WEST BENGAL RACISM IN THE US BJP PITS TRINAMOOL AGAINST TRINAMOOL WHITE PRIVILEGE GETS A RETHINK HOW COVID CHANGED LIFE IN THE LARGEST JOURNALISM WITH A HUMAN TOUCH www.theweek.in TheWeekMag TheWeekLive $ 50 RESIDENTIAL BUILDING IN THE WORLD TELECOM: INDIA IS BIG TECH’S NEW PLAYGROUND KOLLYWOOD’S JUNE 21, 2020 BLEAK SUMMER DELHI IN DOLDRUMS Where did Arvind Kejriwal go wrong in the fight against Covid-19? VOL. 38 NO. 25 THE WEEK JUNE 21 2020 FOR THE WEEK JUNE 15 - JUNE 21 12 26 63 AP SALIL BERA SALIL WEST BENGAL RACISM @LEISURE The BJP is banking on former Trinamool White Americans are realising that Kollywood was primed for big and left leaders to oust Mamata their privilege makes them complicit business this year, but the pandemic Banerjee from power by association: Jennifer Alisa has pushed it into a crisis Sanders, African American singer 16 BIHAR COVER STORY Nitish Kumar faces a COLUMNS 34 tough election year amid a raging pan- 9 POWER POINT Sachidananda Murthy demic and a migrant crisis 32 MANI-FESTO Mani Shankar Aiyar 20 BRAZIL Covid-19 is killing 48 PMO BEAT Brazil’s society and R. Prasannan life, while President 49 IVORY TOWER Bolsonaro is chipping Sanjaya Baru away at the country’s democracy 62 BITTER CHOCOLATE Swara Bhasker 46 AVIATION Despite stringent 74 LAST WORD Bibek Debroy measures, Covid-19 is spreading rapidly among pilots and cabin crew 54 KERALA 50 TELECOM Kottoor elephant PTI CONTINGENCY PLANNING Big Tech’s interest rehabilitation centre Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal‘s videoconference with medical directors and superintendents of hospitals in Indian telecom in Thiruvananthapu- companies could be a ram provides succour game-changer to abandoned and DELHI IN DISTRESS ill-treated elephants The national capital has seen rapid increase in the number COVER DESIGN BINESH SREEDHARAN COVER PHOTO GETTY IMAGES of Covid-19 cases following the relaxation of lockdown. Chief Printed at Malayala Manorama Press, Kottayam, Print House India Pvt Minister Arvind Kerjiwal, who announced that hospitals in Delhi Ltd, Mumbai, M P Printers, Noida, and Rajhans Enterprises, Bengaluru, would treat only its residents, himself had fallen ill and got tested and published from Manorama Buildings, Panampilly Nagar, Kochi-682 036, by Jacob Mathew, on behalf of the Malayala Manorama Co.Ltd., for Covid-19. He tested negative for the coronavirus, but a much Kottayam-686 001. Editor Philip Mathew tougher test of steering Delhi through the pandemic remains. • Focus/Infocus features are paid marketing/PR initiatives JUNE 21, 2020 • THE WEEK 3 LETTERS China should stop the storm and last the to last. The power tussle fighting a grim battle Editor Philip Mathew provoking India in the two-month-long lockdown between the governor against Covid-19, has Chief Associate Editor & Director Riyad Mathew MAHARASHTRA PRAKASH JAVADEKAR GOVERNOR RATTLES THE GOVERNMENT MAKE IN INDIA HAPPENED IN FOUR MONTHS CYCLONE AMPHAN Editor-in-Charge V.S. Jayaschandran JOURNALISM WITH A HUMAN TOUCH www.theweek.in TheWeekMag TheWeekLive $ 50 TRIGGERS POLITICAL HEADWINDS FOR MAMATA manner it is doing now. without even a morsel of and the chief minister to contend with the Senior News Editor Stanley Thomas CARMAKERS TAKE THE ROUTE LESS TRODDEN India should stick to its food to eat or a roof over will continue till the day destructive aftermath of News Editor Lukose Mathew RTI TAKEN ILL DURING JUNE 7, 2020 THE LOCKDOWN position and teach the their heads. this government lasts cyclone Amphan. Deputy News Editors Mathew T. George, Maijo Abraham, Ajish P. Joy Chinese a lesson, as they By the time the (‘Vanity fair’, June 7). The Mamata’s appeal for Resident Editor, Delhi K.S. Sachidananda Murthy have started behaving like government came to Maharashtra government a relief package, in the Chief of Bureau, Delhi R. Prasannan goons. grips with the problem, has failed miserably in wake of the cyclone, has Chief of Bureau, Mumbai Dnyanesh V. Jathar China should stop the thousands of migrants containing the virus in resulted in a generous Deputy Chief of Bureau, Delhi Neeru Bhatia Chief Subeditors Susamma Kurian, bullying behaviour. Post undertook the journey on Mumbai, Pune and other and prompt response Navin J. Antony Covid, they are the most foot, some perishing on the parts of the state. from Narendra Modi. Senior Subeditors Anirudha Karindalam, Anirudh Madhavan hated nation in the world. way and some run over by The Maha Vikas Aghadi With state elections not Subeditors Diya Mathew, Karthik Ravindranath, It should know well that trains. is sure to collapse in a too far away, all political Reuben Joe Joseph, Nirmal Jovial TENSION ON INDIA-CHINA BORDER such a tag will do more C.V. Aravind, year or two. parties in the state are WHAT XI WANTS On email. SENIOR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS PRINCIPAL CORRESPONDENTS Land link with Pak-held Kashmir through Ladakh? harm than good. Vikas Asthana, treading carefully. Delhi: Rekha Dixit, Mandira Nayar, Hyderabad: Rahul Devulapalli Tapesh Nagpal, On email. The state government Namrata Biji Ahuja, Soni Mishra, Kochi: Anjuly Mathai On email. A picture speaks a has not covered itself in K. Sunil Thomas Srinagar: Tariq Ahmad Bhat SENIOR CORRESPONDENTS thousand words. Good read glory while tackling the Lucknow: Puja Awasthi Bengaluru: Mini P. Thomas, Kolkata: Rabi Banerjee Keep vigil Heart-rending Eight black-and-white Swara Bhasker’s pandemic, and the BJP is Abhinav Singh Delhi: Sneha Bhura China’s aggressive posture, in the wake of images photographs by Bhanu narration of her gleefully pointing at the SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS Mumbai: Priyanka Bhadani, Delhi: Pratul Sharma, Namita Kohli, Pooja Biraia Jaiswal worldwide condemnation of its mishandling Your photo-feature Prakash Chandra, meeting with the young lapses. Mamata, the street Pradip R. Sagar the virus outbreak, is testimony to the fact that (‘Mother of all journeys’, depicting the ‘mother impoverished migrant fighter that she is, will Bengaluru: Prathima Nandakumar Thiruvananthapuram: Cithara Paul CHIEF REPORTER it believes in bullying other nations (‘Unquiet June 7) has vividly of all journeys’ of girl, caught in the have to be at her fighting Mumbai: Nachiket Kelkar UAE: Raju Mathew, Dubai heights’, June 7). President Xi Jinping thinks portrayed the plight of migrants, showed their vortex of the lockdown, best to keep a resurgent Chennai Lakshmi Subramanian Bhopal: Sravani Sarkar that China’s territorial aggrandisement may thousands of migrants determination and made for a compelling BJP at bay. Ahmedabad: Nandini Gunavantrai Oza please the Chinese and they will believe that who, bereft of jobs, desperation to reach their read (‘Put yourself in Vipul Pande, their shoes’, June 7). It Photo Editor: Sanjoy Ghosh Art Editor: Jayakrishnan M.T. China is the world’s most powerful nation. income and shelter, were native places, against all Nainital, Uttarakhand. Deputy Photo Editors Assistant Art Editor: Binesh Sreedharan China’s policy has always been to contain left with no option but to the odds. is depressing to read Bhanu Prakash Chandra, Salil Bera Senior Infographic India’s economic surge. That some countries trek hundreds and even It took me to scenes of about the hand-to- Chief Photographers Designer: Sreemanikandan S. More to be revealed Delhi: Arvind Jain, Sanjay Ahlawat Illustrator: B. Bhaskaran mouth existence of the Mumbai: Janak Bhat, were pitching India as an alternative to the thousands of miles to partition, when lakhs of It is a mystery that Layout Artist: B. Manojkumar migrants; for them even Amey Suhas Mansabdar Chinese supply chain was the root cause of reach their villages from people crossed the border the recovery rate in Photographer Designers: Deni Lal, Job P.K. China’s border transgressions. where they had migrated for survival.These pictures a pair of slippers is a Sweden has remained Delhi: Aayush Goel Graphic Designer: Syam Krishnan luxury. Chief Picture Coordinator Artists: Rajesh A.S., Sumesh C.N., So far, India has read between the lines and to the cities in search of have left me in tears, with at such a low level for Bimal Nath C. I hope the girl would Sujesh K., Ajeesh Kumar M., Jairaj T.G. has not given in to the temptation of paying jobs. a lump in my throat. What a long time when the Research: Jomy M. Joseph Senior Researcher: Rani G.S. back China in its own coin. One is unable to fathom cannot be cured must be not be forced to abort public health system is Photo Archivist: Deepak Joy T. her dreams, because the India is surrounded by Pakistan, Nepal and Sri the extent of the naïveté endured. not overwhelmed (‘An odds are that she will THEWEEK.IN Lanka who keep posing hurdles in its path to of a government that, Parthasarathy Mandadi, unusual cult figure’, be burdened with the New Media Coordinator Neeraj Krishnan development. So, for India, a tight-rope walk is perhaps, in the first place, On email. March 31). responsibility of running Deputy New Media Coordinator Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl what looks right. thought that millions of It is a question mark Senior Subeditors Hazeeda Vijayakumar, Sumitra Nair, the household, and Vaisakh E. Hari, Ancy K. Sunny, Ashok Goswami, migrant labourers never how Sweden has achieved Alliance won’t last performing domestic Jose K. George, Justin Paul George On email. existed. Or even if they The alliance in higher immunity rate. In Subeditors Vinod V.K., Anita Babu, Varun Ramesh chores, at the cost of her Balan did, they could weather Maharashtra is not going the absence of a vaccine, Senior Researcher Saju C. Daniel personal well-being and Multimedia Rahul J. Mohan, Vipin Das P. growth. we can talk of herd Varsha V. Shenoy, immunity, which can be Executive Director George Jacob achieved when at least 60 Vice President, Marketing, On email.