Prime Time With Ravish Kumar: "Shoddy, Callous", Says Court, Slams Police Over Delhi Riots  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfC6goaRi-8 Sep 3, 2021 

Prime Time With Ravish Kumar - September 3, 2021: A furious Delhi court on Friday slammed police in the national capital over a "shoddy", "callous" and "indolent" investigation into the violence that rocked the city in February last year. The Karkardooma court's strong criticism of Delhi Police, which reports to the Union Home Ministry, came as it acquitted three people, including Shah Alam, who is AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain's brother, who had been charged with looting and vandalising a shop in Chand Bagh. (Audio in Hindi)

Damning Court Observations Raise Serious Questions on Delhi Police's Riots Probe https://thewire.in/communalism/delhi-riots-court-questions-police-probe 
A survey of several bail orders in Delhi riots cases reveals the police's terribly casual and flawed approach.

While granting bail to one Irshad Ahmed, who was alleged to have assisted Tahir Hussain in attacking the houses of Hindus, the Delhi high court made a damning observation that the eyewitnesses in the chargesheet “seemed to be planted”. The so-called eyewitnesses were police constables themselves. The high court noted that though the two police constables claimed that they were at the spot of the crime and identified the accused, they waited for three days to lodge the FIR.

“As per the statement of Constable Pawan and Constable Ankit (both are eye witnesses and were present at the spot), they had identified the petitioner and other co-accused. However, they have not made any complaint on the date of incident, i.e. 25.02.2020, whereas the FIR was lodged on 28.02.2020. Thus, the said witnesses seem to be planted one,” the high court observed.

In the case of Kasim as well, the high court refused to take into account the statements of police witnesses. In the case of Kasim as well, the high court refused to take into account the statements of police witnesses.

The police had arrested student leader Devangana Kalita alleging that she had instigated a mob to resort to violence in a case related to Delhi riots. However, the high court observed that there was no evidence of Kalita instigating violence and that materials produced by the investigating agency only showed that she was participating in peaceful agitations against the CAA.

Delhi riots: No investigation done, says court; gives Faisal Farooq bail https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/delhi-riots-no-investigation-done-says-court-gives-faisal-farooq-bail/story-297jXK1dqaDNmbF0UdVGBK.html 
Farooq, however, will continue to stay in jail in connection to another matter in which the Delhi high court had dismissed his bail plea.By Richa Banka, DEC 15, 2020

“It is, however, evident that till June 20, 2020, virtually no investigation had been done in the present matter and after the applicant (Farooq) was admitted to bail in the (first) case, that the statements were hurriedly recorded, the veracity whereof to be tested at the time of trial,” the court said in its order dated December 11. “I refrain from commenting upon the manner in which the case diaries in the matter have been maintained, lest it may prejudice the case of the prosecution,” the judge said in his order.

Delhi riots: Bail to school owner, court says no evidence of PFI link https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-riots-bail-school-owner-pfi-link-6470209/  June 22, 2020 
Faisal Farooq, owner of Rajdhani Public School, was among eight people arrested in a case of rioting outside the school in the Shiv Vihar area on February 24. 

a Delhi court has observed that the police “chargesheet is bereft of material showing the links of applicant with PFI, Pinjra Tod group and Muslim clerics”.

The court also said “it is prima facie not established that the applicant was present at the spot at the time of incident”.

Wastage Of Tax-Payers' Money & Judicial Time : Court Raps Delhi Police Over 'Shoddy' Riots Case Probe -10 Quotes
By - Sparsh UpadhyayUpdate: 2021-09-03  https://www.livelaw.in/amp/top-stories/court-raps-delhi-police-over-shoddy-investigation-in-riots-cases-180831

"When history will look back at the worst communal riots since partition in Delhi, it is the failure of investigating agency to conduct a proper investigation by using the latest scientific methods, will surely torment the sentinels of democracy," observed Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav as the Court discharged three accused including Former AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain's brother Shah Alam, Rashid Saifi and Shadab.

Delhi Court Discharges Tahir Hussain's Brother Shah Alam And Two Others In Delhi Riot Case Citing Failure Of Investigating Agency To Conduct Proper Investigation https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/breaking-delhi-court-discharges-former-aap-councillor-tahir-hussains-brother-shah-alam-and-two-others-in-delhi-riot-case-180793 

Delhi Police Chargesheet Reads Like Script Of 'Family Man' Series; Communal Narrative Given To CAA Protests: Umar Khalid In Bail Hearing https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/umar-khalid-bail-hearing-delhi-riots-delhi-police-180832 Nupur Thapliyal 3 Sept 2021

"reads like a 9 PM new script of one of those shouting news-channels" and are reflective of the "fertile imagination" of the investigating officer, the lawyer argued.  This is the kind of stuff which is read and peddled, the creation of public opinion in order to substitute the lack of evidence to carry out your objective of unfairly prosecute people when you have no material to do so."

Delhi Riots : 'Home Minister is part of conspiracy!' I DELHI VIOLENCE I PRASHANT BHUSHAN I ASHUTOSH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sjcZtBIlo0   Sept 3, 2021

https://www.indiatoday.in/mood-of-the-nation-survey-august-2021 

 Support for Modi as 'Best Choice for PM' Falls from 66% to 24% in a Year, India Today Poll 16/AUG/2021  Finds https://thewire.in/government/narendra-modi-prime-minister-adityanath-india-today-poll
The triggering factors for this were inflation and the Union government's handling of the COVID-19 second wave. 

The magazine’s cover indicates that inflation and unemployment are top concerns of an Indian at this point. Within only a span of six months – from 17% in January 2021 – the number of people who think that the economy will “get worse” has grown to 32%.

Midweek Matters 28 || Parakala Prabhakar​ https://youtube.com/embed/0RJ2EwIheR8?start=80&end=472 
In this Episode Dr Parakala looks at the contrasting findings of surveys conducted by india Today (Mood of The Nation) and Morning Consult, and shows how they could help us understand BJP's present reluctance to engagement in Bengal, especially with regard to Bhabanipur by-election.   

Morning consult say PM approval 70per cent.. Not really reliable as sample size to small and restricted to literate and interviewed on line.  Link to the portal of Morning Consult: https://morningconsult.com/

Kisan Sansad: Can Farmers Become a Political Class? | Yogendra Yadav https://youtu.be/carytlWOjuw?t=217   Aug 17, 2021 

Devendra Sharma, Darshan Pal, , when a tractor user becomes PM, the approach and Narrative of development will change 

Yudhvir Singh: Those who have come to power have done so, because Kisan has also supported them,  Now the call from Farmers from all over will 

Jiginder Singh Ugraha: We have been able to people aware that these deicision have been made in favour of Corporate. Thus if not this government  the next govt will have to listen to the movement of people. this will bring about impact on politics of the country. 

Joginder Yadav: What did the movement achieve?  13 days of Kisaan Sansad had people from  arpound 3700 farmers from 20 states took part. 56 hours of discussions, and spoke about 6 laws in depth.  Bodes well for Democracy. 

Can this be apolitical?  If you consider politics as elections politics then the Sayukh Kiasn Morcha is not in politics. We have told people like in West Bangal that they should not to vote for people who are working against farmers.  If by politics we are talking about engaging with politics issues and not caring about how we are being ruled, or the decisions that you are taking, in this sens not just the Kasan Andolan but every other movement is an integral part of politics. To be apolitical in this sense means that you distance yourself from the nations future.  The Yug dharma in the current Yug is Politics. 

Will the farmers issue affect the Politics of the country? The andolan should change the arena of politics..  Will we go back to our identities of caste or religion or divisive politics at the time of voting? - This andolan has for the fist time raised the hope of Kisaan is not falling into the trap of divisive identity politics. 

A Question of Strategy – Farmers Stir and Its Foes in India https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/a-question-of-strategy-farmers-stir-and-its-foes/  — by Hiren Gohain — 25/07/2021

Farmers believe since their movement has solid support of farmers and workers in the states other than those directly involved... But.. the support is not as organised, watchful and militant . Hence.. a flurry of policy measures that take them by surprise .

In Assam..a new directive from the centre many farmers here who had received Rs.6000 in three instalments  will have to return the amount as they do not hold secure land Pattas...On retrospect (this move) may well have been a cold, calculating stratagem to find out the amount of land to be ultimately given away to corporates.For dispossessing farmers of their land is one of the priority aims of the disputed laws.

Reportedly, the state government has been asked not to buy foodgrains from farmers any more.  the state government has been asked not to buy foodgrains from farmers any more. 

Given these attacks, front farmers' leaders have got to find solutions in time to such problems behind the lines

Sukla Sen Comments: 

.. the aim of the three farm laws, taken together, is to corporatise (with Adani/Ambani very much in the lead) food/agricultural trade/sector and, on the way, dismantle the system of procurement, and also distribution (at discounted rates) to targeted groups, by the state.

..The ongoing fight is, no doubt, a historic one; in order to overwhelm the regime. However, it has to generate strong waves of support from amongst the wider public. That's not yet happening.
Maybe the way the common consumers are going to be hit remains to be adequately highlighted.

The regime has, as it appears, opted to tire out the agitation - avoiding spectacular use of coercive measures.  In fact the stir has already significantly receded from public discourse.

So, it's admittedly, a tough situation. Nevertheless, the agitation is still on. Just had a big event at the Jantar Mantar. When and how a spark turns into a prairie fire or a flame gets simply doused - leaving only ashes behind, is not too easy to predict. It has, apparently, its own mysterious dynamics.

Other Views: Unless, State government moves quickly to sort out the existing problems with the APMC and Agricultural System, the Centre needs to only bide its time, and allow the agricultural crisis to deepen.   The issues include exploitation by CAs, lower price realisation, lack of transparency in the trading process, collusion among traders, price cartelisation, delay in payments and low quality of mandi infrastructure.  If the farmers are to have a fighting chance against the juggernaut of Corporatism, they would have to install a modern a system of transparent real time comparative information on  price, production, commodity.. and innovative local systems of finance freed from the clutches of trader manipulation.

How farmers view the existing Mandi system https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2020/dec/12/how-farmers-view-the-existing-mandi-system-2235123.html 
12th December 2020 The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020. enabling the farmers to sell their produce directly to any traders outside the state government-controlled markets. Second, by facilitating the setting up of electronic agricultural trading platforms.
Kurnool and Kadapa regions in Andhra and Ammur and Denkanikottai in TN Study: Over half of the farmers we interacted with (57%) are unhappy with the mandi system of sale. While 43% are satisfied.

The reasons for unhappiness are exploitation by CAs, lower price realisation, lack of transparency in the trading process, collusion among traders, price cartelisation, delay in payments and low quality of mandi infrastructure.
Those satisfied with the mandi system are due to trust built over time with CAs and traders, reasonable price discovery and trust in government control.

This section of the farmers preferred to stay with the mandis due to difficulty in adjusting to a new system and fear of exploitation and low price realisation. Yet, they demanded an improvement in the efficiency of operation of mandis and prices offered there. These results suggest that farmers are somewhat divided on their choice of the mandi system of trade. So the government did the right thing by allowing the farmers to continue to sell their produce in mandis and providing alternative options to others.

Most farmers depend on CAs for credit, price information, transportation and storage. This suggests that farmers’ ability to take advantage of the new trading opportunities depends on the institutional conditions that control farm production. Therefore, the government needs to put complementary support mechanisms to empower the farmers and reduce their dependence on CAs for agricultural support services. Then, the goal of freeing up the farmers from the clutches of mandis would become easier to achieve.

For other articles on farmers agitation: http://emeets.lnwr.in/index.php/farmers-agitation-against-black-laws 

 “Gramsci at the Delhi Border: Indian Farmers and the Revolution against Inevitability”
  https://antipodeonline.org/2021/06/14/gramsci-at-the-delhi-border/  14th June 2021

Extracts: The ongoing farmer and worker protest in India presents a confounding moment in global history. .. For six months they have remained at a tense deadlock with the government. During that time, the protest has grown to encompass diverse strands of Indian society...cutting across caste, religious, gender and class lines.....this protest is not led by a single, secretive party, nor is it driven by the objective of seizing political power. Even in the face of severe repression, the protest has eschewed the use of violence. 

Indian farmers ..fear these laws will lead to their gradual impoverishment and eventual eviction from agriculture altogether. .. the government and its supporters repeatedly claim that cultivation has become stagnant, and that a greater proportion of people need to be moved into other occupations. Yet instead of addressing the technical problems in agricultural policy, or developing greater local industrial capacity, it is content to allow private corporations to leverage their immense purchasing power to manipulate prices and control the food supply-chain. Market imperatives will then completely dictate cultivation practices, setting off waves of uncertainty, indebtedness and consolidation in the countryside. Far from “reforms”, these laws are little more than a license for corporate monopolizing that will result in rural displacement.

In this sense, the Indian government is pursuing a derivative strategy of accumulation.. a warped attempt to follow the trajectory of 16th–18th century England, where peasants were forcibly expelled from the countryside to end up in cities as workers in factories, or as soldiers and settlers in various imperial ventures. 

..21st century India scarcely offers the same chimeric possibilities: remunerative manufacturing jobs are pitifully few; there is no scope for colonizing entire continents. A more likely prospect for ex-farmers will be to join the swelling ranks of the urban poor to find whatever haphazard work is available, while a fraction desperately seeks migration abroad.

The farmer’s protest is therefore a revolt against capitalist inevitability. It embodies a critique of the stale logics of deregulation, privatization and dispossession. 

Small-scale independent cultivation can be made viable.Public investment and localized regulation can become efficient. In Panjab several initiatives are underway for joint cultivation and resource-pooling which involve large numbers of farmers and even landless laborers. These techniques would be both equitable and sustainable, and scalable, if given the right support.

Private enterprise, will lead to  mono-cropping, chemical-dependence and factory-farming. The primary aim of a corporation is to endlessly pursue increasing profit every quarter and year, regardless of the rise in inequality or damage to ecology. ..

The fortunes of the struggle at the borders of Delhi thus have implications for the rest of the world. .. Indian farmers are battling to articulate new kinds of economic rights, to subvert current neoliberal orthodoxy in order to place collective wellbeing at the center of democratic politics. 

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdTCYPX2vaI ( 19mins) In an exclusive interview with The Quint’s Editorial Director Sanjay Pugalia,

Growing Centralisation of Revenue and control.: https://youtube.com/embed/HdTCYPX2vaI?start=70&end=132  (1 min) Why this global economic advisory group? This is following a state planning group set up for a State perspective. . Collective should reflect our Economic and POlitical Philosophy.  (ref: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/tn-sets-up-economic-advisory-council-with-duflo-rajan-7369708/ While the new advisory council is likely to function as a superpower, above the existing planning board, State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan told The Indian Express that it would not operate “in a conventional way”. “First of all, these are not paid positions but honorary positions. Their functioning also will not be in a traditional way as many would expect… This is not for a one-time meeting to submit a report, but will be an ongoing process.)

State of States Finances:  https://youtube.com/embed/HdTCYPX2vaI?start=132&end=611 ( 8 mins) Five CAG reports were not tabled. The state finances are much worst that we thought when we made the manifesto promise to reduce fuel prices He talked about how the DMK-led government intends to reduce the petrol price, the need for states to safeguard their rights and the BJP's poor performance in Tamil Nadu politics. Chosen to  pick priority segment like bottom of the pyramid. One time restructuring needed because debt to GDP has gone up is such a way that we cannot service debt. But we need to fix the broken system. The Union wants to take over everything..

COVID Data System https://youtube.com/embed/HdTCYPX2vaI?start=704&end=855 (< 3 mins)   the state will soon be the first to have a transparent data system for coronavirus deaths and infections..

Who will challenge this dominant BJP? in 2024?  https://youtube.com/embed/HdTCYPX2vaI?start=852&end=1016 (< 3 mins)  Either we are going into a more regional party led coalition, or the BJP will continue.  

https://youtube.com/embed/HdTCYPX2vaI?start=611&end=704 (2 mins) Religion is democratised in Tamil Nadu. BJP notion of Hinduism is directly opposed to the TN notion of hinduism..

The Covid Mortuary

We emptied our COVID ward two days ago.

Trusting the world’s incompetence at learning and planning, I am fully aware we will have to reopen it in some time. Still, an empty ward is a sight I never imagined could be this pacifying.

The Covid Ward in Shaheed Hospital, Dalli Rajhara, Chhattisgarh saw an overwhelming  number of stories with all possible outcomes during the last two and a half months. The stories are not different from what you saw on TV and  lived too  because I am sure someone from your family also struggled for breaths. Their scripts though, have more content than stories elsewhere.

The number of patients we lost in April-May exceeded twice of what we lose in an entire year. The number of people we had to turn away exceeded the numbers we treated.  What made it worse was knowing that the person I am denying admission was not going to get admission elsewhere too. The injustice that laughed at a patient dying inside the ward due to delayed admission and no vaccination, laughed harder at the patient who was turned away from the hospital’s gate.

There was less time to treat, even lesser to mourn and literally no time to let it all sink in.

In a short period of time, I have moved from being terrified to be numbed by the flow of patients in and out of the mortuary.
On one such night of numbness, standing outside the mortuary and gazing at the corpses through a narrow window, I happened to realize there were few additional chambers.

The lowermost chamber was for the corpse of Humanitarian Politics. She had died well before the pandemic set in but I saw her ready for the last rites for the first time. She  was all bones and no skin and it looked  like vultures have had their fun with her. She  had a heart which was cut open from the middle and eyes that were left untouched.

The chamber adjacent to it was for Global Solidarity. He  was kept suited up in Armani, for his last wish was  to look good at the outset even after death. A thousand pages of conspiracy theories kept bundled near his head, he had shoes brought from UN’s office. The suit covered the cracks he had in his skin, the shoes covered gangrenous feets. People whisper it was a suicide.

The chamber above had Scientific Temperament lying in a rugged coat. He lived a secret life in India, kept working silently and the moment he tried to come out, he was lynched to death. Witnesses say he screamed a lot. But no one came to help. Sad.

The chamber next to it had Social Solidarity. She  had clothes of all colors. All blood stained. She  was stabbed multiple times on news channels for days and ultimately died of shock. No method of resuscitation worked.

The smallest chamber in the corner had no corpse but a hefty bunch of papers. They were the political commitments of health. They were very neat and beautiful. I hope they get mummified and discovered later sometime in future.

Above that, was Privilege. He helped people reach faster than anyone else to the ERs, move to multiple ERs too. He did his best to cover political goof ups and inequities. But he died too, for he was very fragile in his making and  there is a limit to stealing someone else’s oxygen. To be honest I wasn’t much sad about this chamber.

One of the chambers at the top had Trust. He  gave a long fight. A tough fight. But succumbed to internal injuries. He tried to keep the doctors and patients together. He tried to make people believe that healing is a process of equal participation. But he suffered progressive ischaemia and gave up.

Besides these, there is a heap of corpses lying behind the mortuary. Difficult to identify, it has all the dreams of equities in healthcare lying dead. Poisoned, perhaps. Not sure whether they will find a space inside the mortuary or not. Will see in sometime.

Do these corpses let other ones lie peacefully even in a mortuary? This whole sight, will surely take some time to settle in my head and heart.  

In a rural-tribal area like ours, mortuaries do always have these extra chambers. Its just that they almost never make it to a national register. The moment a patient is received in the ER or OPD, his/her chances of survival become a function of all the factors that contributed to the death of above deceased entities. Every step of the treatment then, becomes a fight with injustice that has been done and being done to the patient. In a privileged urban setting where all the demigods of healthcare and politics visit so often, these fights find no space.

The struggle to provide quality care in difficult areas goes on in its traditional way, only this time the pandemic catalyzed the rate at which it consumes it participants.

This makes me mention another chamber in the mortuary. The topmost one. Its still empty. It is reserved for my Faith and few other silly things. My faith that all this, is meant for something better in future. My faith, that those who died were not all sinners and the people who lost someone have something good coming there way. That universe will compensate for this in some way. My belief that all the efforts, regardless of the outcomes will make society learn something.

A hope that this last chamber remains empty just like our Covid Ward.

Vidit Panchal

Mainstream Media tends to impose some of it polarities on politics. An example of it, is the assumption that if the Congress decides to go it alone in the next election it means the disintegration of the Mahrashtra government Alliance. All parties should in fact continue to spread its own ideology and programme and canvass for it. They should then join hands to form coalitions based on acceptance of the election results, and make attempts to change it in the next. This is political maturity.

There is not reason for political players to fall prey to media hype and respond like the current chief minister.

One India Hindi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sgNmK2mk08 Nana Patole Maharashtra में भी सियासी तूफान अपने चरम पर है. Nana Patole का कहना है कि Congress पार्टी Maharashtra में अकेले assembly elections लड़ेगी. इतना ही नहीं, उन्होंने कहा कि अगर हाईकमान फैसला करता है, तो वो मुख्यमंत्री का चेहरा बनने के लिए तैयार हैं.

Shiv Sena, NCP to think together about future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CmSnO02b9Q 17th June Sanjay Raut on Congress remarks on Maharashtra polls  Jun 17, 2021.  Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut Thursday said his party and NCP may think of its future together if Congress decides to contest Maharashtra polls alone, even while remaining in the government. So be it. 

HT: Congress to go solo in Maharashtra Assembly polls 2024? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnfHAAwfZX4 Shiv Sena responds  Congress to go solo in Maharashtra Assembly polls 2024? Shiv Sena responds  What S Raut said was : . “A friend in Maha Vikas Aghadi, Nana Patole said Congress will contest polls alone. They will be a part of the Maharashtra govt but contest polls alone. Then the remaining two parties will think about what they would do together in future,”  But what the graphics said was "Raut slammed Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole" 

Mahua Moitra in her interview with Shoma ChaudhuryL https://youtube.com/embed/qgTN5tShwGA?start=2589&end=2705 says that  to take on the BJP, the idea that you need a national party to take them on,  gone. You can have a conglomeration of regional parties, where in each state the local party takes on the BJP. The Congress will be in four states.

Please also see:

http://emeets.lnwr.in/index.php/development-in-india/86-toward-2024-through-2022/851-both-gop-regional-parties-will-have-to-tango