{"id":157258,"date":"2021-05-01T02:37:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T21:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=157258"},"modified":"2021-05-01T02:37:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T21:07:22","slug":"will-up-remove-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2021\/05\/01\/will-up-remove-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Will up remove crackdown?"},"content":{"rendered":"

People’s Anger & Anguish<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\nBy Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three cheers Supreme Court. Its direction should, fingers crossed, stop Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in his tracks. During the suo moto hearing on issues related to oxygen supply, drug supply, and vaccine policy, on Friday last, the apex court specifically directed there \u2018should not be any clampdown on information.\u2019 Justice DY Chandrachud said: \u201cWe will treat it as contempt of court if such grievances are considered for action. Let a strong message go to all the States and DGP of States that clampdown of info is contrary to basic precepts\u2026We want to make it very clear that if citizens communicate their grievance on social media and the internet, it cannot be said it\u2019s wrong information.\u201dYogi should certainly make a note for not only has he claimed there is no shortage of oxygen, contrary to reports, but worse directed his administration to take \u2018civil or criminal action against Covid-19 patients, their families or independent volunteers who issue appeals via social media platforms for oxygen and other medical assistance.\u2019
\nThe diktat has been challenged. On Wednesday last, a letter petition by social activist Saket Gokhale was moved before Allahabad High Court urging the government be asked to cease such action. He claimed that such appeals citing shortage in oxygen and drugs are being charged under the \u201cfalse pretext\u201d of spreading misleading information to target the state government. The letter said: filing such criminal cases \u201cis a gross misuse of the powers of the state\u201d and is illegal coercive action that is being taken to \u201cmaintain the image of the government\u201d and to clamp down on any criticism of their handling of the pandemic and to present a fake picture that everything is hunky dory in the state.\u201d According to reports Yogi\u2019s diktat has led to volunteers and student groups to refrain from helping anymore lest they get entangled in legal cases. And while, there can be hope for apex court\u2019s order doing wonders here, the Centre too must be cautious. It must think twice before arm-twisting social media platforms from taking down posts such as: #Oxygenshortage, #OxygenCrisis, #ModiMadeDisaster, \u201cWhen Dead Bodies were Burning, Nero was busy doing election rallies\u201d \u2026 Instead it would do well to realise the depth of the people\u2019s anger and agony against it. After all it promised them \u201cAchhe Din\u201d and must have the courage to admit its mistake. Is it asking for too much?<\/p>\n

Vaccine Drive Hiccups?
\nCentre\u2019s vaccination drive for 18-45 age group may not start on May 1. Unwise and impractical is a clear message to it from most States. Not unreasonable but justified on two counts: One, big vaccine shortage and two, the priority is to give the 2nd dose to those 45 years plus. Thus, Madhya Pradesh has asked the younger lot to \u2018have patience and not panic as it is hoped to get vaccine doses by May 3\u2019; Kerala said \u2018The slot for first dose will be allowed for online booking only after giving preference to those taking the 2nd dose\u2019; Maharashtra said it can\u2019t start with \u2018a stock of 3 lakh doses\u2019 and shall do so only when \u2018it has at least 25-30 lakh to begin with\u2019; Delhi informed \u2018we will let you know in a couple of days or so. We haven\u2019t received the schedule from companies yet, which includes how many vials will reach on which dates\u2019; Gujarat said it has \u2018ordered 2.5 crore doses\u2019 and expects \u2018at least a part to be made available within 15 days and that\u2019s when it would begin\u2019; Punjab said Covaxin price was on higher side of Rs 600 but as it\u2019s brought down to Rs 400 they will now consider. Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Assam have already displayed unavailability of slots for the new group. The Centre grand announcement shall turn out to be a damn squib. Plus, till Wednesday midnight, 1.33-odd crore new sign-ins were registered online, out of 59.46 crore in that age group. Too tall an order. Shouldn\u2019t it have done its homework rather than playing to the gallery both locally and globally?
\nEC Authority On Test
\nA battered NirvachanSadan has a big challenge ahead. Will it retrieve its reputation and ensure its Covid protocols are strictly followed this time round on vote counting day, May 2nd? It has now put a ban on all victory processions following the results in Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry, plus, capped the number to two persons to accompany the winning candidate to receive the election certificate, \u201cin view of the surge in\u00a0Covid-19\u00a0cases throughout the country\u201d. Obviously, it can\u2019t admit to getting its act together only after hearing a mouthful from Madras High Court on Monday last for allowing political parties to violate the protocols during rallies, and being directed to have a blueprint before counting, else it would stop it, for \u201cthis state does not succumb to your idiosyncrasies any further!\u201d. It\u2019s observations such as \u201c You have been singularly lacking any kind of exercise of authority\u2026 Were you on another planet when the election rallies were held\u2026Your officers should be booked on murder charges probably\u2026\u201d were damning. On Friday last hearing, while it passed the buck on the SDMA for not following protocols, it petitioned the Court to \u2018restrict the media from reporting on oral observations,\u2019 as it was disappointed \u201cthese reports have tarnished the image of the ECI as an independent constitutional agency that is entrusted with the constitutional responsibility of conducting elections.\u201d Reason enough for press freedom institutions to cry foul?<\/p>\n

Uttarakhand Wakes Up
\nIf only common sense had prevailed, Uttarakhand government may have spared itself as well as Prime Minister Modi the mocking tweets for holding the Maha Kumbh mela. Perhaps, realising his folly finally, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat government seeks to make amends. On Thursday last, he announced the \u2018Char Dham\u00a0Yatra\u2019 stands suspended, saying \u201cConducting the yatra amid the raging\u00a0pandemic\u00a0is not possible. Only priests of the four temples at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri will perform rituals and puja.\u201d But the seriousness must be questioned. For, he did not stop the last shahi snanat theKumbh mela despite numbers going up and allowed 1,350-odd seers from various akharas and 25,000 devotees to bathe in Brahmkund at Har Ki Pauri on Tuesday. And trust the district administration to announce a \u2018corona curfew\u2019 from April 28 to May 3 morning, only when the mega event is over. Figures on Wednesday last show the State recorded the highest single-day spike of 6,054 Covid-19 cases, taking the cumulative tally to 1,68,616, while 108 deaths pushed the toll to 2,417. Make note of Rawat\u2019s reply to a question on the spike in death rate: \u201cWe are surrounded by Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and UP from where critical patients often travel to Uttarakhand for treatment. As such, it becomes difficult for us to save them\u2026\u201d Some people it is said will never learn!<\/p>\n

The Powerful Politician
\nKudos to Karnataka High Court. It has confirmed what the political class would term as mere hearsay. While turning down a bail plea of astrologer Yuvaraj Swami, accused in cases of cheating politicians, businessmen and even a former HC judge, the court noted that though he has stated in his voluntary statement he has paid amounts to politicians and other persons and assured jobs, \u201cthe petitioner seems to be a middleman and highly influential person having contact with ministers, otherwise it is not possible to promise or assure providing or securing jobs like Governor, chairman of boards\u2026\u201dBengaluru police had arrested Swami in December 2020 for allegedly cheating people of crores of rupees by promising them high positions in government.A former judge had followed with a complaint saying he had paid Swami Rs 8.5 crore\u00a0through RTGS and cash after \u201che took her to meet top political leaders to convince her to make payments in 2018-19.\u201d The court reprimanded the judge for attempting to pay a \u201cbribe for securing the post of Governor\u201d, saying he has \u2018lowered the prestige of judges and Governor\u2019s post image.\u2019 This apart, Bengaluru magistrate court was pulled up for granting bail to Yuvaraj in the retired judge\u2019s case, plus the State government too for not seeking cancellation of the bail granted by the magistrate. But there\u2019s more to the case. Investigations by Crime Branch have revealed that a former MP was swindled by him of Rs 20 crore by promising renomination to Parliament and a ministerial position! But here the MP has not filed a complaint. Lest it opens a Pandora\u2019s Box. \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n

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People’s Anger & Anguish By Insaf Three cheers Supreme Court. Its direction should, fingers crossed, stop Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in his tracks. During the suo moto hearing on issues related to oxygen supply, drug supply, and vaccine policy, on Friday last, the apex court specifically directed there \u2018should not be any clampdown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-157258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}