MUSLIMS LAY HINDU WIDOW TO REST
Muslim youngsters performed the last rites of an elderly Hindu widow in Mangalagiri after her son refused to do so, fearing she had coronavirus. The son also had disputes with his mother, the police reportedly said. The woman, Yuddham Dhanalakshmi, 70, lived with her daughter, Annapurna, in Bapatla. She slipped and fell and was taken to a government hospital, where she died the next evening. As per her wish to have her last rites performed in her hometown, Annapurna shifted her body to Mangalagiri in an ambulance. However, Dhanalakshmi’s son Nagamalleswara Rao refused to allow the body to be brought into his house, fearing that his mother may have contracted coronavirus.
MUSLIMS DONATE 10-BED ICU UNIT
Muslims in Ichalkaranji town of Maharashtra, 380km from Mumbai, have set a good example by donating a 10-bed ICU at a local hospital with Rs 36 lakh they collected in Zakat from the community members this Ramadan. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated online the ICU section of IGM Civil Hospital which coincided with Eid celebrations in India. Appreciating the community’s efforts, Thackeray said via video conference: “Muslims in Ichalkaranji have shown the way for everyone in the country. The Muslim community has set an example on how to celebrate a festival.” This is the first government hospital in Ichalkaranji of nearly 3 lakh population with an ICU facility and it is being seen as a major step in fight against escalating of Covid-19 pandemic. Samast Muslim Samaj (SMS), an organisation of Muslims in Ichalkaranji, decided during Ramadan to fund a 10-bed ICU facility at the town’s only government hospital as earlier patients needing ICU facility were sent to towns like Kolhapur and Solapur.
SAME PATTERN IN DELHI, BHIMA-KOREGAON, AND GUJARAT RIOTS
A group of activists led the charge against the state government over the recent arrests of students and activists by Delhi Police. In an online press conference held, activists claimed that Delhi riots, Bhima-Koregaon violence and Gujarat riots have a similar pattern – of silencing the voice of dissent and brutal repression by the state. “The ongoing arrest of students and activists by the Delhi Police’s special cell is following the same pattern of Bhima-Koregaon. Activists who had no role (in the riots) have been arrested and those who were involved in violence are roaming free,” said Prof Apoorvanand of Delhi University. Academicians, lawyers and human right activists alleged that Delhi Police took advantage of the lockdown and has “clandestinely” arrested 150 students and human rights activists. They claimed those who organised anti-CAA protests have been arrested in a systematic manner and illegally charged them with conspiracy for carrying out Delhi riots.
‘E-MAIL TO AMIT SHAH CAMPAIGN’
In a novel mode of protest against violation of civil liberties, Amnesty International has launched an email campaign to Home Minister Amit Shah as an urgent action seeking release of anti-CAA activists Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider and Shifa-ur-Rahman. The human rights group released a draft of the mail along with an option of submissions with name, email address and phone number on its website and urged people to “take urgent action and write to India’s Union Home Minister to demand their release”. Under the subject line “Release Protestors Arrested For Opposing CAA”, the email addresses the home minister, “I write to express my deep concern about the arrest of peaceful protestors Safoora Zargar, who is three months pregnant, Meeran Haider and Shifa-ur-Rehman.
GOVT. SCHEMES FOR POOR EXPOSED
Death of a 5-year-old girl in Hesatu village of Donki gram panchayat, Latehar Jharkhand – apparently due to hunger has left a question mark on the government’s ability to successfully implement relief schemes for the poor. The family claims the death of the child occurred as they did not have any food in the house for over three days. For the mother of the child Kalawati Bhuiyan, “bhookh (hunger) is the reason for the death of her girl.” “The day it happened I was not at home,” said Jaglal Bhuiyan, father of the deceased child. Jaglal works in a brick kiln in a different village named Sukulkhut, which is nearly 40 kilometres away. Jaglal was unable to send any money to the family for the last two months.
BURQA & MASK COMRADE
After Imran Saifi hit the headlines earlier this month when she was seen sanitising places of worship in Delhi, it is now Uzma Sayyad Parveen who has taken up the task in Lucknow. Uzma had a tough time convincing her husband and in-laws to carry out sanitisation during Ramadan. A graduate from Lucknow University and a mother of two, she said: “But seeing the rise in Corona cases, they agreed and I started off. I began by sanitising my own lane in Saadatganj area. I was wearing a burqa and a mask so not many people recognised me but there were still many people staring at me. There were even some men who ticked me off for doing what was essentially a “man’s work”. Uzma also sanitises religious shrines, irrespective of the faith and moves to new areas every day in the old city. “I have sanitised temples, mosques and gurudwaras and the people there have appreciated my efforts. What matters most to me is the satisfaction that I am getting by doing this. This is my contribution to controlling the pandemic,” she said.
IMPOSE ‘COVID PANDEMIC CESS’ ON SUPER RICH
Welfare Party of India (WPI) has demanded introduction of ‘Covid Pandemic Cess’ on super rich to raise sufficient revenue to kickstart the economy. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, WPI national president Dr. SQR Ilyas advised him to impose one time ‘Covid Pandemic Cess’ on the super-rich to help kickstart the economy and put it on the track that has suffered badly owing to lockdown to check the spread of the pandemic. Dr. Ilyas said that many economists had pointed to the gravity of the situation and opined that the coronavirus pandemic in India might be the “greatest emergency since Independence” and cautioned that “India should prepare itself for a negative growth rate in financial year 2021”.
CALLS FOR ACTION FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST MUSLIMS
Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India’s pluralist and tolerant ethos, co-sponsored a virtual Congressional briefing, titled “USCIRF Recommendations on India – The Next Steps.” With “Hindus for Human Rights (HHR),” and “International Christian Concern (ICC),” as other co-sponsors, the briefing was organised with the intent to analyse the recommendations made by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal govt commission that reviews religious freedom violations and makes policy recommendations to the US President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. The briefing came on the heels of USCIRF’s momentous decision to list India as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” under the International Religious Freedom Act in its 2020 Annual Report.
JNMCH DISCHARGES 3 COVID +VE PATIENTS
In a positive development in the battle against COVID-19, three more patients including a six year old girl have been recovered and discharged from the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital (JNMCH), AMU, the hospital said in a statement on May 31. A six year old girl child and a 48 year old male patient were discharged from the Isolation Ward after fully recovering from COVID-19, while the third patient a female aged 40 years showed remarkable improvement in symptoms; hence she was sent to Level-1 COVID hospital. These patients were treated by Prof SF Haque, Prof Kamran Afzal, Dr M Aslam, Dr Owais Ashraf, Dr Shaad Abqari and Dr Iraj.
“So far 27 COVID-19 patients have been fully recovered and discharged from JNMCH, which is remarkable”, said Prof Shahid Ali Siddiqui (Principal and CMS, JNMCH).