in the rst of the inaccessibility to medical high-density city like Mumbai? [of its effectiveness], we should not use lances and medical sta . And the ambulance to take her husband to place,” said the woman over phone. infrastructure and unavailability A/ We have to treat those with symp- it. But, in a pandemic we try to cling to every last straw. ever-changing policies have only the hospital and later to take his “ e moment he was feeling breath- of timely treatment,” said Dr Sud- toms, not [just] positive tests. The UK added to the despair. dead body to the burial ground. less, I took him to Seven Hills, but heer Ambekar, a neurosurgeon at has completely done away with tests. There are cases where the person Q/Mumbai is facing an acute short- Jaslok Hospital. “ ere have been tests positive for up to four weeks, age of hospital beds. instances when I could not nd a but was completely asymptomatic A/ We were not prepared for this. The bed for my own patients. A stroke within six or seven days. After seven government is taking over 100 per cent patient I treated succumbed at a days, the test may continue to remain of ICU beds in private hospitals and 80 small nursing home when I found positive but the patient may no longer per cent of general beds. We will have it impossible to get a hospital bed be infected. So, he cannot pass on sufficient numbers soon. for him.” the virus to others. If someone is e dense population makes in the second or third day of the Q/What about access to Remdesivir infection and is feeling unwell, but the it a huge challenge to control the and Favipiravir? test shows negative, I will admit him disease in Mumbai. ose living A/ We have made applications to the because of the symptoms. ICMR to quicken permissions and in the slums in the Wadala area, conduct trials. one of the 717 containment zones Q/Why are we not testing aggres- in the city, have been demanding sively in Mumbai? Q/ The contribution of private hospi- a long-lasting change in their liv- A/ Because the material for testing tals has been low. Why? ing conditions and better facilities kits is imported. We cannot go testing A/ These hospitals have to decide. We to ght the virus. “Our homes are randomly. Two months ago, we had have made the recommendation. I don’t not so big that we can be expect- only two testing centres, now we have believe in taking punitive action. As of ed to stay indoors at all times,” 77 and we are scaling it to 100. We now, resident doctors have been at the said Mamta Tanshikar, who lives have requested the chief minister that forefront of the fight. once we buy this machine, we can use in a hut in Wadala with eight it for diagnosing tuberculosis and for others. “If not of the virus, we will Q/Hospital-acquired infections are oncology and infections. currently high in Mumbai.
AMEY MANSABDAR die of su ocation.” A/ The task force discussed adding a e authorities have not devel- LONE STRETCH Q/You recommended HCQ despite high degree of antibiotics in our proto- Usually Shivaji oped a Mumbai-speci c response conflicting evidence. The task force col just to take care of secondary bacte- Park sees a lot of to the pandemic. “Adequate con- itself is divided on its use. rial infections. And we have advocated people—cricket tact tracing is still not happening. A/ I leave it to the discretion of the that. If someone is admitted in the ICU players to joggers We need to test aggressively, es- individual doctor. Personally, I would and stays there for about a week or in and walkers—in give it to my health care worker who the ward, we will give an antibiotic to the morning, but pecially in urban slums and poor keep the patient from contracting noso- these days very few settlements, because community is less than 55 years of age, does not people step out to transmission has stepped up in have a comorbidity or a cardiac histo- comial (hospital-acquired) infections. exercise a big way,” said Brinelle D’Sou-
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...and some other major za, faculty member at the Tata DENSE CITY WOES urban areas Institute of Social Sciences and co-convener of Jan Swasthya MUMBAI Urban population density (per sqkm) 24,740 Abhiyaan in Mumbai. How Mumbai's Covid-19 numbers Covid-19 cases On May 27, the Brihanmum- compare against a few similar urban Covid-19 deaths bai Municipal Corporation Adequate areas* set up a dashboard to map contact tracing real-time availability of hospi- Urban population density (per sqkm) SURAT 24,378 is still not 41,099 NEW YORK tal beds for Covid-19 patients. HONG KONG happening. We Covid-19 cases 1,700 D’Souza said the information on 2,04,000 the dashboard was inconsistent. need to test Covid-19 deaths 1,588 16,410 “It does not mention how many aggressively, 25,254 beds are available and occupied 1,319 71 TOKYO-YOKOHAMA especially in SINGAPORE at private hospitals.” e BMC 4,614 claims to have taken over 80 urban slums 5,249 1,085 305 per cent of the beds in private and poor hospitals. But it is not yet clear 10,982 settlements, 4 LOS ANGELES if these beds are a percentage of AHMEDABAD because 2,309 the hospitals’ total capacity or 20,622 35,292 54,925 just a part of a certain number of community 2,352 24 11,630 available beds. transmission 864 MOSCOW To add to the confusion, has stepped up 2,907 certain private hospitals have in a big way. 1,75,829 not been cooperating with the Brinelle D’Souza, faculty 2,330 government and have been member at the Tata reluctant to hand over the beds. BEIJING Health Minister Rajesh Tope Institute of Social Sciences BOGOTA 4,658 and co-convener of Jan LIMA 587 carried out an inspection of the 1,786 Swasthya Abhiyaan 254 8 private hospitals in the city to 9,989 1,03,020 make sure they were comply- LONDON 11,064 16,214 ing with the order. “ e state 5,629 26,883 government has issued show 5,925 cause notices to Bombay Hos- pital, Jaslok Hospital, Leelavati MADRID Hospital and Hinduja Hospital 416 4,415 for failing to adhere to rules and DELHI 68,266 regulations issued by the state from Kalyan on the outskirts of 18,549 8,691 government for coronanavirus Mumbai, has been running a com- 11 SHANGHAI treatment. Strict action will munity kitchen for migrant workers 338 5,437 be taken against the hospitals with the help of his trader friends. 384 13,269 BENGALURU 536 who are not following the rules “We organised 2,000 meals every day 6 11,378 8,045 issued by the state government,” from the rst week of lockdown,” he tweeted Tope. said. “Now the numbers have come SAO PAULO Nothing explains the situ- down to 600 meals a day as many 214 7,075 1,10,000 ation in Mumbai better than of workers have left for their home- PUNE 11,956 KOLKATA 2,179 7,615 the steady out ow of migrant t o w n s.” labourers. Home Minister Anil Mumbai has a long history of JAKARTA Deshmukh said that more than bouncing back from the worst. And *population > 5 lakh and density > 10,000sqkm 9,758 12,994 7,485 1.1 million migrant labourers Mumbaikars know that this too shall Covid-19 numbers from multiple sources, as of June 2 518 had been sent back to their pass. But the coronavirus has had home states in the last month them pinned to the wall. And they SOURCE DEMOGRAPHIA WORLD URBAN AREAS, 16TH ANNUAL EDITION, 2020 GRAPHICS SREEMANIKANDAN S., on 822 Shramik special trains. are a bit worried that they have not RESEARCH KARTHIK RAVINDRANATH Amit Tiwari, a businessman yet found a way out.
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of non-essential goods worth nearly expected to fall dramatically, others 0400 crore every day. Essential goods may nd it dicult to break even. account for another 0500 crore daily. “In many cases, retailers have no “If you look at non-essential retail, money to operate,” said Rajagopalan. there were zero sales in April and “Most of the retailers do not even May,” Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO have working-capital nance from of Retailers Association of India, banks. While they continue to incur told THE WEEK. “In June, too, we expenses, there is no money availa- may end up with just 30 per cent of ble. In the next one month, around [normal] sales. Even sales of essential 25 per cent of them will shut shop.” items were down around 40 per cent Mumbai had recorded an employ- in the last two months.” ment growth of 2.9 per cent from Real estate has also been hit hard. 2014 to 2016. According to a Brook- Mumbai’s housing sector, especially ings study, it had added more jobs the premium and luxury segments, than Los Angeles, Istanbul and Du- had been battling low demand even bai during this period. e lockdown, before the outbreak. According to however, has resulted in 1.1 million the research rm Anarock, 15.62 migrants leaving Mumbai. eir ab- lakh housing units launched from sence will have a huge impact when 2013 to 2019 were in various stages businesses reopen. of completion in the top seven cities “We have lost trained labour,” in India, before construction was said Hiranandani. “So there would AMEY MANSABDAR delayed because of the lockdown. be an impact as regards the pace of UNHAPPY HOURS e Mumbai Metropolitan Region completion [in construction], which The Post Office Bistro & Bar in Vasai alone accounts for 30 per cent of it. will be slower because of shortage of wears an empty Launches are expected to decline workers. In other segments, where look these days this year, as sales are likely to take a trained persons have left, there hit because of the lockdown. would be a need to retrain others.” Demand for commercial real e Indian Hotel and Restau- estate is likely to change as compa- rant Association said 70 per cent of nies rework oce spaces. Demand restaurant workers have left for their restart of economic activity yet.” for data centres is likely to see a home states. e retail industry, said Capital crisis e gross state domestic product spike. “Lifestyle-related commercial Rajagopalan, will have at least 25 per (GSDP) of Maharashtra, India’s most spaces—gyms, multiplexes, food and cent fewer workers available. industrialised state, is nearly 029 lakh beverage outlets and retail zones— e recovery is likely to be slow. Restricted cash ow and labour and supply chain crore. e Mumbai and Pune regions and hospitality- and tourism-related “We will begin to move towards problems block Mumbai’s long road to recovery account for almost 65 per cent of the real estate are likely to see the slow- normalcy in the second quarter,” said GSDP; so the situation in Mumbai est return [to recovery],” Hiranandani V.S. Parthasarathy, president of the will have a wider impact. told THE WEEK. Bombay Chamber of Commerce and BY NACHIKET KELKAR e service sector—hotels, banks, According to ratings agency Industry. “Some sectors will achieve media, education and entertain- CRISIL, Mumbai and Delhi account normalcy in the third quarter, while ovid-19 has done to gymnasiums and other places that week because of the lockdown. ment—drives nearly three-fourth’s for almost half of the 01.5 lakh crore others might take longer. Current- Mumbai what the enlivened Maximum City remain “It is painful to describe the sud- of Mumbai’s economy. Almost half organised restaurant market in ly, there are issues with cash ow, 2005 oods, the 26/11 closed. den stoppage of the wheels of busi- of India’s top 50 companies are India. Before the lockdown, dine- labour and supply chains.” attacks and the global Brokerages and credit-rating agen- ness in the city that never sleeps,” headquartered in Mumbai. In most ins accounted for 75 per cent of the Even though the Union govern- C economic crisis in 2008 cies expect India’s GDP to contract said Niranjan Hiranandani, man- sectors, companies have allowed business. With only takeaways and ment and the Reserve Bank of India could not—force the as much as 5 per cent this year. As aging director of the Hiranandani employees to work from home. deliveries allowed now, analysts say are trying to ensure ample liquidity city to a grinding halt. In the past India’s nancial capital, Mumbai Group. “ e new set of restrictions Banks and stockbroking houses layo s and closures look inevitable. in the system, risk-averse banks have two months, only essential services accounts for nearly 7 per cent of that came into e ect on June 1 fo- have ensured that services remain Shopping malls also remain been cautious in lending. But liquid- like hospitals, banks, pharmacies the national GDP. Investment bank cuses on the revival of the economy. una ected, even as they operate with closed. Experts say at least 25 per ity itself would not determine the and grocery shops have been open Barclays said in April that Mumbai But, with Mumbai and the Mumbai skeletal sta . cent of outlets may have to shut shop pace of recovery, said Parthasarathy. in Mumbai. Restaurants, cafes, and Delhi were likely to see econom- Metropolitan Region remaining e retail sector, however, has for good, as many of them will not Making liquidity available will also shopping malls, multiplexes, clubs, ic losses of $1.5 billion or more every in the red zone, it means no major taken a big hit. Mumbai sees sales be able to a ord rent. With footfalls be key.
40 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 41 COVER STORY MUMBAI
demand for content. As lmmaker siderable decrease in the carrying not release my lms because there is Anurag Kashyap puts it: “In such cost,” he says. “ ere is an issue of no assurance that those 33 per cent times people depend a lot on art, additional cost which are coming seats will be occupied,” says Kumar, music, cinema and shows. It keeps in because of the safety measures. who has been contemplating the us sane.” e unit economics is also going to option of releasing some of his lms And, it is a big challenge, “to meet change considerably.” on digital platforms. the demands when there are valid Andhare points out that right Content creators taking the digital challenges on the supply front,” says now the shoot will be allowed only route, and pushing their lms on Dystopian days Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom Motion in a restricted number of places. streaming platforms has got a mixed Pictures. “ e nature of our work is “[For a project to be completed as response with theatre chain owners such that some of the assets are just per plan], you want the freedom feeling threatened. But Kashyap e hard-hit Bollywood’s recovery from the lockdown- not replaceable. How do you replace to shoot at any location that you thinks that the only way forward induced crisis will require a multifront ght certain key assets like technicians, want,” he says “Other options are is to “constantly adapt and go on”. performers and actors?” being explored. For instance, Kol- “Nobody has a solution [and thus] BY PRIYANKA BHADANI Andhare’s pending projects hapur city has emerged as an inter- we have to adapt,” he says. “ e include Laal Singh Chaddha with esting proposition. Another could most important thing is seeing what Aamir Khan (on the last leg of be Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. is happening around us and going he lockdown in Mum- ed that the entertainment industry T-Series had a line-up of 12 lms in production), cricketer Mithali Raj’s We have been evaluating [shooting along with the times, surviving with bai has been extended. has already incurred losses of over 2020, including Mumbai Saga, and biopic with Taapsee Pannu (in the locations in] Karnataka and Kerala our art. Some people can hold their But the cameras could 01,000 crore since mid-March. Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt starring pre-production stage) and a web as well. e impending monsoon is lm back, and, yet, be a support roll again. Lights could Amid losses, there are producers Bhuj: e Pride of India. Kumar says series, X-Ray, that was scheduled to another big challenge.” system for people around them. But T be set up. Perhaps, sets who are trying to look at the posi- that a few days of shoot were left for go on oors on March 28. “We had to And, even if the projects are not everyone can.” could be erected, too. tive aspects. “I am thinking of what many of these lms, and he is weigh- wind up the shoot when the lock- somehow completed, one does not He adds that it is important to But all this with limitations. On May I have gained, which is the safety ing the options on how that could be down was imposed,” he says. “We are know when the theatres are going take care of the many daily-wage 31, the state government announced and well-being of the people who done. “It will take time for the bigger now evaluating how we can resume to be fully functional. “Right now, workers—spot-boys, light-men and the launch of Mission Begin Again work with us,” says Bhushan Kumar, lms, but for smaller patchworks, shooting.” the proposal is that it will open in technicians—associated with lm from June 3. In a three-phase remov- chairman and managing director, maybe we can restart [the work].” Andhare is certain that the budget July, but with what kind of norms? shooting. al of restrictions and introduction of T-Series. “I have come to terms with Even as the industry grapples with delegated to projects will be slashed If it opens with a 33 per cent capac- “ e producers have sunk mon- relaxations to the lockdown, some the fact that 2020, in terms of earn- many issues, there has been a growing considerably. “ ere will be con- ity, the lms may not work. I will ey; there is cost on capital, salaries relief has been given to the entertain- ings, is going to be [less rewarding] that need to be taken care of,” says ment industry in Mumbai as well, compared with 2019. But we cannot Shibasish Sarkar, group CEO, con- with shootings allowed in non-con- do anything about it.” tent, digital and gaming, Reliance tainment zones—but with strict Entertainment. “Everyone is hit by security protocols. the pandemic, the exhibitors includ- e security protocols include ed. But if the producers have taken a social distancing of around two me- call to go straight-to-digital, probably tres between crew members and the ALL LINED UP that was required for them to do so.” Posters of films that use of face masks and disinfectants. are in various stages Reliance Entertainment has ere are strict guidelines limiting of production four lms in Hindi—including the the number of people allowed, at much-anticipated Sooryavanshi and a time, on the set. No shoots will ‘83—and three lms in Tamil, wait- be allowed in unclean or crowded ing for release. e shoot for all of places—which means no sequence these lms, except one, is complete. that involves too many background “Reliance has individually spoken to artistes. ere will be restrictions on all the lmmakers about what they shooting with actors above the age want,” says Sarkar. “Our internal take of 60. is also that we have made spectacles Last year, Bollywood made nine like ‘83 and Sooryavanshi for the per cent revenue growth, churning large-screen experience. We will try out around $24 billion. According to to hold these lms till it is possible a FICCI-EY report before lockdown, for us, but it is a fact that you have to it was expected to rise to as much as consider an organisation’s ability in $34 billion by 2022. But it is estimat- these times.”
42 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 43 BORDER TUSSLE CHINA’S GAMEPLAN Locked and loaded e induction of tanks and other heavy equipment by the Indian Army has brought about parity on the disputed border. China now wants to reassert its supremacy
BY PRADIP R. SAGAR AND NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA
n September 16, 2019, the since the mid-2000s when India carried swiftly across the plateaus in Indian Army’s Northern launched a building spree of roads armoured vehicles, and Heron UAVs OCommand tweeted photos of and bridges near the borders. Several ying around. Clearly, with India’s ca- its chief, Lieutenant General Ranbir landing grounds were prepared pability to deploy tanks in strength, the Singh, sitting atop a T-90 tank and during the second Manmohan Singh battle order in Ladakh is changing. watching the “integrated exercise of government and the old air eld at Indeed, the Chinese were also all arms” in “super high altitude area” Daulat Beg Oldi was upgraded to watching. In February, the People’s in Pangong, Ladakh. To most people, take military transport planes. e Liberation Army carried out an even it appeared to be another ‘PR photo’. Narendra Modi government followed larger exercise in Tibet, where it de- It was not. e photo changed the up the building projects. By 2015- ployed and displayed Type 15 tanks, military-tactical picture of Ladakh, 16, the Army found it could actually the brand new T-96 tanks and the literally! It announced to the world deploy tanks and sustain armoured 55mm vehicle-mounted howitzers. that India was now capable of de- operations. A slow induction of tanks China also made it known that it had ploying tanks on the mountains of commenced since then. developed a wheeled light infantry Ladakh. e tactical picture changed o - ghting vehicle and a new light tank Ladakh and thereabouts on the cially last September when it was an- that could be used in mountain Himalayas had always been infan- nounced to the world with the photo. warfare. try country. Tankmen have rarely “We have been inducting tanks for China had also been augmenting ventured onto the mountains. In some time, but if we have displayed its air war machine in Tibet for the the 1947-48 war with Pakistan, the them in exercise, that means we have past decade and a half. Airports dashing General imayya took a few them in regiment strength now,” said and air elds in Shigatse, Nyingchi across the Zoji La; tanks were tried an intelligence analyst. “We now and Lhasa have been upgraded, to be put to battle in 1962; and a pilot have the capability to even take an and there have been increased programme to deploy them in Lada- aggressive posture, if we want.” ghter ying over Tibetan skies. kh in the 1990s was given up. Apparently, it was the completion Satellite photos have also revealed Ladakh, thus, had always been the of a bridge over the Shyok River on early-warning planes parked in foot soldier’s domain. On the other the 255-km Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Lhasa, apart from ghter aircraft and hand, the Indian Army knew that Beg Oldi road that has now embold- troop-carrying helicopters, and also the Chinese could bring tanks and ened India to announce the ‘arrival’ a new runway being built in Shigatse artillery down the Lhasa-Xinjiang of tanks. “We can now supply and airport, apparently for UAVs. During G219 Highway and drive them down sustain armoured operation there,” a discussion held at the Delhi-based the newly-built subroads towards said the analyst. “Our guess is that Vivekananda International Founda- several parts of Ladakh, especially this has provoked the Chinese now; tion on the growing capabilities of in Chushul and Demchok. In other they are now objecting to several the Chinese air force in Tibet, former RISING TENSIONS words, the Chinese had the armour of our bridge- and road-building Indian Air Force chief B.S. Dhanoa A satellite image advantage. India had been ham- activities.” said that over the past few years, of the Ngari Gunsa strung by the fact that its undevel- e September exercise also there had been a signi cant induc- dual-use airbase in oped roads could not take tanks and saw huge C-130J transport planes tion of aircraft and aircrew into the western Tibet, where China has deployed a most of the rivers on its side were unloading troops and heavy equip- Tibet Autonomous Region from oth- detachment of fighter unbridged. ment, paratroopers jumping from er military regions. e deployment
AP aircraft since May e situation had been changing Mi-17 helicopters, foot soldiers being of Sukhoi-27, J-11 and J-10 eets for
44 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 45 BORDER TUSSLE CHINA’S GAMEPLAN STRATEGIC ROADS BEING ROADS BEING* BUILT BY BRO* Number Km Number Km Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh 27 1,791.96 Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh 5 115.63 J&K, Ladakh J&K, Ladakh 12 1,093.14 Uttarakhand Uttarakhand 14 354.80 Sikkim Sikkim 3 61.97 Total Total 61 3,417.50
STRATEGIC RAIL LINES BEING BUILT OR PLANNED INDIA Survey ongoing Survey ongoing Km Missamari-Tenga-Tawang Km Missamari-Tenga-Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh) 378 (Arunachal Pradesh) 378 Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Leh Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Leh (Himachal Pradesh-Ladakh) (Himachal Pradesh-Ladakh) 498 Pasighat-Parshuram Kund-Rupai Pasighat-Parshuram Kund-Rupai (Arunachal Pradesh-Assam) (Arunachal Pradesh-Assam) 256 North Lakhimpur-Bame-Aalo- North Lakhimpur-Bame-Aalo- Silapathar (Assam-Arunachal 249 BHANU PRAKASH CHANDRA Silapathar (Assam-Arunachal 249 Pradesh-Assam) CALMER DAYS Pradesh-Assam) A file photo of CHINA the Pangong CHINA Construction ongoing (scheduled to be Lake in Ladakh Construction ongoing (scheduled to be completed in 2020) completed in 2020) Yanga-Nyingchi (to Arunachal Pradesh continuous operation during winter the exercise “eectively tested the timates say between 3,000 and 5,000 behind the LAC near the Hot Springs up, all the operational decisions on Yanga-Nyingchi (to Arunachal Pradesh border) months aorded the Chinese cred- brigade’s joint strike capabilities on troops have been deployed partly in and Gogra. e PLA is estimated the Chinese side will be taken by border) ible year round capability. Earlier, plateaus”, and at 16,400 feet. the disputed stretches and otherwise to have 2,00,000 to 2,30,000 troops General Zhao Zongqi who, sitting in Shigatse-Yadong (to Chumbi Valley, near Shigatse-Yadong (to Chumbi Valley, near Sikkim) they only used to occupy the air elds In short, both armies have been close to the line of actual control in under its western theatre command Chengdu, commands all the forces, Sikkim) during the summers. upgrading their ghting capabilities the Galwan valley, the northern bank which envelops Tibet and Xinjiang including the squadrons of ghter *Border Roads Organisation *Border Roads Organisation China has 14 airbases in the Lan- for more than a decade now, and are of Pangong Lake and Demchok. All military districts. jets, in China’s western theatre. He zhou and Chengdu regions, which now more or less evenly matched. “It eyes are on the military talk between e problem, in case of a are-up, will decide the scale of operations, are opposite Ladakh, Uttarakhand, is this parity that the Chinese want to corps commanders on June 6. may not be of numbers, but of com- which units to be employed in what Matching wits and clashing arms Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal remove; so they are asking us to stop In the Galwan valley, which is mand coordination. India still has formation, how much force to be with Zhao and Xu will be six three- Pradesh and Sikkim. In April, a large building certain bridges and roads,” looked after by India’s 81 and 114 four corps deployed against China— employed, where to strike other star o cers sitting hundreds of miles area was developed parallel to the said the analyst. infantry brigades under the 3 Moun- one in Ladakh, one in Sikkim and than in Ladakh, and where to hold from one another—the northern runway at the Ngari Gunsa dual-use But the Indian side seems to be de- tain Division, a few Chinese troops two in Arunachal Pradesh. “We de - territory. Under him, he has General Army commander at Udhampur, airbase, where a detachment of termined this time. Unlike in the case have come deep inside and pitched nitely have greater numbers on the Xu Yong, who commands the Tibet the central Army commander in Flankers has been deployed since of Doklam three years ago, when tents while their buddies are building LAC,” said Lieutenant General (retd) military district which is directly Lucknow, the eastern commander in May. e ghters were rst seen in India had refrained from making any roads to supply them. Intelligence D.S. Hooda, former northern Army under the PLA, unlike other regions Kolkata, the western air commander the area last December. o cial statements, Defence Minister reports suggest that the insertions commander. “We match up their which are controlled politically by in Delhi, the central air command- AirLand battle scenarios involving Rajnath Singh admitted that PLA took place on May 5 in Galwan, on strength and our total deployment on the Central Military Commission. er in Allahabad and the eastern air land and air forces have been tested soldiers had “come a little further May 9 in Naku La (northern Sikkim), LAC is greater than the Chinese. Hav- is meant that operations in Lada- commander in Shillong. ese six since mid-2015 with more than than they used to earlier” in east- on May 12 and 13 near Pangong ing said that, we must acknowledge kh, in Sikkim or in Arunachal can be gentlemen will have to decide on the 1,40,000 troops. Exercises were going ern Ladakh, making the “situation Lake. Satellites have since picked that our infrastructure still does not synchronised under one command operations, coordinated, of course, on in Tibet even during mid-2017, dierent” from earlier face-os. He up pictures of the Chinese moving match the Chinese who have roads under Zhao, giving him a formida- by the directorate-general in Delhi. when the Doklam crisis was unfold- said Chinese troops were present in towed artillery, trucks and infantry coming right up to the LAC.” ble advantage. ere is no such one e Chinese have also reorganised ing. e PLA had then claimed that sizeable numbers. Uncon rmed es- combat vehicles to a few kilometres If the current border stando ares eld commander on the Indian side. their eld formations into mobile
46 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 47 BORDER TUSSLE CHINA’S GAMEPLAN DETOUR I INTERVIEW SHOBHAA DE brigades, whereas India contin- ues with the World War II style corps-division-brigade system. ‘’ e brigadisation of the PLA is another advantage which makes Superstar of the season the actions of the Chinese army more exible and responsive to Lobsang Sangay, new and complicated situations,’’ Tibetan PM-in-exile weet irony. Till about a month ago, Sonu Mercedes-Benz M-Class and the Audi Q7. He owns said French-born author, histo- Sood was one more Bollywood hunk—all several properties, including a lavish one in Mum- rian and China watcher Claude Smuscles and decent acting chops—that’s it. bai, which was in the news for some transgressions. Arpi. India is also following suit, What happened to us Today, he is a folk hero, after he nimbly jumped at news has been buried for now. And, Sonu but again slowly. e 65-year-old into the pandemic panic, and emerged as a frequently pitches in to create public awareness for General Zhao is one of the few can happen to you Covid-superstar. His rst act of kindness was to several campaigns launched by the Mumbai Police commanders who had taken part arrange 60 buses at his own expense, to send and other government bodies. Q/Do you think India should in China’s Vietnam war of the late BY NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA back 350 migrants to their home state, Karnataka. Sood has acted in several multilingual lms, 1970s (the last time the PLA red support the Dalai Lama even more? Apart from transport, he ensured they had su - starting his career in 1999 with a Tamil lm titled, A /India has been a gracious host shots in anger), and is reported Q/How do you see the growing cient food and water for the journey. Kallazhagar. He also appeared in a Chinese lm to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and to be quite close to President Xi aggression by China along the LAC? He was present to see them o, and of course, and claims friendship with the likes of Jackie Chan. is the second home for Tibetans. In Jinping. Having served in Tibet A /China has traditionally maintained the press was briefed. In an interview after his good Given that he had come to Mumbai to take his fact, no country has done more for for nearly 20 years, he knows the that Tibet is the palm, and Bhutan, deed was acknowledged and chances in the competitive the Tibetans than India and its people Indian frontier like the back of his Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and publicised across social media world of modelling, Sonu made [have] and we are extremely grateful Sikkim are its five fingers. Once they hand. [for that]. platforms, Sood spoke with sin- it to the top rung of the Grasim ere are reports that Zhao may took over Tibet, they had an upper hand cerity and sobriety, saying he did Mr. India contest before getting nally be retiring, or elevated to in terms of imposing their expansionist it as he was moved by the plight his movie break. the Central Military Commission. policy. Ladakh is the latest addition to Q/There is growing clamour about of migrants. Suddenly, Sood’s Today, he has catapulted Arpi pointed to reports coming China’s expansionist policy. Tibetans boycotting Chinese goods and popularity zoomed into strato- himself into another league. It is from China that a newly promoted were its first-hand victim and we have products after the pandemic. sphere and at one point, he even a coveted upgrade. In fact, those Lieutenant General Xu Qiling has been warning the world ever since. A /This campaign has been going on managed to beat the unbeatable who have worked with the actor taken over as the new commander for decades. Its success depends on Salman Khan in the social media say, somewhat cynically, that of western threatre ground forces. Q/The People’s Liberation Army can whether citizens consider national stakes! He followed up the bus the Covid-19 humanitarian work A report of the Chinese western use Tibet to gain access into Indian interests over individual interests initiative by another dazzling has been his best investment to Army’s o cial WeChat account on territory. Your comments. or entertainment. For me, whether act—he chartered an aircraft to date. Overnight, Sonu Sood is May 29 had said that a meeting of A /If we look at history, India never the public buys Chinese goods is ferry 150 migrant ladies from the go-to guy for distressed folks the command’s standing commit- shared a border with China, but it has secondary, because they will buy if Kerala to Bhubaneshwar. in India. tee was convened “to convey the always shared a border with Tibet. things are cheaper. If India can make Soon, he had transformed himself from a dim- Industry watchers also say Sonu will no longer spirit of learning of the third meet- During that period, Indo-Tibetan border better and cheaper goods then people pled six-footer, playing a baddie in Bollywood lms, accept supporting roles—remember, his early break ing of the 13th National People’s was never an issue. In fact, Tibet acted will buy Indian products. to Saviour Sood. His do-gooder fame had spread in Bollywood came with him playing Abhishek Congress”. Xu Qiling delivered the as a buffer zone between India and People and celebrities should be so rapidly that all sorts of helpless victims of the Bachchan’s brother in Yuva. A producer comment- report at the meeting, which was China, which is now no longer the case. informed on China’s strategic interests pandemic started to contact him directly over Twit- ed cynically that henceforth Sonu will demand in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Bhutan presided over by the army political ter. Like the abandoned old mother at Mumbai’s treble his fees and dictate the kind of role he feels he and Nepal, and critically assess commissar Xu Deqing. Q/In the event of increased Chinese Bandra station whose son had thrown her out of the is worthy of, given his enhanced status. Sonu had al- China’s increased aggression at the Xu Qiling, too, is an experienced assault on India, what role can the house. And another set of 1,000 migrants who were ready displayed an “attitude issue” when he walked border in recent years. hand at joint theatre management. Central Tibetan Administration play? later transported from Uttar Pradesh to Bihar. out of Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika: e Queen of As a major general, he had served A /We stand with India on ahimsa. Sood’s story reads better than some of the movie Jhansi. He was pretty outspoken at the time and his as the deputy commander in the The CTA and voice of the Tibetan Q/How do you see India’s scripts he has picked. He came to Mumbai with views were seen as “sexist” by critics! central theatre. Later, he served people have been at the forefront reassertion of Aksai Chin in the new 05,500 in his pocket and shared a poky little at Oh well, today’s version is a “new, improved” as the commander of the 79th when it came to confronting China. political map released in November with six other hopefuls looking for breaks; today the Sonu Sood. No doubt, he will be richly rewarded by Army in the northern theatre. In We seek China to follow international 2019, post abrogation of Article 370? 47-year-old is a wealthy businessman, actor and the authorities. Do watch out for his name when the January 2019, he became deputy norms, basic human rights and non- A /[The] Aksai Chin problem began producer. To that, one can safely add “philanthro- next Padmas are announced. Who knows, maybe he commander of the eastern theatre, violence. We have been alerting all the after the occupation of Tibet and pist” after his Santa Claus act. He is the proud own- will join politics next and emerge as a people’s hero. and was promoted to the rank of neighbouring countries, including India, Xinjiang. Till Tibet is resolved er of high-end cars like the Porsche Panamera, the Anything, is possible in showbiz and politics! lieutenant general in December. that what happened to Tibet could peacefully, such assertion will —with R. Prasannan happen to you. continue. Actor Sonu Sood/PHOTO PTI www.shobaade.blogspot.com
48 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 49 LOCUSTS ATTACK WHAT NEXT
en its food security for the second the oer of a malathion gift package. consecutive year, bringing the worst Pakistan, however, is partnering with plague in 27 years. China, which donated 300 tonnes of In India, the May swarms ate their pesticide and 350 mounted sprayers. way through the Rajasthan scrub India, meanwhile, is planning drone into the alluvial elds of western spraying on the swarms. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh e swarms in India right now are and reached the orange orchards of of immature hoppers, which will Nagpur, aided by the winds caused eventually return to the summer by Cyclone Amphan. e FAO breeding grounds to mate. ere, warns of several successive waves they will multiply in even larger till July (from across the border) into numbers, and India can expect sev- Rajasthan with eastern surges up to eral waves of swarms from across the Bihar and Odisha. It is even possible border. One female locust, in her 90-
PTI PHOTOS that swarms from Africa may come day life span, can lay three batches of here in July, aided by the monsoon around 400 eggs. winds, says Gurjar. While Rajast- India has not seen locust plagues han and Gujarat are used to annual in a long time—the last plague cycle locust infestations—last year alone was in 1959-1962. e last upsurge they destroyed 3.5 million hectares (unnaturally big swarm) was in of cash crop—elsewhere, farmers 2011. “We have therefore become are abbergasted, using drums and complacent, and have not invested shouts to scare away the insects. in research on locust control,” says e early incursions have not Jyoti Sharma, head, Centre for Envi- caused much damage, since the rabi ronment Science and Engineering, harvest is in the granary and the Shiv Nadar University. “Chemical kharif yet to be sown, though vegeta- pesticides come with environment ble crops, especially around Jhansi, damage. During the British Raj, PEST, OUT OF CONTROL A locust swarm in Jaipur have been chomped up. However, there were better eorts at control. on May 25 subsequent swarms could threaten ey encouraged natural predation protection department, Faridabad. India’s food security in a year where by birds; today, bird populations Plague ground “ e insects, which were heading resources are already strained by are dwindling. We could have done to Iran for spring breeding, saw con- Covid-19. so much genetic research, found a ducive conditions in Pakistan, and India has reacted quickly, rolling serotonin inhibiting gene.” Amid the Covid-induced crisis, the multiple search of food. e swarms could stayed back to breed there. So, we out its established contingency plan. India is doing some research with waves of attacks by desert locusts may put become several kilometres long and have an unnaturally high population, India and Pakistan have an estab- the fungus Metarhizium acridum, as as dense as 150 million/sqkm. much earlier, this year.” e other lished process for locust warning a biopesticide. “However, it is only India’s food security at risk On April 11, the Locust Warning nurseries are also highly fecund. and management, with six ocial eective at the hopper stage,” says Oce (LWO), a department in the East Africa and the Arabian Plateau meetings between June and Novem- Gurjar. “And it takes between a BY REKHA DIXIT agriculture ministry, saw the rst have had good monsoon for the past ber, during which time they even run week to 15 days to kill the insects, by incursions of these hoppers at the few years, thanks to an active Indian a wireless communication between which time they can devastate huge Indo-Pakistan border. e desert Ocean Dipole, a sea surface tem- Jodhpur and Karachi. swathes.” Malathion kills in half an REMEMBER THE RAINS in March, abuzz with the patter of millions locust has three breeding areas—the perature oscillation phenomenon, is time, with the spring breed- hour, and is already a commonly which cleaned the air much before of little feet. As the young hoppers Horn of Africa is its winter breeding leading to a population explosion of ing grounds in Sistan-Balochistan used agriculture pesticide. It remains the lockdown did and kept summer rubbed their legs against each other, ground (October-February); Ba- the desert locust. According to the area of Iran and Pakistan threat- for a shorter time in the environment at bay from the northern plains for their bodies started producing sero- lochistan and the Persian Gulf for United Nations Food and Agriculture ening incursions eastwards, India in comparison with other organo- weeks? Humans were not the only tonin—the same hormone, which in spring breeding (February-July); Organization (FAO), they are breed- oered 20,000 litres of malathion phosphates. ones who enjoyed it. Far away in the humans is known as the happiness the ar desert in India and south ing 400 times faster than usual. Africa insecticide— the most eective However, with climate change trig- sands of the ar, for a species of lo- or feel good hormone. e hormone west Pakistan is the summer nursery is reeling under locust-induced weapon against locusts—to Iran, gering more insect attacks, there is a cust called Schistocerca gregaria, the converts solitary insects into gregari- (July-October). “By February 17, we famine since last year; Iran is staring which gratefully accepted it. India greater need to look for bio control. rains were a trigger to go into a frenzy ous ones, makes them indiscriminate had no locust in India,” explains K.L. at its worst infestation in 70 years. approached Pakistan, too, but got no “ e locust is a highly unpredictable of breeding. feeders and strengthens their leg Gurjar, deputy director, locust divi- Pakistan has already declared a response to the request to advance insect. Let us not take it for granted,” By April, the desert sands were muscles for long distance ights in sion of agriculture ministry’s plant national emergency as locusts threat- locust management meetings, or to says Sharma.
50 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 51 SPORTS LEAGUES PLANNING MODE
I INTERVIEW Ajay Singh, president, Boxing Federation of India Big Bout is feasible in the current economic environment
BY NEERU BHATIA
Q/ How do you see the sponsorship Q/ How will the postponement of the scene of various Olympic sports being Olympics affect the medal prospects affected in India? of Indian boxers? A/ In unprecedented times like these, A/ As a national sports federation, we uncertainty is the only certainty. As one were the first to initiate online train- of the new entrants in Indian sports ing for all our elite boxers, right from leagues, we have implemented some of [physical] training, nutrition and mental the learnings (from others) and, as a re- guidance. Under the supervision of our By Neeru Bhatia sult, Big Bout was a cost-effective model coaches and high-performance director, PTI right from its inception. We have been and led by Boxing Federation of India HUSH AND ROAR playing in a single venue and the squad officials, we have successfully involved Atletico de Kolkata players sizes have been designed considering boxers of all age groups so that they celebrate winning the ISL by beating Chennaiyin FC; the cost implications. So, the model have every possible means to train at the 2019-2020 final took is feasible in the current environment home in the best and effective manner. place without fans and we can still work and make it more We are working with Sports Authority of meaningful, despite the challenges. We India very closely to create an SOP that will be working for a more optimised will facilitate safe passage for our boxers of spending, marketing, sponsor- format if need be, and will create more to resume training once the lockdown is ship; plans will change. Everyone innovative avenues for sponsorship on over. The health and safety of our players will have to pivot on the commer- digital and TV. are of prime concern. Beleaguered! cial side of things to really come out of it.” Q/ How do you see the Big Bout Q/ Post-lockdown, do you see financial e Board of Control for Cricket Indian Boxing League getting affected viability for all stakeholders? Do you With uncertainty all around, sports leagues in India are in India is trying to get a window financially in the coming season? think there will be high demand for bracing for major budget cuts and loss in revenue for the IPL in October-November; A/ The boxers will continue to benefit live sporting action on broadcast and the T20I World Cup in October from the league. The league has been a OTT platforms? BY NEERU BHATIA could be pushed to 2021 or 2022. major source of financial stability for our A/ A lot is still unexplored, and the “ e IPL is 60 India games versus boxers as well as the entire ecosystem of changing dynamics of fan engagement nine India games in a World Cup, technical officials, coaches and referees. can and surely will be explored. Close to THE DELHI CAPITALS o ce on ers would paint fans’ faces in team nal was played without fans), other given it reaches the nals,” said an And the first-year numbers show how three crore people had watched Big Bout the busy Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, colours for twenty bucks apiece, and such leagues face uncertainty. e insider. “While viewership of India commercially attractive the league can live on Star Sports; about 1.6 crore saw barely 500 metres from the Feroz a plethora of food carts would come big question is: If sports do resume games in an ICC event is higher, be. We have huge untapped potential. kabaddi and 67 lakh saw the badminton Shah Kotla ground, wears a deserted up from nearby Old Delhi to do brisk without spectators, how massive will [for] non-India games [it] is really The league matches delivered seven league. These numbers confirm the look these days. Usually, around this business. be the impact on costs and revenues? low. What would you choose?” times higher ratings than live Pro passion for the sport and we will look time of the year, it would be abuzz is year, however, a virus brought “Globally, the sports industry will Other sports federations, Kabaddi matches in the Hindi-speaking for innovations in the digital platforms in with IPL activity. On match days, the the world to its knees and left these take a massive hit,” said Mustafa meanwhile, await clarity from markets. This gives the boxers a much a big way. Big Bout is the most viewed lane leading to the ground would be vendors high and dry. ough the Ghouse, CEO of JSW Sports, which their respective international stronger playing field, and in the second league after IPL (Indian Premier League), dotted with vendors selling shirts Indian Super League nished its owns teams in three of the domestic federations. Said Hiren Modi, season, apart from TV, we would explore giving us the assurance that we are and caps, enterprising face-paint- season just before the lockdown (the leagues. “ ere will be cuts in terms group vice president, Ultimate a more aggressive digital and OTT plan. headed in the right direction.
52 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 53 SPORTS LEAGUES PLANNING MODE
Table Tennis and Chennaiyin FC: “ e primary concern is safety of the players; people associated with the leagues would not like to put anyone in harm’s way.” I INTERVIEW All the leagues are bracing for - Venky Mysore, managing director and CEO, Kolkata Knight Riders nancial pain, including the cash-rich IPL. Among other issues, the absence of fans means there will not be any Having no foreign players revenue from sales of tickets and o cial merchandise inside the stadi- would be a deal breaker ums. Team honchos have been using the lockdown to rework budgets and BY NEERU BHATIA draw up plans B and C. It will be survival of the ttest, said Q/ How do you view the current domestic competition. The majority of Prasad Mangipudi, executive director situation in terms of the sports and franchises want foreign participation. of SportzLive, which organises the entertainment business? We have to think about our squad. I am Premier Badminton League. “You A/ There is no substitute to live en- getting calls from all the players; they look at every risk or challenge as an tertainment. This year, we have to put are looking forward to playing. My sense opportunity,” he said. “A couple of things in perspective. Safety, health is, if we get the green signal, the window leagues that can innovate or have and managing the risk of Covid-19 are will allow all players to be available. Each deep pockets will survive; the rest important. The good thing is, sport is team has eight foreign players, which will just wind up.” restarting in some shape or form. Live makes 64 in total. If there is a way to get Stakeholders say that continuity GETTY IMAGES cricket will be in great demand when it them here, there are solutions. They can GOOD OLD DAYS of the leagues is essential for their resumes; it will be a premium product. be tested and quarantined before the Fans liven up the 2019 survival, even if it means less or no IPL final between Mumbai tournament. The bigger challenge would revenue this year. Said Mangipudi: “I Indians and Chennai Q/ How optimistic are you of the IPL be going into the competition having will look to nd more sponsors, cut Super Kings happening? not played for long. They will be happy if costs down to the last rupee. I will be A/ Social distancing in cricket is doable. they can come 15 days in advance. looking at every aspect, from printing Certain developments give us reason of banners and food to hospitality in front of fans matters,” he said. Experts believe cricket, too, will fans, is the Pro Kabaddi League. to be optimistic [about IPL]. It is largely Q/ The economy is hit, businesses are and stadium rentals. Players’ salary “Chennaiyin FC had a late run of have to start looking at non-regular e stars there are mostly Indian. dependent on the desire of the govern- hit. Will this reflect on the revenue will take a hit. e average cost of success and reached the [2019] nal, sponsors and broadcasters may have Plus, it is a made-for-television ment to see it take place. The BCCI is and budgets of all stakeholders? each team is 02.2 crore to 02.5 crore; but our fans could not be part of our to settle for cheaper ad rates. “I feel sport; the TRPs and interest had looking at an end-of-the-year window. A/ There is a feel-good factor about there will be a 30 to 40 per cent hit in story. People talk about increase the economy will ride on domestic made the o cial broadcaster sports after months of lockdown. For revenue.” He added that he was even in viewership. Mahabharat and and retail brands,” said Mangipudi. start two seasons a year. “It has Q/ Some franchises are fine with a teams, sponsors, broadcasters, there willing to go ahead without foreign Ramayan recorded high TV ratings “We will now get 040 lakh to 050 lakh been an interesting growth for us curtailed IPL; what is KKR’s stand? will be challenges. The business models players. “At least there will be conti- during lockdown, but where were from our associate partners who gave in the past three seasons,” said A/ We believe a curtailed IPL will be the will change. KKR will have, say seven nuity,” he said. advertisers?” us Rs1.5 crore. Same will happen Ghouse. “It (the league) took last resort. I do not see any reason it home games, [and will have to] review Another option, said Mangipu- Other options being explored are with the IPL, too.” a massive leap last year. It will should be curtailed. As long as all the food and beverages, and hospitality. di, was the renegotiation of player the reduction of venues and the shift- e Olympic sports and their be disappointing if the league stakeholders feel that the virus is under [There will be] no merchandising stalls contracts and licence fees with the ing of matches to smaller stadiums. stakeholders have additional chal- does not happen, but there is control, all agree to follow the protocols and no spectators. There will be a desire Badminton Association of India. A Even the IPL is thinking of a city lenges. “It is a strange situation,” said a lot more exibility as we are in place, and [events] like the Asia Cup to hold the IPL and forgo revenue from change of format is also being looked with multiple venues, like Mumbai, JSW Sports CEO Ghouse. “We plan not dependent on international and T20I World Cup are taken care of, merchandising and gate tickets. Broad- at, depending on the availability of or playing the tournament in two or for four years at a time. [We have boards or countries. [ e] chal- there is a high probability there will be a cast and media rights are agreed upon quality foreign players. three cities, which reduces cost of to decide] what competitions we lenge is [that] it is a contact sport. full window for the IPL. by the BCCI and sealed. The broadcaster Not everyone, however, is keen television crews, and involves less want to prioritise, at the same time e IOC (International Olympic will also make money from OTT sub- to push ahead just yet. Modi, for travel and lower expenses. not compromising on our athletes’ Committee) has not come out Q/ With travel restrictions, availability scriptions; different screening platforms instance, is concerned about the For telecast rights of the IPL, Star preparation for Tokyo. Some dou- with speci c guidelines related of foreign players can be an issue. have emerged during lockdown. That is ISL going ahead without fans even Sports had paid the BCCI a massive bling down is required on that front, to that. Gate receipts are not a big A/ [Having] no foreign players would be a significant amount of money. Financial though the Bundesliga, the La Liga, 016,347.5 crore for ve years. If the which we are working on.” part of our revenue. Hopefully, a deal breaker. The USP of IPL is the challenges have to be solved creatively. and the English Premier League are 2020 edition does not happen, the One league likely to be hurt less by we can pull it o in the latter half quality of the product. If there are no The IPL should happen. If in 13 years doing so. “For players, performing BCCI could lose about 04,000 crore. the absence of foreign talent, or even of the year.” foreign players, it will be just another there is one bad year, so be it.
54 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 55 SOUND BITE SCHIZO-NATION ANITA PRATAP ANUJA CHAUHAN
A Trump of lies Poor Indian lives matter?
hy are we still shocked by President wood, mainstream media and social media giants. y daughter came to me really triggered a headline options for a combined print advertise- Donald Trump, his falsehoods, distor- In daring to lter his misleading messages to his couple of days ago. ( at is current youth- ment for the Christmas and New Year Celebrations Wtions and exaggerations? rough the base, Twitter earned Trump’s blistering wrath. Mspeak for being upset, btw). She said she has at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bhikaji Cama Place. ages, in mythology and in history, Gods and men Rising like the coronavirus death toll, Trump’s a beef (i.e. issues, or a bone to pick with, nothing to do I had been particularly proud of ‘25th ko Mother have lied. One of humankind’s oldest tendencies, falsehoods are nearing 20,000. “ ere has never with eating cows) with most of her contemporaries on Mary, 31st ko Bloody Mary!’ e client had bombed lying ranges from the harmless, arousing fun been such a serial liar in the Oval O ce,” says Instagram because they are all so shook (i.e. shaken/ it though.” and laughter, to the vicious, resulting in grief and presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. “Trump upset) by the death of George Floyd at the hands of She looks at me witheringly. Very ashamed, I lower death. Literature captures the rainbow spectrum lies as a policy.” Trump appals truth-seekers, but the state police in Minneapolis. my gaze. of lies, from dark to light, from hilarity to the every one of his lies cements the bond between And, I am like accha, why? Because is it not good “And, yet, you remember Rodney King.” terrors of its consequences. An enduring drama- him and his base. is explains why despite his that your friends are aware and vo- In my defense, I say that I re- tisation is Iago’s cruel lies that draw Shakespeare’s follies, Trump’s ratings never dropped below 35 cal about such a ghastly incident, an member the Babri Masjid demoli- Othello to suicide. per cent. incident that may go on to be bigger tion, too. I just had had no platform Research typically focuses on Reading between Trump’s lies, than the Rodney King incident back on which to register my protest, the liar—the motivations, the his motivation appears to be to in the early 1990s? those days. “You are lucky,” I con- character aws and the after-ef- win admiration or deny failure. He And now suddenly, she has a beef clude. “So, what exactly do you nd fects. But it does not equally is not the rst or the last to lie for with me, too. “Why do you know so triggering about your friends’ analyse the “lied-to” or the vic- those reasons. “Lying politician” is who Rodney King is?” she demands. Insta stories?” tim. ere is an almost predatory a 200-year-old British phrase that I say something about it being “Do you know who Arvina relationship here, with the liar still survives, though many now see a big story back then, when I was Khatun is?” she counter-questions. exploiting the vulnerabilities of it as a tautology—a repetition in young and her age-ish. “No,” I admit. the lied-to, not necessarily abu- terms. Lies resonate because they “Were you not all caught up in “She is the dead lady on the sively, but in a psychologically arouse emotions. Both literature and the Mandal Commission agitation railway station. e one with the manipulative manner. e liar history unveil the drama of unpre- then?” she demands next. “Why do baby playing by her side, in that becomes the “re-a rmer”, telling dictable outcomes when emotions you even remember Rodney King?” video that just went viral. Do you what the lied-to wants to hear or run high. “Even the buses lied” is a I explain that I had been really know how many of my so-called already suspects. Only if it hits a popular British mantra to describe ambivalent on the Mandal issue; girls from my college ‘woke’ friends made an Insta story on her? None! Or, fertile, receptive mind can the lie strike root and the Brexiteer’s campaign to leave the European (Miranda House, Delhi University) had agitated on the migrant workers walking home, and dying germinate into a monster of belief in the victim’s Union. Boris Johnson even faced a lawsuit for his against the implementation of the report. ey had on the train tracks? Or on the police beating up poor head. As Othello shows, lies unleash devastating falsehoods that were plastered on London buses. gone to the Boat Club lawns with boot-polish kits, and women with lathis in the name of doing their duty? consequences when they awaken the victim’s e public knew these claims were false. Yet, not o ered to polish the shoes of passersby, to symboli- None! So, according to them, American black lives dormant demons of jealousy. Absolving himself, only did Brexiteers win the referendum, Johnson cally demonstrate that this would be the only job reg- matter, and poor Indian lives do not!” Iago says of Othello, “I told him what I thought, secured a landslide victory in last year’s elections. ular, non-reservation kids would get after graduation, e point she seems to be making is that her and told no more/ an what he found himself Analysts’ explanation is that we have entered as candidates from the reserved castes would grab all “liberal”, privileged friends live in India, but set their was apt and true.” the post-truth age. But, could it be that voters are the creamy layer white-collar jobs. I had found this clocks to Eastern Standard Time or whatever. At this Trump’s lies, perhaps, should be seen in this battling a bigger, bitter truth—a rigged system problematic on many levels, and so had not joined in point I tell her that her slang is very Americanised context. He is talking only to his base, not to CNN, entrenched by a corrupt elite of dishonest poli- these protests, even though it had all seemed like a too, but she waves this aside as a frivolous point. educated Americans or the world. He is not lying, ticians, tycoons and journalists that perpetuates lot of fun and a general atmosphere of revolution had Maybe, these kids feel safer criticising the Ameri- he is telling what his base wants to hear, what disparity and discrimination? e web of ine- prevailed in the college corridors and so on. can government than they feel criticising their own, they believe to be “apt and true”. Left behind by quality, injustice and deceit has spun through the She is slightly mollied. But only slightly. “What I suggest. “Because here there could be a backlash, globalisation, digitalisation and o shoring, al- centuries. Lies are the silken threads that weave about the Babri Masjid demolition? What did you do n a .” ienated and stressed, Trump’s base clings to con- the gossamer snares of deception and defeat, then?” But she does not even think it is that. spiracy theories to explain the downturn in their vanity and victory. “And, I have to confess that I had not ‘done’ “Poor Indian deaths are just not considered cool, lives. ey fully endorse Trump’s attacks on the e age of lies is without beginning and it is anything then either. I had just started working in mamma,” she tells me bitterly. “It is as simple as that. liberal establishment, the intelligentsia, Holly- without end. advertising, and so had spent that December writing Nobody gafs (i.e. gives a f#@%).”
ILLUSTRATION BHASKARAN Pratap is an author and journalist. ILLUSTRATION BHASKARAN [email protected]
56 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 57 Covid-19-related cyber attacks
30,000 20,000 10,000 0 Dec 31, 2019 Apr 7, 2020
Covid-19-related domain registrations 16,000 12,000 192,000 8,000 coronavirus-related cyber-attacks 4,000 per week over the past three weeks, a 30% increase compared 0 to previous weeks Dec 30, 2019 Apr 27, 2020
CYBERSECURITY COVID’S THREAT
90,000 domains related to Covid-19 registered since January WEB OF DECEPTION 3.5 times more domains registered in the week starting March 16, Cyber criminals and scammers are using the compared with previous weeks; this is the time the US government pandemic to their advantage proposed a stimulus
16,989 registered in late March Phishing: Weapon of choice and early April; 2% malicious, 21% suspicious Phishing is when hackers pose as trustworthy entities to obtain sensitive Covid-19-related attacks went up information, such as passwords and The hacker, the by 30% in the first two weeks of May; credit card numbers 27,000 plus attacks a day in May 94% of attacks in late March and early faker and the virus April was phishing 3% were mobile attacks, via dedicated mobile malware or malicious activity on Cyber-attacks have been as viral as the pandemic a mobile device itself, and India is especially vulnerable 14,000 attacks a day on average in late March and early April; this was six times more compared with the previous BY K. SUNIL THOMAS two weeks
20,000 a day on average from April 7 THE ATTACK WAS stealthy, and ber attacks on Indians went up by 86 navirus-themed emails that claimed quick o the blocks. As soon as per cent since the lockdown began. to be from the Reserve Bank of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi Cyber-attacks have been as viral targeting certain co-operative banks SOURCE CHECK POINT RESEARCH announced the launch of his PM as the pandemic, spreading across in India. Names of the banks were CARES Fund to ght the pandemic, a world where people are turning not revealed. online fakers hit the ground run- to the internet more and more. And “We have noticed an increase in GRAPHICS SREEMANIKANDAN S. ning. “Within a couple of hours, aiming at them from the dark re- attacks—it will only go up more,” over a dozen fake UPI sites came up cesses of the web are an increasingly said Trishneet Arora, who runs TAC with similar sounding names,” says cocky yet invisible bunch of crimi- Security, a cyber security rm that world leaders in cyber security, said Lieutenant General (retired) Rajesh nals who have been coming up with handles network security for some of that, in the rst two weeks of May, Pant, India’s national cybersecurity newer methods of entrapment. India’s biggest nancial institutions. Covid-19-related attacks went up that had a Covid-19 connection, had Murali Urs, country manager, India, coordinator. On May 18, Seqrite, a cybersecurity is is particularly frightening as, by 30 per cent. Also, there was a 37 increased by about 260 per cent. Barracuda Networks. e fake IDs, with names such as specialist, reported that it had found according to Pant, India is already per cent increase in the registration From just one website on January e most popular method used ‘pmcaress’ or ‘pmcare’, were created a new wave of Adwind Java Remote the third most cyber-attacked of domain names that sounded like 1, today there are more than 90,000 is phishing. McAfee, a leading on UPI handles of Punjab National Access Trojans (RAT) hidden in coro- country in the world. “People are Zoom, the popular video conferenc- websites related to the virus, many anti-virus provider, estimates a 500 Bank, HDFC Bank and others to mis- understandably anxious about the ing app. of them fake. Check Point said per cent increase in Covid-related lead citizens into parting with their pandemic and are more likely to the pandemic-related attacks had spam mails in the near future. e money. e Computer Emergency access malicious links and attach- Corona caution increased to more than 27,000 a day danger? “ ese spam mails go to Response Team (CERT-In), India’s ments that are disguised as essential Be it a website o ering informa- in May. More than 70 per cent of IT millions of people, weaponised with nodal cyber security agency, quickly information,” said J. Kesavardhanan, tion on the disease, a mail o ering professionals it surveyed reported an trojans,” said Venkat Krishnapur, vice swung into action and shut down A May 22 report by founder and CEO of K7 Computing, you ‘your share’ from the stimulus increase in attacks since the outbreak president and managing director of the fake handles, with help from cybersecurity firm a leading Indian cyber security rm, package announced by the govern- hit top gear. Barracuda Networks, a McAfee India. the home ministry, the State Bank adding, “Working from home also ment or a Telegram channel selling multinational network security rm, Some of the malware the Indian of India and the National Payments Cyble said that the creates more opportunities for cyber- masks or sanitisers to get its hands said it detected just 137 Covid-relat- government has identi ed include Corporation of India. But not before, data of 2.9 crore criminals who wish to harvest busi- on your nancial details, most of ed phishing attacks in January, which Emotet, Lokibot, Trickbot Agent as reports from the home ministry Indian jobseekers ness data and banking credentials. these attacks have a connection to went up to 1,188 next month, before Tesla and CovidLock. indicate, over 8,000 Indians and NRIs was released on the Covid-19 has brought out the worst the outbreak. K7 found that, between burgeoning to 9,116 in March. “A ese phishing emails attempt donated thousands of dollars into dark web. in cybercriminals who are attacking March 24 (eve of the lockdown) and growing number of (cyber thieves) brand impersonation and try to fake accounts. In fact, according to when we are at our most vulnerable.” April 9, the average daily number of are capitalising on the fear in the compromise a user’s email by o er- home ministry gures from April, cy- Check Point Research, one of the cyber-attacks that were stopped, and minds of their intended victims,” said ing fake solutions to Covid-19. Said
58 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 59 CYBERSECURITY COVID’S THREAT
Protect yourself Himanshu Dubey, director of Quick attacks designed to lock them out of FASHION • ART • BOOKS • MUSIC • THEATRE • CINEMA • LUXURY • FOOD • PEOPLE • REVIEWS • SERIES Heal, an IT security services provider, Watch out for spelling errors in their critical systems in an attempt to emails or websites, and emails from “ e emails lure the user into open- unknown senders extort payments.” ing the attachment that either claims Said Shree Parthasarathy, leader, Be cautious with files from unknown it has some report, health advice senders, especially if they prompt cyber risk services, Deloitte (South or possible cure. e vast majority action Asia), “ e most targeted catego- of such attachments are document Ensure you are placing online orders ries were life sciences and health les, which, when opened, drop a at an authentic store; do not click on care companies, the manufacturing promotional links, instead web search malicious payload on the user’s sys- for the retailer sector, and services. ese are being tem that steals sensitive information hunted to steal patents, processes, Avoid “An exclusive cure for by tapping the browser, email and coronavirus for $150” or anything passwords and other information.” FTP clients. In some cases, we also similar. If a cure is found, it would McAfee also warned about the noticed remote access trojans and not be offered to you via email attacks, and even red-agged an app, ransomware being dropped as the Do not reuse passwords between ‘Corona Safety Mask’, which asked for payload. Such phishing tactics intend different applications and accounts so many permissions on download to spread malware, extort money that, if granted, gave it full internet from unsuspecting users who fall for access to a user’s device, allowing it it and, even worse, pedal fake news to create network sockets, read con- and cause mass panic.” tact data and even send messages! Reports of data breaches have also Worries abound as India’s health risen. A May 22 report by cyberse- care industry does have a reputation curity rm Cyble said that the data of having lax security. A few months of 2.9 crore Indian jobseekers was ago, 68 lakh patient records stolen released on the dark web. Later in The hackers’ targets from an Indian health care website the month, Google announced in a right now are were put on sale on the dark web; in blog post that up to 100 Indian users large enterprises July 2018, hackers ‘locked’ the data of were targets of what it described as and financial Mumbai’s Mahatma Gandhi Memo- ‘state-sponsored’ attacks. rial Hospital, demanding ransom in institutions, where bitcoins. Keeping such instances in Worry from home they know the whole mind, Bitdefender, a cybersecurity When people log into their company focus is on seamless rm, made its security solutions system from either personal devices WFH (rather than for hospitals and other health care or through home internet connec- security). organisations free for the next one tions that lack protections, it is, as year. As Zakir Hussain, Bitdefender’s CEO, Arora put it, “an inherent vulnerabili- —Trishneet Arora, director (India), said, “Hospitals TAC Security ty at the end point”. are currently most vulnerable to THE “ e hackers’ targets right now are cyber-attacks. During such critical large enterprises and nancial insti- times, we need to move swiftly.” tutions, where they know the whole have used the panic to in ltrate cor- Warned Sujay Vasudevan, vice PUPPET focus is on seamless WFH (rather porate networks and steal data. president (cyber and intelligence than security),” he said. solutions), Mastercard South Asia: According to Shodan, a search Health is ‘Wealth’ “Consumers need to be highly vigi- MASTER engine that scans and indexes de- A new target of web scammers is lant and guarded against scammers vices instead of websites, half a lakh the health care industry. Multiple who are on the lookout to exploit the Shoojit Sircar, the title of computers in India have their default agencies have noticed a global trend current situation.” whose latest film is inspired remote access port open for connec- in cyber-attacks on hospitals, health e only way out is heightened tions. “Many IT admins would have care professionals and the phar- cyber hygiene and caution on the by the puppet theatre of had to loosen their rewall settings to maceutical industry. In early April, part of companies as well as indi- Lucknow, knows exactly how allow employees to connect to their Interpol issued a ‘purple notice’ to all viduals, especially those who work remote computers in the o ce,” said its 194 member countries, warning from home. “[From] the complaints to bring his characters to life Kesavardhanan. in its advisory: “Hospitals and other and the crime reports we are getting,” BY PRIYANKA BHADANI A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers institutions on the front lines have said Pant, “every day it is getting study showed that cybercriminals also become targets of ransomware more and more serious.”
60 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 61 @LEISURE CINEMA
lm at a time. I did not expect the rattle that followed, but I have tried explaining to the theatre chains that this is not the only lm I am going to make. ere are going to be many.” e lm reunites him with Ayush- T mann Khurrana, with whom he had worked in Vicky Donor (2012), and here have been many cyclones,” Amitabh Bachchan, with whom he proclaims Shoojit Sircar in a tele- had worked in Piku (2015) and Shoe- phonic conversation from Kolkata, a bite (unreleased). Also onboard were few days after Cyclone Amphan hit frequent collaborator and writer Juhi West Bengal and Odisha. “ e rst Chaturvedi, cinematographer Avik was [the death of] Irrfan (Khan).” Mukhopadhyay and music director It was Sircar’s heart-breaking tweet Shantanu Moitra. Sircar says that that intimated many about it in April. before making any lm he gauges if “It took me so much time to come the story is challenging enough for to terms with that,” he says. “I have him to enjoy the process. Initial- not been able to, though. In his nal ly, when Chaturvedi introduced days, as his health deteriorated, we the idea for Gulabo Sitabo, Sircar were trying to gure out what was thought it could be an enjoyable going to happen. I was still hopeful process and started eshing out the that he would ght back. I still feel script, still unsure whether to set it his presence all around me.” in Delhi or Lucknow. But as the story en came Cyclone Amphan took shape, Lucknow seemed like a FACE OFF which, he says, has been devastat- better t. Amitabh Bachchan ing. “You feel so helpless looking at e title of the lm was inspired and Ayushmann the devastation, and you cannot do by the Gulabo Sitabo puppet theatre, Khurrana (left) as much,” he says. “Villages have been an art form that is synonymous with their characters in Gulabo Sitabo wiped out completely. But people are Lucknow and revolves around two YOU CANNOT GO TO slapstick humour. He had to be care- doing their best to help, and that is women, one older and the other ful about it. what matters.” younger, usually trading insults in a HIM WITH SIMPLE e trailer of Gulabo Sitabo has In between these two tragic events humorous way. e lm tells the sto- CHARACTERS. ONLY got more than 40 million views on came the announcement of Sircar’s ry of the con ict between an elderly all about that. ere was no plot as WITH ONES THAT REALLY YouTube, which is the most he has upcoming lm, Gulabo Sitabo, which landlord, Mirza (Amitabh Bachchan) such. You place the camera in front CHALLENGE, STEER AND got for any of his lms. Yet, people is set to release on Amazon Prime and his young tenant, Banke (Ayush- of a family and just see the zindagi ka have told him that it was not funny Video on June 12. e news rattled mann Khurrana). tamasha (circus of life),” says Sircar, EXHAUST HIM. enough and should have elicited multiplex owners; one chain even Sircar says that it was not easy to who is trying his hand at satire for the —Shoojit Sircar, on getting more laughter. “I told them they threatened “retributive measures”. get Bachchan onboard. “He takes a rst time with this lm. “Watching Amitabh Bachchan to act in his film should watch TikTok for a laugh,” he e lm was supposed to have a little time [to agree],” he says. “But I wanted him to be recognised as the trailer, you might think that the says. “I cannot guarantee laughter theatrical release in January, which think he trusts me. You cannot go to Mirza. We have achieved that quite lm is just about property disputes in this lm, but I can assure you that got pushed to April, and then it was him with simple characters. You have well because he really looks like a and material attachments, but it goes there will be a smile throughout.” impacted by the lockdown. “At some to go to him with ones that really character from old Lucknow. We much beyond that.” His next lm, Sardar Udham point, the [owners] will have to un- challenge, steer and exhaust him. I started by referencing the looks of For Sircar, who started his journey Singh, starring Vicky Kaushal, is ten- derstand, and they will,” he says. “We believe this character is one of the [the Pashtun leader] Abdul Gha ar with advertisements, it is the experi- Piku, to the heart-wrenching Madras tatively set to release next January. will also talk to them.” He says that most exhausting ones that he has Khan and a portrait by the Russian mentation in lmmaking that keeps Cafe (2013), and the solemn October For now, he is enjoying the lockdown everyone has to adapt to the situa- done.” pencil artist Olga Larionova. We just him going. “ ere is no point in (2018). Although he keeps juggling at his home in Kolkata. “I am not in a tion as no one has experienced such Bachchan is shown to be an old, kept improvising until coming to the doing the same thing without chal- genres, it is not that which drives hurry to do things,” he says. [Lock- a pandemic in their lifetime. bent man with a jutting nose. “ e nal look in the lm.” lenging your philosophies,” he says. him, he says. Rather, it is always the down] has given me time to be with “I have a habit of taking the lm to most dicult part of creating the But his ultimate aim was always Maybe that is why he makes such stories. e challenge, he says, is in myself without having to deal with the audience as soon as it is ready,” character of Mirza was [ensuring] to create a believable and distinct di erent lms, from a political one knowing when not to cross the line. the world’s commotion. e only he says. “We are not a big production that nobody would recognise him as world. “My lms are always about like Yahaan (2005) set in Kashmir, In Vicky Donor, for example, it would thing I regret is not being able to go house, we make and release one Mr Bachchan,” says Sircar. “I always the world,” he says. “In Piku, it was to the delightful Vicky Donor and have been very easy for it to become and meet Irrfan for the last time.”
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I INTERVIEW/Shobhaa De, author social animals. We thrive on by the pandemic. The human engagement. We like representation of love in the sensual aspects of our the stories varies. It goes Social existence—touch, feel, hugs from tender to brutal. I and kisses. In the post- occupied many skins in distancing is pandemic universe, we will the process. The voices still be groping for answers are raw and authentic Looming threat that don’t exist. There was as protagonists question anti-humanity no specific incident as their deepest feelings. The ell… this year’s Eid had I immediately liked the idea, and such—the trigger came from language is frequently rough been like no other Eid in asked my loom. Both of us agreed it BY SUSAMMA JOY KURIAN listening to different voices and abusive. As masks fall W my memory. In my lifetime, was unique and a challenge we could that were all around me. off, strange things happen. I hope I will never spend meet if we worked very hard. She Q/ You wrote Lockdown Liaisons Each of us carries a unique Marriages collapse. Sex such an Eid. My loom was silent wanted it for her wedding in June. during lockdown. Is this your story within our minds and dies. Hostility surfaces. and sad. So was I. Our entire mohalla She told me it was a good time to get quickest book? hearts. The more I tuned Memory plays games…. But was silent—had been silent for two married in New York because the A/ The honest answer: it is still a in, the more I observed, the it is also about compassion months now, after all our orders got weather was always very fine at that work in progress. Book 1 has been more I wanted to share. It is and understanding. I would cancelled, and the money owed to us time. We negotiated a price—I was launched and hit the number one about empathy. Nothing else say these stories are about by those who had already taken our most reasonable. I also offered her spot on day 2, which was such a is as important during these love, loss, longing and lust— sarees and lehengas, was not given jalebis and special milk tea, which thrill. Book 2 will be launched on stress-filled times. passionate and deeply felt. by the middlemen. They had simply she enjoyed.... Saturday (June 6). And then on thrown up their hands and said there Slowly, carefully, an emotional to Book 3, 4, 5, 6. I will continue Q/ What are the issues Q/ The one good thing was none to give. story was created and a fresh amount to write the stories organically as that you deal with in the that has emerged from Everything collapsed overnight. fixed. I didn’t overcharge her, they form inside my head, as the short stories? Is there the lockdown, personally Thank God I had some cash in the though I could have, since this saree world responds to new challenges. a common thread that and otherwise? tin box—an advance given by a required months of hard work. But I was compelled as a writer to binds them? A/ The only good thing tourist—a memsaab from phoren. my loom and I were already hearing document these tumultuous times A/ Yes, it is love. These that has emerged is how Imagine, this mem wanted to get the shehnai! I started weaving in my own way. Imagine being felled are not conventional ‘love we look at the post- married in America wearing my Madam Angie’s saree after seeking by a microbe! How could I let this stories’, but they explore pandemic scenario, with saree! I had sold many of my weaves Allah’s blessings and offering dua to dramatic moment in history pass two weeks, we launched Book frustration. We are re-educating the complex nature of a greater emphasis on to these goralog in the past, when her and her future husband, Mark without writing about the emotional 1 on the last day of lockdown ourselves, unlearning so many love itself. All the stories earth’s limited resources…. they came to Benaras as tourists Saab. After she left, we kept in touch havoc it has caused in all our lives? 4.0. Timing is everything! staples we could once take for are written in first person. Personally? (Laughs) so and were brought to our mohalla by I didn’t set out to become a literary granted. Most of us felt trapped They are monologues in many self-discoveries, big guides to show how we worked. But Formula One racing driver and create Q/ Did any specific incident and claustrophobic, stuck in which the narrator replays and small. The virus can this order was different. Her name, a speed record! But the sense of push you to write the book? a gigantic prison. It took me the mysterious passage of never kill human hope and she told me, was Angelina—she immediacy the pandemic unleashed A/ The world had/has turned a while to realign my feelings ‘love’ in an unfiltered way. imagination. My imagination wrote it down. But I found it hard to propelled me to go ahead and keep upside down in a blink! There and get into a new emotional This level of introspection is on fire! And I have finally pronounce, so she said, ‘Just call me at it. It was great when Simon & is turmoil, insecurity, suspicion, grid. Social distancing is anti- is driven by extraordinary discovered my inner Garbo! Angie’. That was easy. Schuster got cracking, and in under despair, confusion, anger and humanity! Human beings are circumstances created Happy to be left alone. I called her ‘Madam Angie’, and she laughed, saying, ‘No madam. Just Angie!’ Such a big memsaab and so humble. She had a special over WhatsApp, with me using woman. I wanted her saree to be a I had grown up seeing funeral pyres showing on television, I knew it was request—she told me the other Ali’s smart phone, and sending her masterpiece! Nothing less. and corpses burning on the ghats a major calamity... and the whole weavers in the gully had refused to pictures as the saree progressed on While I was halfway through all day and all night. Death did not world was getting infected by... some take her order as they didn’t want to the loom. it, something terrible befell the frighten me. But what Ali was sharing said an insect, some said a bat, some deal with extra double-double work. Throughout that period, I only world. At first, I ignored what I was with his friends and sometimes with said a chemical. But all said it came They’d told her—‘Go to Azarbhai— listened to Ustad Bismillah Khan hearing, and continued to weave. his ammi and me, was something far out of China. he is mad! He may do it for you.’ NO LOVE LOST & OTHER STORIES saab playing the shehnai as only I told myself, these are just stories. worse—it was an unknown harbinger That’s how Angie came to me Author: Shobhaa De he could. I feel a weaver’s mood In India, we are used to all kinds of of death and suffering. Maybe he did —Extracted with permission from and asked, ‘Will you weave a special Publisher: Simon & Schuster and state of mind affects what he diseases. In Benaras life and death not want to scare us by discussing No Love Lost and Other Stories: saree which has my love story in Pages: 51; price 089 creates. This was a very precious have always co-existed through this topic. But from the little I could Lockdown Liaisons Book Two, it? I will pay extra for the trouble.’ responsibility given to me by a good centuries—we take both for granted. make out from what they were published by Simon & Schuster.
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ess in a Hindi translation of Coelho’s Adultery right after playing Sita for Divakaruni’s book. “It was a very amusing experience reading Coelho’s Hear, hear! book in translation. It was A crackling bunch of audio artists is my rst ever Hindi audio- revitalising books for stilled lives in book and I had to nd trans- lations for words like orgasm quarantine (hastamaithun),” Pillai says and laughs. BY SNEHA BHURA But Sonal Kaushal, a voice artist for children, talks about interesting conundrums in the ijay Vikram Singh has covered enviable ground world of audiobooks. Her sweet, lilting as a voice artist. He has been the voice of the voice has vocalised characters like Do- V popular Indian TV series Bigg Boss since 2007, raemon, Chhota Bheem and Powerpu and provided viewers with a compelling aural Girls for long. “But [doing] books for kids experience in reality shows like MasterChef India, Indian STORY TIME is more work to keep them engaged,” says Idol, and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Yet, nothing could have prepared Actor Suchitra Kaushal. “You always have to be chirpy Pillai has voiced Singh for the audiobook-reading gig that came his way in and bubbly. Even if I am [voicing] a mon- for Paulo Coelho’s 2018 by way of Swedish company Storytel. Adultery and ster, I can’t be so evil that they are scared His rst book was Chandrakanta San- writer Devdutt o . I can play a boy, girl, mother, father, tati, a six-part magnum opus by popular Pattanaik tree and a bird... everything. But if there Hindi novelist Devkinandan Khatri. e released the are three kids who are chatting away like book series was a sequel to Chandrakanta, Mahabharat as friends... I need to be so careful about which inspired the blockbuster television a six-hour audio the di erentiation so that kids don’t get show series of the same name in the 1990s. “ e confused.” sheer scale of the story, with a cast of at And what happens when authors least 100 characters, completely blew me themselves read their books? Mythologist away. e story and writing were better and author Devdutt Pattanaik recently than Game of rones,” says Singh, who down as they are essentially one thing about showing commitment SOMEONE TOLD released the Mahabharat as a six-hour took more than two months to complete commute-consumption friend- to the subject and the characters. audio show under Audible Suno. Patta- the narration, voicing all the characters. ly. But quarantine brought “When I was very young, someone ME THAT WHEN naik insists that his Mahabharat as an “It was unlike anything I had done in my about slow, invisible changes told me that when you are on a mic, audio tale is very di erent from reading entire career.” He would take 15-minute in lives and people counted on always think that you are speaking to YOU ARE ON A MIC, a book. “It’s sort of extempore,” he says. power naps after every 30 minutes of nar- more things to keep them- one person,” says Patel. “Whether it is THINK THAT YOU “ ere are pauses, some awkwardness ration in a tiny recording studio, just to get selves engaged. Major English for an ad or a book, this approach will and mistakes too, just like when we are back a sense of control over the multiple voice textures. “I publishing houses have ramped up their audiobook always bring greater intimacy, truth ARE SPEAKING speaking. e whole idea was to create a get a pittance for audiobooks compared with ad lms and plans, and platforms like Storytel and Audible are and connectedness with listeners.” TO ONE PERSON. natural storytelling ecosystem.” TV voiceovers. It is exhausting. e motivation to take this witnessing a steady uptick in listenership. But what Suchitra Pillai, actor, model, anchor Pattanaik condensed the 18 chapters on has to come from somewhere else,” says Singh. good is an audiobook if the storyteller is not leading and former VJ, has voiced books THIS WILL BRING of his book into six Hindi episodes of 40 During lockdown, Singh managed to record Neem Ka listeners into the story with subtle and seamless nar- for Audible with mostly women as GREATER INTIMACY minutes each; he recorded it in a studio Ped, another book that inspired a drama series in the 1990s. ration? ankfully, there are a few who have charmed powerful, central characters including he set up at home during the lockdown, e story revolves around a bonded labourer and the neem listeners with their impeccable authorial voice. Adultery by Paulo Coelho and e For- WITH LISTENERS. with the help of a sound engineer. With tree that he plants as a running metaphor of his life. “I had Screen actor and a popular face in Mumbai’s the- est of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee —Shernaz Patel, actor this reading, his own book revealed itself to voice the tree too as a narrator,” says Singh, who narrated atre circuit, Shernaz Patel has been voicing for ads, Divakaruni. “ ere are no special to him in newer ways. “But I don’t think the book in sparkling Awadhi. He recorded the entire book corporate lms and movies since college. Audiobooks e ects, everything depends on the I would enjoy reading from a book,” over 20 days, starting at 6am every day, when his kids were came as a natural transition. She has narrated over 20 voice,” says Pillai. “You learn to change Pattanaik admits. “When you write, the asleep. “ e thrill of doing this every morning trumped titles for Audible such as Wuthering Heights by Emily between Sita and Surpanakha. You don’t throw your sound is very di erent from when you are narrating the every inconvenience.” Bronte and Panchatantra. Fiction can be challenging voice out like in a drama, but learn to be controlled and story. Especially my books, which are written in a rather In India, where even e-books have failed to make a mark, when you have to voice multiple characters, while get all your in ections, intonations, pronunciations staccato manner. I am not like Shakespeare, which has to there should have been little hope for audiobooks in lock- non- ction can get dull and insipid. But Patel knows correct.” Pillai recalls taking on the voice of an adulter- be read or heard.”
66 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 67 @LEISURE @LEISURE REVIEWS TRAVEL
WORLD JEFFREY EPSTEIN: FILTHY RICH CINEMA'S Available on Netflix FINEST Rating YOUNG AHMED (French, 2019) Virtual vacations
BY OSHIN GRACE DANIELL It was inevitable: Humankind has found a way to combat the Covid- induced travel hiatus—using Google Maps and virtual reality technology. So, get ready to experience the world’s most popular tourist destinations from the comfort of your home. Here are ve options to get you started:
NORTHERN LIGHTS 4 GREAT BARRIER REEF 1 The Australian tourist attraction is the world’s largest Patience and luck were prerequisites for anyone who coral reef system, made up of close to 3,000 individ- wanted to enjoy these unpredictable, luminous, atmospheric ual reefs. Google, in collaboration with Catlin Seaview displays. Not anymore. The virtual tour by the Lights Over BEYOND Survey, now allows people to explore some of the top Lapland project features every detail, at your convenience. Beast of prey dive sites. Although filmed for 3D, it is worth a watch REDEMPTION even without a virtual reality headset. BY REUBEN JOE JOSEPH BY JOSE K. GEORGE 2 LOUVRE MUSEUM The world’s largest art museum has a collection of about ew people know who offered illegal sexual services and THIRTEENYEAROLD Ahmed is an four lakh pieces; though only a tenth of it is on display. Still, it is said that it would take three days and two nights Louvre Museum Jeffrey Epstein really later blackmailed. Only Prince extremely devout Belgian. He detests to walk through the entirety of the Louvre, if you do it non- F was. To the famous, he Andrew’s alleged crimes are spoken his mother and sister as he feels that stop. Now, with the virtual tour offered by the museum’s was rich. To the rich, he about. The weekend after the series their lifestyles are un-Islamic. He refuses official website, take all the time that you need to study was brilliant. To the common man, released, news of Trump’s alleged to shake hands with his teacher, Ines, every exhibit, including the iconic Mona Lisa. he was a Jay Gatsby-like figure. involvement in the Epstein sex because he believes that such an act is But to his victims, he was the devil scandal resurfaced on social media. against his religion. In uenced by a mili- 3 MACHU PICCHU incarnate. The disgraced American There are no shocking reve- tant imam and the videos that he watches Peru’s most famous landmark; a UNESCO World Heritage financier had an obscene amount lations in Filthy Rich. It lets the on the internet, Ahmed is ready to kill for Site. One of the new seven wonders of the world, Machu of money, enough to live recklessly survivors control the narrative, his religion. Picchu continues to reveal the mysteries of the Incan as a paedophile and an internation- bolstered by interviews of journal- Ahmed, presented by director sib- Empire. Be sure to check out the 360-degree street view al child sex trafficker, and leave his ists, attorneys, investigators and lings Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre of the Inca Trail (a 4-day, 3-night hike to Machu Picchu) by Google Arts & Culture. lawyers to cover up his tracks. child psychologists to give us the Dardenne, appears to have gone beyond But Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, full picture. It depicts the extent the point of redemption at a tender age. Machu Picchu Giant’s Causeway a four-part documentary, isn’t so to which Epstein’s reach—from the Until a month ago, he was a regular teen- much about Epstein as it is about state attorney to the FBI—could ager who loved his video games. giving voice to the many women hush things for over 11 years. When his imam tells Ahmed that who were lured into his “sexual The failure of the criminal justice Ines is an apostate, the youngster feels Northern lights pyramid scheme”. His procurers system rings loud and clear; with that this is his chance to wage the jihad targeted vulnerable underage girls so much damning evidence, Epstein that he always wanted. His inspiration to give him massages at his various was still elusive for so long. is his cousin who gave up his life for residences, and he would either Numerous conspiracy theories jihad. Against the advice of his imam, abuse them for cash or pay them sprang up after Epstein’s myste- he attempts to kill his teacher. Ahmed to bring their friends, who in turn rious suicide in jail in 2019. The ends up in a rehabilitation centre where would then bring their friends and last episode addresses that, but the counsellors try to bring him back to so on. more importantly talks about how a normal life, but his convictions can Great Barrier Reef While there is a lot of emphasis the battle is far from done. The hardly be re xed. 5 GIANT’S CAUSEWAY on whom the good-looking and question of who Epstein really is, Young Ahmed, which won the best One of Northern Ireland’s best-known natural wonders, Giant’s Causeway is famous for its hexagonal interlocking suave Wall Street mogul hung out is eclipsed by other pressing ones director award at the 2019 Cannes Film stone columns of layered basalt. A tourist hotspot and the with—from Harvey Weinstein to like when his co-conspirators will Festival, is a chilling tale of a teen disori- only UNESCO World Heritage Site in the country, it has Donald Trump and Bill Clinton—we be tried and who are the ones to ented by the doctrines that he consumed been called “a portal into the Earth’s most ancient past”. also are told that many of his whom girls were trafficked. The without questioning. Step into the mythical land of giants with the 360-degree unnamed powerful friends were Epstein story is not over. panoramic tour by the National Trust for Ireland.
68 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 69 @LEISURE ART THE MOB MINIATURIST Painter Soma Das details the delectable in the drab
BY SNEHA BHURA
ART IN CHAOS Das (facing page) and her works (clockwise from left) ‘Hell in the Earth’, ‘Shelter’ and the latest one she made during the lockdown
Born in New Barrackpore, miniatures is replaced with West Bengal, to a carpenter Nepali paper, and gilded father, Das grew up with borders of illuminated manu- restrictions aplenty. But she scripts have slipped off from was fond of drawing and Das’s oeuvre. “The Nepali sketching, and eventually paper, also handmade, is found her way out of the just like me,”says Das. “I can confines of house arrest to relate to it; it is very absorb- study visual and fine arts at ing, and borders falling away Rabindra Bharati Univer- from my paintings depict sity in Kolkata. It is in the my gradual discarding of university’s library that she boundaries and restrictions was first exposed to the which had earlier impeded
SHANKHARUPA BOSE, EMAMI ART BOSE, SHANKHARUPA COURTESY PHOTO illustrious world of miniature my growth.”She has been paintings. The fine-grained officially represented by Kol- rigour and discipline of kata’s Emami Art gallery for ughal miniatures bejewelled women waiting in 41-year-old Kolkata-based well be a shelter, crammed executing traditional motifs modern and contemporary giant umbrella is an assort- relatives, with poker-faced have elegant, love and longing. Das paints artist, who quotes the quotid- to capacity in a time of social and patterns of a miniature painting since January 2019. ment of strangers awk- doctors and nurses prowling M manicured scruffy women all knotted up ian in her canvas in the style distancing, with three kids, a seeped into her artistic Das does not yet know wardly huddled together. “A amidst corpses, cats and gardens. Soma in the exhausting drama of of a neo-miniaturist. homebound father, grand- style. “Even though I haven’t how the artist in her will bonhomie is created when cockroaches. In a 2016 Das’s paintings unfold everyday living. But there is Drawing inspiration from parents, utensils, furniture been trained in the exact respond to the recent super they are suddenly stuck in canvas, migrants from a against insipid urban sprawls. bold, vivid imagery in both, south Asian miniature art, and a mother bent over a techniques of miniature cyclone that devastated pouring rain in the middle neighbouring country, una- Traditional Indian miniatures a riotous interplay of colours Das has been consistently hot tub of oil, deep-frying painting, by studying the her city. She is still sifting of nowhere,”says Das. In ble to breathe in their poky, have kings and courtiers and gatherings, and much reinventing the genre to batter. “I saw this scene near ancient folios and plates, her thoughts about it. Her a stunning blue tableau makeshift houses, spill out with their stately elephants handsome detailing. “I have reflect her own struggles my house,”says Das. “It is a reading and researching in previous works offer clues. titled ‘Hell in the Earth’, she on to the railway tracks and and glittering forts. Das’s imbibed all the techniques and memories with equal difficult time. But still, there museums and galleries, I She draws our attention to translates a medical inferno learn to cook, wash, clean, paintings contain hoi polloi of detailing, arrangement, parts irony and pathos. Her is a sense of elation in this have found my own language a canvas in mustard with a into a carefree, chaotic dry and dream under the in their slapdash huts and narration and aerial perspec- most recent work, made in family stuck at home.” and interpretation,”says Das. large black umbrella tipped hospital ward with harried arch of the summer skies. tenements. Ancient min- tive from the tradition of lockdown, is a simple, one- She recalls her own Hence the traditional hand- with a stray, pillowy cloud. patients splayed out in one “There is delight and hope in iatures portray exquisitely miniature painting,”says the room house. It could just as conservative upbringing. made wasli paper meant for Under the canopy of the large bed, alongside anxious everything,”says Das.
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rangements for their travel back home. I have not slept for the last four days. I just take a nap for half an hour when I A virtual get tired. Monsoon and cyclone could spell more trouble for act the migrant workers. I have to ensure that they reach home e BAFTA TV Awards, which got safely. I wish I had 30 hours a day. postponed because of lockdown, will What motivates you to help them? now take place on July 31. It will be a Sonu Sood e smile on their faces makes my day. It makes me work “closed studio, socially-distanced” actor harder. show, with nominees invited to ac- How did you raise funds for the ‘Ghar Bhejo’ project? cept their awards virtually. Comedi- ‘Ghar Bhejo’ was started by my friend Niti Goel and me. an Richard Ayoade, of e IT Crowd Initially, we dipped into our savings. Now people are fame, will be the host. “I am as coming forward and pitching in. surprised as you are that this is still How di cult has it been to get the paperwork done? going ahead,” he quipped. It was really hard to get the paperwork done. Besides ROLE getting permissions from the police and the district GETTY IMAGES magistrate, one even had to get a tness certi cate REVERSAL from a registered medical practitioner initially. Now onu Sood, best known medical certi cates are not required. Still the process for his negative roles, involves a lot of paperwork and it is really tiring. Shas now emerged as a A man recently shared a video on Twit- A muddy real-life hero. He has helped ter and said, ‘You are no less than a battle thousands of stranded migrants God.’ Do you nd it overwhelming? return to their homes. I am so touched by people’s responses. The solo Wrestler Sakshi Malik has not let the How grave is the migrant crisis I feel like my family has grown. Now lockdown of training facilities a ect in Mumbai? I have near and dear ones in act her training. She now trains at an Migrants are looking for a means Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Nandita Das recently released a short lm akhara at her in-laws' house in Har- to return to their native place. every part of the country. called Listen to Her. e seven-minute lm on yana. Wrestling in mud, though, has More than 10,000 migrants are One migrant named her domestic violence during the lockdown was been challenging as she is doing it for still stranded in Mumbai. I have boy Sonu Sood Srivast- written, acted, directed and produced by Das the rst time. “ e speed, technique, sent around 35,000 people to their hav. at was very herself at her home. Supported by UNESCO, everything is di erent,” she says. Ap- respective states so far. special. ere is a man United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF, UN parently, husband and fellow wrestler What is your typical day like? whom I helped reunite Women and the South Asia Foundation, the lm Satyawart Kadian, who is no stranger to I am out on the eld for almost 20 with his mother. She illustrates the irony of the guideline “stay home, PTI muddy grappling, is helping her. hours, nding out where they are, called me the other day. stay safe”. sending them food and making ar- She kept crying and I was at a loss for words. Rumours are rife that you PTI will enter politics. No. I don’t have any such intention. I am happy where Rebel with I am now. Does your family fear for a cause your safety? Artist Ai Weiwei has come up with several face masks ey are worried about me. to raise money for Covid-19 relief e orts. e masks But someone has to come for- are re ective of the artist's political activism and are ward and help these people. extremely popular. He has, for example, sold more at’s what I tell them. I try than 4,500 of his rebellious masks with the middle to maintain social distancing nger. By June 2, he had raised $1,084,950. “No will and take all the precautions. is too small and no act too helpless,” Weiwei posted —MiniMini P. Thomas on Instagram. e proceeds will go to Human Rights CONTRIBUTOR: SNEHA BHURA Watch, Refugees International and Medecins Sans
COMPILED BY ANJULY MATHAI GETTY IMAGES Frontiers.
72 THE WEEK • JUNE 14, 2020 JUNE 14, 2020 • THE WEEK 73 LAST WORD NAVTEJ SARNA
Winter of Warsaw 1985
andemic pictures have given way to visuals Solidarity, led by the charismatic Lech Walesa, had of spiralling protests against the brutal police thrown down the gauntlet with the Gdansk shipyard Pkilling of a black man. Pictures on instant strikes of 1981. Martial law had been imposed and television create quick in exion points and change lifted, though leading Solidarity activists were still political narratives in minutes. It was not always in custody. General Jaruzelski’s regime, kowtowing like this: police brutality existed before today but to Moscow, lurched between weak concessions and news was not always so pervasive or accessible. repression. Anticipation lurked in stealthy whispers; For instance, in the world that once existed behind coded signals were hidden in sermons. the Iron Curtain, a shadowy, snow-bound world A Polish Pope—John Paul II—sat in the Vatican of authoritarian regimes controlled by Moscow, it and his visits, with their sharply calibrated political was di cult to come by hard facts. Political o cers message, inspired the Polish nation. e Church in embassies depended on BBC bulletins over the was Solidarity’s strong partner; a young priest, Jerzy crackling short-waves and then discounted them for Popieluszko, emerged as the poster boy of protest: western bias. thousands thronged the streets outside St Stanislaw In 1985, in Warsaw, Kevin Ruane church in north Warsaw to of the BBC regularly analysed listen to his monthly mass. e developments in three-minute priest’s popularity got under the bursts on my hardy Russian skin of the security services and radio. Outside, the early winter in late 1984 he was abducted, days were short and gray. Cars brutally assaulted, and thrown— lay hidden under piles of snow gagged and bound—into a in parking lots. Tough small Vistula reservoir. A year later, Fiats—the maluch—slithered on November 1, All-Souls Day, and slid on the treacherous black I visited his grave. e memory ice. Poorly maintained heating is vivid: hundreds of people, systems croaked and cranked, thousands of candles, Solidarity tram bells clanged late into the banners, the inevitable plain- snowy night and the Vistula began clothes police and a huge rough to freeze over. Virtually everything granite gravestone. was scarce—in shops, the empty Kevin Ruane later detailed shelves stared back, pleading the story of Fr Popieluszko’s helplessness. Even diplomats queued up for rationed assassination and the consequent trial in his book To quotas of meat, butter, sugar, petrol and cooking oil. Kill a Priest. Marked by his keen observation, deep e best currency was a cheap French brandy called research and the empathy that had earned him the Martineau; the best gift a kilo of meat. People cajoled trust of regimes and dissidents alike, the book brings and bribed for essentials. to life a world of cold repression and the indomitable But political excitement throbbed just under the human spirit and shows how the murder hastened the surface. e Soviet empire had slipped into decline; fall of the communist regime. Kevin, a good friend, Gorbachev’s arrival bore early promise of a fresh passed away in December 2018, in Australia, but by breeze from the east. Poland was a bubbling crucible then the grim world that he and I had shared had long of change, catalysed by the nation’s particularities: vanished: the Soviet Union had dissolved, the Cold War Poles nurtured a historical antipathy towards Russia; ended, the Berlin Wall torn down. Justice too had been the vast majority were practising Catholics; private served: Father Popieluszko was beati ed by the Vatican agriculture and not collective farming was the norm. in 2010 and put on the path to sainthood.
ILLUSTRATION BHASKARAN The writer is a former high commissioner of India to the UK and ambassador to the US
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