When Leaders Turn Inhuman and Insensitive
As a popular saying goes it takes hundred years to build, but just a minute to destroy. When the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre started destroying one by one the institutions built over the past 70 years by the Congress, people assumed that the prime minister was going to build something new and different. Thus, despite the pathetic performance of the Modi-Government on the economic front during the first five years, the people gave the prime minister a second chance by re-electing his party to power. The second term so far has seen more destructions. No one knows what he is up to build. As the pro-Modi media kept projecting the prospects of India emerging a vishwaguru (master of the entire world), the people believed it. Now the reality has hit them hard. The Coronavirus has removed the mask from the government’s face. As the virus has been playing havoc with the lives of the people, the Government has virtually washed off its hands and seems to be suggesting that the people are responsible for their lives.
What is even more shocking is the utter insensitivity with which the political leadership is reacting to the woes of people. It is not the helplessness of the government which people will have to come to terms with but the utter disregard with which some leaders have treated the people’s ordeal. When the leadership of a country is heartless, catastrophes like the Coronavirus pandemic will not be accidental. A young man in Uttar Pradesh has been booked under the National Security Act just because he sought on Twitter oxygen for his ailing grandfather. The Government considered the tweet a false rumor about the shortage of oxygen in the state.
The Government’s view was that this youngster had put the reputation of the government at stake even when his grandfather was not a Coivid-19 patient. While this ailing man had no Covid, he did need oxygen and he eventually died. But the standing order of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is that the State faced no oxygen shortage and anyone saying anything which suggested otherwise should be booked under Goonda Act. The people in Uttar Pradesh are scared even to ask for oxygen to treat patients and those who raise voices against the shortcomings in the public health system of the state face the prospect of landing in jail.
Karnataka is not far behind. Recently, a former MP of the BJP publicly announced that the poor should not be given free rice under the Corona relief package as it would make them lazy. What the senior politician forgot is that the people are not dying just because of Covid but also because they go hungry with no possibility of earning an income during the lock down. People are seen eating the food spilled on the street. It is cruel to say that free food should not be distributed when the poor are in such a dire strait. This politician did not stop with his tirade against relief package for the poor. He went on to recommend that putting a few drops of lemon juice in the nose would produce enough oxygen to save those in need of oxygen support. If the humble lemon juice could have addressed the oxygen shortage in such a simple manner, why the hospitals in the country are not resorting to this solution? This suggestion is as ridiculous as the one heard previously that the cows exhale oxygen. In fact, a teacher in Raichur tried the lemon juice treatment on himself and lost his life but the police have not booked any case against the leader who misled the people and showed utter insensitivity towards the plight of those who are desperately queueing up in front of the hospitals for oxygen.
A minister in Karnataka created another record in insensitive behaviour. Food and Civil Supplied Minister Umesh Katti asked a poor man to ‘go and die’ when the latter sought the minister’s intervention to ensure the supply of food grains through ration shops. The minister said this in response to the poor man’s helpless question: ‘do you expect to us to die without food?’ The minister had no remorse for his indifferent utterance, and he later even defended it. The minister must know that the lockdown has proved even more problematic for the poor than the coronavirus. It has snatched the sources of livelihood from around 60 per cent of the daily wagers.
As the minister for food, he should have given some reassurance to the man seeking his help, but the minister’s response smacks sheer arrogance of power and utter disdain towards the disempowered. In the same vein, Revenue Minister R Ashok had assured that that the Government would make all arrangements for the cremation of the dead as if he were suggesting that the Government had no role in protecting the people’s lives and it would instead help them dispose of their bodies when they are dead. People do not need more crematoriums. They need hospitals, oxygen, and other means of saving their lives. But a leadership devoid of any humanitarian streak will only be able to show the people the way to the crematoriums. These leaders seem to need some oxygen of compassion for them to arrange the much-needed oxygen for helpless Covid patients.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
