Modi reaches out to Indian workers who build glitzy skyscrapers in UAE

Bengaluru, Jun 25: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday asked people to cooperate by following the measures put in place for the control of COVID-19 if they don't want another lockdown or sealing in Bengaluru.

Amid talks about re-imposing lockdown in the city following the recent spike in cases, the Chief Minister said he will hold discussions on Thursday and Friday regarding the strict measures that need to be taken to control the virus.

"COVID pandemic is increasing, we are making all efforts and we have even sealed some areas. Today afternoon at Krishna (the CM's home office) I have called a meeting with Ministers and officials and will discuss the strict measures to be taken to control COVID," Mr Yediyurappa said.

Speaking to reporters, he said, "Tomorrow noon I have called a meeting of legislators of all political parties from Bengaluru and all Ministers from the city to discuss with them, seek their opinion and take stringent measures."

Citing an increase in cases, Health Minister B Sriramulu on Tuesday had said the government may have to think about imposing lockdown in the city if the situation continues.

Following this several Ministers in the state cabinet on Wednesday had said, any decision on re-imposing lockdown in the city will be taken only after consulting experts.

Some reports had even suggested that a decision on lockdown is likely at the cabinet meeting scheduled today.

The Chief Minister said there is no lockdown in the entire city, adding only in a few areas it has been imposed and would continue.

Concerned over the increase in COVID-19 cases in the city, Mr Yediyurappa on Monday had directed officials to implement lockdown measures strictly in certain clusters which have reported greater number of coronavirus infections.

The city's busy K R Market and Kalasipalya Market have been sealed for 15 days by the civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) as part of measures to check the spread of the deadly virus.

Stating that Bengaluru is a model for the whole country in COVID-19 management, Mr Yediyurappa on Thursday said, when you compare with other major cities, "we have not yet lost control."

A total of 1,678 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the city till last evening.

This includes 78 deaths and 475 discharges.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the state which stood at 3,408 as of June 1 has crossed the 10,000 mark on Wednesday with the state capital topping the districts in the infection count.

Seeking public cooperation in controlling the spread of the virus, Yediyurappa said social distancing and other measures in place were not followed, there has been spread to slums and other places.

"If you don't want Bengaluru to be sealed once again please cooperate and maintain distance," he added.

Mr Yediyurappa also said, the government has taken all measures for the safe conduct of SSLC (class 10) exams from today, and students should come out and write exams for their bright future.

Noam Chomsky is one of the leading peace workers in the world. In the wake of America’s attack on Vietnam, he brought out his classic formulation, ‘manufacturing consent’. The phrase explains the state manipulating public opinion to have the public approve of it policies—in this case, the attack of the American state on Vietnam, which was then struggling to free itself from French colonial rule.

In India, we are witness to manufactured hate against religious minorities. This hatred serves to enhance polarisation in society, which undermines India’s democracy and Constitution and promotes support for a Hindu nation. Hate is being manufactured through multiple mechanisms. For example, it manifests in violence against religious minorities. Some recent ghastly expressions of this manufactured hate was the massive communal violence witnessed in Mumbai (1992-93), Gujarat (2002), Kandhamal (2008) and Muzaffarnagar (2013). Its other manifestation was in the form of lynching of those accused of having killed a cow or consumed beef. A parallel phenomenon is the brutal flogging, often to death, of Dalits who deal with animal carcasses or leather.

Yet another form of this was seen when Shambhulal Regar, indoctrinated by the propaganda of Hindu nationalists, burned alive Afrazul Khan and shot the video of the heinous act. For his brutality, he was praised by many. Regar was incited into the act by the propaganda around love jihad. Lately, we have the same phenomenon of manufactured hate taking on even more dastardly proportions as youth related to Hindu nationalist organisations have been caught using pistols, while police authorities look on.

Anurag Thakur, a BJP minster in the central government recently incited a crowd in Delhi to complete his chant of what should happen to ‘traitors of the country...” with a “they should be shot”. Just two days later, a youth brought a pistol to the site of a protest at Jamia Millia Islamia university and shouted “take Azaadi!” and fired it. One bullet hit a student of Jamia. This happened on 30 January, the day Nathuram Godse had shot Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. A few days later, another youth fired near the site of protests against the CAA and NRC at Shaheen Bagh. Soon after, he said that in India, “only Hindus will rule”.

What is very obvious is that the shootings by those associated with Hindu nationalist organisations are the culmination of a long campaign of spreading hate against religious minorities in India in general and against Muslims in particular. The present phase is the outcome of a long and sustained hate campaign, the beginning of which lies in nationalism in the name of religion; Muslim nationalism and Hindu nationalism. This sectarian nationalism picked up the communal view of history and the communal historiography which the British introduced in order to pursue their ‘divide and rule’ policy.

In India what became part of “social common sense” was that Muslim kings had destroyed Hindu temples, that Islam was spread by force, and that it is a foreign religion, and so on. Campaigns, such as the one for a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Rama to be built at the site where the Babri masjid once stood, further deepened the idea of a Muslim as a “temple-destroyer”. Aurangzeb, Tipu Sultan and other Muslim kings were tarnished as the ones who spread Islam by force in the subcontinent. The tragic Partition, which was primarily due to British policies, and was well-supported by communal streams also, was entirely attributed to Muslims. The Kashmir conflict, which is the outcome of regional, ethnic and other historical issues, coupled with the American policy of supporting Pakistan’s ambitions of regional hegemony, (which also fostered the birth of Al-Qaeda), was also attributed to the Muslims.

With recurring incidents of communal violence, these falsehoods went on going deeper into the social thinking. Violence itself led to ghettoisation of Muslims and further broke inter-community social bonds. On the one hand, a ghettoised community is cut off from others and on the other hand the victims come to be presented as culprits. The percolation of this hate through word-of-mouth propaganda, media and re-writing of school curricula, had a strong impact on social attitudes towards the minorities.

In the last couple of decades, the process of manufacturing hate has been intensified by the social media platforms which are being cleverly used by the communal forces. Swati Chaturvedi’s book, I Am a Troll: Inside the Secret World of the BJP’s Digital Army, tells us how the BJP used social media to spread hate. Whatapp University became the source of understanding for large sections of society and hate for the ‘Other’, went up by leaps and bounds. To add on to this process, the phenomenon of fake news was shrewdly deployed to intensify divisiveness.

Currently, the Shaheen Bagh movement is a big uniting force for the country; but it is being demonised as a gathering of ‘anti-nationals’. Another BJP leader has said that these protesters will indulge in crimes like rape. This has intensified the prevalent hate.

While there is a general dominance of hate, the likes of Shambhulal Regar and the Jamia shooter do get taken in by the incitement and act out the violence that is constantly hinted at. The deeper issue involved is the prevalence of hate, misconceptions and biases, which have become the part of social thinking.

These misconceptions are undoing the amity between different religious communities which was built during the freedom movement. They are undoing the fraternity which emerged with the process of India as a nation in the making. The processes which brought these communities together broadly drew from Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar. It is these values which need to be rooted again in the society. The communal forces have resorted to false propaganda against the minorities, and that needs to be undone with sincerity.

Combating those foundational misconceptions which create hatred is a massive task which needs to be taken up by the social organisations and political parties which have faith in the Indian Constitution and values of freedom movement. It needs to be done right away as a priority issue in with a focus on cultivating Indian fraternity yet again.

Mangaluru, Mar 12: Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh on Thursday said that the test reports of the 35-year-old passenger from Dubai have shown no signs of either Coronavirus (COVID-19) or H1N1.

In statement issued here Ms Rupesh said that the passenger has now been discharged from the Bantwal hospital. He has been asked to stay at home quarantined for the next 14 days.

The passenger, who had been diagnosed with fever after he arrived at the airport from Dubai on March 8, had left the Government Wenlock Hospital in the early hours of March 9 refusing to undergo tests.

Later, he was traced and admitted to the hospital in Bantwal and his throat swab samples had been sent to Viral Research Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) in Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences.

Meanwhile, throat swab samples of six patients were also found negative for COVID-19.

As many asf 49 people were under quarantine in the district of which five have completed the 28-day cycle.

All passengers arriving by international flights and those in contact with them should voluntarily report to the district health team and undergo self-quarantine for 14 days. If there were symptoms of cough, cold and fever, they should undergo tests for COVID-19. If the reports were positive for COVID-19, then they have to stay in the isolation ward of the Government Wenlock Hospital or in the seven select private hospitals for 28 days.

Screening facility at the airport has been strengthened by posting doctors from seven private medical colleges on rotation basis. These doctors would be in addition to the medical officer at the airport. An ambulance has been placed at the airport exclusively to shift people to the hospitals, she added.

The State government has issued a notification on Wednesday authorising Deputy Commissioners to get the affected admitted by force, if necessary.