What about Modi’s Role in Spreading Coronavirus?
“Both have spread the Covid infection. If Tablighis were responsible for the first wave, Congressmen are responsible for the third wave.” This is the tweet of the BJP’s state unit in response to Congress leaders ‘Mekedaatu Padayatra’ in a bid to hold Congress leaders responsible for the increasing Coronavirus cases in the state. The Coronavirus cases have increased not only in Karnataka but the entire country. It is not wrong then to raise questions or discuss the appropriateness of taking out a padayatra in such a situation. But another equally important question that must be answered is about the government triggering panic over the spread of Coronavirus when people hit the street in support of pro-people programmes while maintaining silence during election rallies or meetings. It is therefore a matter of suspicion if the government is indeed scared of Coronavirus or the Congress’ Mekedaatu padayatra.
It is also rather ironical that the State BJP in its tweet criticizing the Congress has tried to keep alive the media’s prejudiced reports that the Tablighi convention was responsible for the first wave. The Courts issued several rulings against media reports that said the Coronavirus spread due to the Tablighi convention and even rebuked the media. Similarly, the Courts dismissed the cases filed by police against foreigners who attended the conventions and indicted the prejudiced police action. The Sangh Parivar’s attempts to hold one community responsible for spreading the Coronavirus through the Tablighis failed. By again making the same statement that Tablighis were responsible for the first wave, the state BJP has tried to fish in troubled waters.
The main reason for the spread of the Coronavirus in the country can be traced to the ‘Namaste Trump’ show organized by Prime Minister Modi at Ahmedabad. If the Centre had imposed restrictions at international airports when the Coronavirus had just started spreading, the Coronavirus would not have spread its tentacles to this extent in India. The price that India paid for glorifying a President of another country by spending crores of rupee is the Coronavirus. To make the ‘Namaste Trump’ programme successful, all airports were kept open. The government did not become alert even after the ‘Namaste Trump’ programme following which the BJP-sponsored riots took place in Delhi. More than 50 innocent people lost their lives. Similar to closing the doors of the fort after it is looted, the government became alert to the Coronavirus after it entered the country. To hide its failures, it created ‘Tablighi Coronavirus.’ The media tried hard to protect the Modi government by projecting participants of Tablighi conventions as criminals. All these attempts failed in the Courts.
Even if BJP’s argument that Tablighi gathering was responsible for the first wave and the Congress is responsible for the third wave is taken into consideration, the party is silent on who is responsible for the second wave. Only if it were to morally accept that the election rallies in West Bengal under Modi-Shah leadership were responsible for the second wave, can it take moral ground to claim that the Mekedaatu padayatra is responsible for the third wave. How far have Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah followed the pandemic rules? Prime Minister Modi gathered lakhs of people in West Bengal and then congratulated the people for responding to the party’s invitation to attend the meeting in such large numbers. It is ironical that the BJP that allowed the Kumbh mela paving the way for the second wave is blaming the Tablighis for the first wave and the Congress for the third wave. It is high time political parties and politicians stopped using Corona as a shield. The BJP’s Coronavirus politics is most vile. It reminds us of the story of a pet monkey which stealthily ate curd rice from its owner’s lunch box and then smeared its hand over the mouth of a goat nearby to mislead the owner.
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Modi should leverage his ties with world leaders to de-escalate war in West Asia: Omar Abdullah
Jammu (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said India can play a meaningful role in de-escalation in West Asia, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong relations with the warring countries and their neighbours.
He said Pakistan was leveraging ties with Iran and the United States, and that any effort towards ending the war should be welcomed.
"As I said in the House (Assembly), we would like the war to end as soon as possible. The role that the prime minister can play may not be possible for anyone else because of his good relations with all these countries," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
He, however, said any escalation would not be easy to manage.
"Any such move by US President Donald Trump, despite the long history of Iran resisting external domination, would not be easy," the chief minister said.
Asked about Pakistan mediating in the war, he said, "I will simply say that if any country can play a role in preventing this war, no one should have any objection to it."
He added, "I will repeat what I said … our prime minister has good and close relations with all countries — whether it is Israel, the United States, Iran, or the countries around Iran. If those relationships can be used to make some progress and help ease the situation, it would be a good thing."
Abdullah said attacks by terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in India, as suggested by a report from the United States, are not unlikely.
Meanwhile, he asserted that any efforts to end the war, be it from Pakistan, must not be resisted.
"Pakistan is using its good relations with Iran and the United States to its advantage, and it has done so. How can we object to that? If that angle helps in stopping the war, would you want them not to act and let the war continue? We want the war to stop. If any country can play a role in that, it should. And if we can play an even better role, then we should do so," he said.
On unemployment in J-K, the chief minister said the issue cannot be resolved overnight, and government jobs alone are not the solution.
He stressed the need to explore alternative avenues, highlighting the importance of Mission Yuva in promoting entrepreneurship.
"Mission Yuva provides not just funding but also support in preparing DPRs and post-startup assistance, such as marketing. In just nine months, distributing Rs 1,000 crore and approving numerous schemes is a significant achievement," he said.
Abdullah credited the coordination between the government and Jammu and Kashmir Bank for the scheme's progress.
