Month: April 2021

SC Seeks Response from Centre on Plea Challenging Sedition Law

The plea was filed by journalists Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Centre on a plea challenging the Constitutional validity of sedition law.

A bench Justice U.U. Lalit, Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice K.M. Joseph were hearing a plea challenging Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which penalises the crime of sedition.

The plea, filed by two journalists – Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla – working in Manipur and Chhattisgarh respectively, have urged the court to declare Section 124-A as unconstitutional.

The petition claimed that Section 124-A infringes the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

The petitioners claimed that they have been raising questions against their respective state governments and central government, and have been charged with sedition under Section 124A of IPC in various FIRs for comments and cartoons shared by them on the social networking website Facebook.

There is frequent phenomenon of misuse, misapplication and abuse of Section 124-A since 1962, the petition said, adding that the abuse of a law, in itself, may not bear on the validity of the law but clearly points to the vagueness and uncertainty of the current law.

Also read: ‘Govt Uses Sedition Law to Create Fear, It Should Be Abolished’: Retired SC Judge

The sections of sedition have been repealed in comparative post-colonial democratic jurisdictions around the world. While India calls itself a ‘democracy’, throughout the democratic world the offence of sedition has been condemned as undemocratic, undesirable and unnecessary, it said.

The petition also argued that the vagueness of Section 124-A exerts an unacceptable chilling effect on the democratic freedoms of individuals who cannot enjoy there legitimate democratic rights and freedoms for fear of life imprisonment.

While citing the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the validity of the law in 1962 in the case of Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar, the petitioner said that the court may have been correct in its finding nearly sixty decades ago, but the law no longer passes constitutional muster today.

Silence Is No Longer an Option. It’s Time for Our Conscience to Wake Up.

While nations across the world used the time since March 2020 to work on their healthcare system to fight the virus, we preferred using the time in ludicrous and hubristic display of optics.

Enough is enough, I kept telling myself.

We’ve seen it all, we’re seeing it more, and still more — every moment — the cries, the pains, the scrambling for oxygen, the frantic hunt for a hospital bed, the long queues even in the crematoriums under a blazing 42°C sun, and the incessant wait to perform the last rites. Not having served them when alive, the least the dead deserve is a dignified rites of exit.

Even that is hard to come by.

Early morning on April 30, when I switched on CNN, I saw a report by Clarissa Ward from one of the largest crematoriums of Delhi. These visuals are nothing new in the past 10-12 days, and nothing of the kind that I haven’t seen earlier. But it hurt in a manner that I hadn’t experienced before.

The enormity of the pain incinerated me. But my mind travelled elsewhere – full tilt in this macabre dispensing of raw, wanton deaths – to the ardent apologists.

My mind went to the unconscionable defenders of the regime, the perfervid bhakts, the paid troll army of robots implacably still unmoved with the growing death numbers across the country, and the rich corporate honchos and their myriad underlings acting as curated slaves of Mammon who see no wrong in the inaction, and the utter ineptitude of the messiah and his messianic governing regime, and would like this vast and ghastly (dis)order to go on interminably.

“Everybody loves a good drought,” P. Sainath had told us long ago. And it is still true.

Also read: It’s Not Enough To Say the Govt Has Failed. We Are Witnessing a Crime Against Humanity.

The incessant promises, the histrionic and the dexterous ventriloquism (best exemplified in the recent obsessive calling out of Didi’s name, many times over), the numerous missteps — the four-hour triumphalist call for demonetisation, the flawed GST implementation, even the breathless March 2020 lockdown on four hours’ notice, and multiple other miscues, not to speak of the hubris of power, the bigotry, and countless wrongs perpetrated on its citizens that refuse to go away — floated into my mind.

From this welter of miasma hegemonising, a few macabre thoughts assail my mind.

Aren’t all these man-made, or more aptly, aren’t all these sufferings and death entirely ‘Make in India’? Isn’t it that grisly animality has seized this nation. Haven’t human instincts and rationality evaporated, despite the loud self-proclamations of serving the people as the Pradhan Sevak?

How’s this any different from the Nazi pogroms except that while the latter was a conscious move to exterminate a section of humanity, what’s unfolding before us today is the unwitting consequence of humongous acts of omission?

I use the expression ‘Make in India’ consciously. It has been a much-hyped jingle since 2014. For, while nations across the world used the time since March 2020 to work on their healthcare system in building infrastructure and equipping them with medical equipment to fight the virus, we preferred using the time in ludicrous and hubristic display of optics.

Churlish thali-rattles and conch-blowing was followed with yet another round that was still more ludicrous — the nine-minute-lighting-of-lamps-at-nine to proudly tell the world that we’re different from all. This was succeeded by yet another ritual, the ‘bhoomi pujan’ at Ayodhya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with UP governor Anandiben Patel, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and others perform Bhoomi Pujan rituals for the construction of the Ram Mandir, at Ayodhya on August 5, 2020. Photo: PTI

We did precious nothing, except working this ‘Make in India’ framework designed to garner optics. The amount disbursed or disbursable from the questionable PM-CARES fund, beyond the CAG’s pale, lost its way in the dead sand of limitless and opaque mishaps.

But the gilded hubris remained intact, had to be kept intact. Yes, it needed periodic reinforcement, not necessarily limited to sartorial and facial kinds. The pandemic-imposed embargo on junkets across continents led to their replacement with domestic ones. The servile flunkies flocking around were at best faux and synthetic.

Mercifully, Zoom and Skype came as godsend. The online World Economic Forum at Davos on January 28, 2021 offered an opportunity for the amour propre.

“Friends… It was predicted that India would be the most affected country from corona all over the world. It was said that there would be a tsunami of corona infections in India, somebody said 700-800 million Indians would get infected while others said two million Indians would die… In a country which is home to 18% of the world population, that country has saved humanity from a big disaster by containing corona effectively,” it was said.

Also read: How the Modi Government Overestimated India’s Capacity To Make COVID Vaccines

Prudence or lunacy?

Little wonder, as in Greek tragedy, nemesis tailed hubris, as though to prick this bubble. But at what cost? That of lives of the hapless common man.

With no action or rather complete inaction bar massaging uncertain ego and uneasy vanity, the bubble turned into the bumbledom of bigoted senselessness.

It first found expression in advancing the Kumbh Mela by a year and letting the lakhs of devotees to the throes of potential death; and then the crazy COVID-inappropriate electioneering and in the mask-less boast at Asansol in West Bengal on April 17, where the blessed eyes swept over the vast multitude of the rent-a-crowd, keen to gulp at the flowing leader of the nation aspiring Vishwaguruship, and the pious and sage nuggets of wisdom dripping off his mann.

Hindu devotees take a holy dip in the Ganges River during Shahi Snan at “Kumbh Mela”, or the Pitcher Festival, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Haridwar, India, April 14, 2021. Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis

Alas, the consequences are here for us to reap, solely ‘Make in India’!

Look, the truth is it is hard to contain the virus now. It will blaze through at free will because it loves the crowd and the chaos that have been offered aplenty.

Unlike other desecrations that were concurred and ringingly granted the imprimatur by constitutional institutions and organs of the State, the virus just isn’t amenable to the express directions of the supremo. Instead it deems itself the supremacist, who can only be stopped in its track by science, data, transparency and ceaseless precautions. We encouraged nothing of the above. We have in lieu of Anthony Fauci, the NITI Aayog doctor spewing AYUSH-seva, or some other leading light chanting paeans of praise for the “able leadership of Prime Minister Modi.”

On the populist front, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s resolution of February 21 told us that India had “defeated COVID-19 under the able, sensitive, committed and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modi.” Or, the inimitable words of Harsh Vardhan, the Union health minster sprouted on April 27: “India is better prepared mentally and physically this year with more experience to beat COVID-19.”

Today, “Beyond crises”, the sane words of Dr. Zarir Udwadia, a respected physician in Mumbai, are lost in the din amid the tsunami sweeping across the country, as we did with the WHO chief’s prescient words, “Beyond miserable”.

“THE DEVASTATION that a new wave of the coronavirus is wreaking on India can’t be ignored,” wrote The Washington Post as its Editorial Board’s Opinion on April 27, 2021, “And neither can the Indian government’s attempts to suppress the truth about it.” That’s a wake-up call, but have we woken up?

Is this finally the government’s Waterloo?

“Policy goals, political dramaturgy and electoral prospects are more important than the well-being of the country’s population,” says Sumit Ganguly in his piece on April 28, 2021. But it matters little, so insensitive is the government. “Despite efforts to squelch the bad press, everyone knows who is to blame for the fatal disaster unfolding today.”

Yet, it shall matter not at the hustings. Nor will it mean that things will change mid-course. Knowing the way India sways, I’m inclined not. Blame me, my pessimism. My cosmic optimism has vaporised.

Unless the nation’s conscience is pricked. And it rises as one against this carnage of death in the virtual pogroms. Silence is no more an option.

Sudhansu Mohanty is former controller general of defence accounts and former financial adviser, defence services. 

Seven Pivotal Faces to Know Before the Tamil Nadu Election Results

Apart from the two main alliances, there were three other major political parties that contested these polls, with two of them fighting as an alliance.

New Delhi: In the first assembly elections held since the demise of former chief minister and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, the fight in Tamil Nadu this time is between the ruling alliance of AIADMK-BJP-PMK and the opposition DMK-Congress coalition.

Apart from the two main alliances, there were three other major political parties that contested these polls, with two of them fighting as an alliance.

In 2018, a year before the Lok Sabha polls, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan floated the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), which is hoping to make major inroads riding on his popularity among the cinema-going population, in these assembly elections. Then there is also an alliance between T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

The voting for the 234 assembly seats on April 6 witnessed a 72.81% turnout which was exactly 2 percentage points less than the 74.81% seen during the 2016 elections. A total of 457,76,311 votes were polled in the elections with more women (231,71,736) turning out to vote than men (226,03,156). As many as 1,419 third gender votes were also recorded.

Also read: Is Phalke Honour To Rajinikanth Yet Another Instance of BJP’s ‘Award Politics’?

Edappadi K. Palaniswami (AIADMK)

Tamil Nadu chief minister and joint coordinator of AIADMK Edappadi K. Palaniswami entered the world of politics as a party volunteer in 1974. He became chief minister following the death of J. Jayalalithaa and after O. Panneerselvam, who used to perform the role of acting chief minister whenever she was unable to attend work and who became CM on her death, resigned from the post in 2017.

Tamil Nadu chief minister K. Palaniswami. Credit: PTI/R Senthil Kumar

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. Photo: PTI/R. Senthil Kumar

A four-time MLA, Palaniswami is seeking re-election from the Edappadi constituency in Salem district. The seat is a stronghold of the AIADMK but this time DMK’s candidate is 37-year-old T. Sampath Kumar, who is a local, and, as per his party, can pull off an upset.

However, Palaniswami, who believes that the AIADMK will be able to ensure ‘Amma aatchi’ or Amma’s rule and form a government in the state for the third straight term, remains a strong contender. In the last election, he had polled 85.5% of the votes in the Edappadi constituency and he would be hoping for a repeat performance this time.

Palaniswami is also the joint coordinator of AIADMK. He had earlier also won the Tiruchengodu seat in the same area in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections.

Also read: What Does the Assembly Election Hold in Store for Tamil Nadu?

O. Panneerselvam (AIADMK)

Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister and joint coordinator of AIADMK, O. Panneerselvam used to be a close aide of Jayalalithaa and would play the role of the acting CM whenever she was unable to head the government. He was also administered the oath of chief minister following her demise. However, in 2017, Panneerselvam demitted office, paving the way for Palaniswami to become chief minister.

Tamil Nadu CM E. Palanisamy and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam. Photo: PTI

This time, Pannneerselvam, who also heads the AIADMK along with Palaniswami, contested the Bodinayakannur seat in the Theni district. Popularly known as OPS, Panneerselvam has continuously represented this seat since 2001. This time he is pitted opposite DMK’s Thanga Tamilselvan, who too used to be a confidante of Jayalalithaa but who never got along well with Panneerselvam. This is what has made the contest interesting, as Tamilselvan would be appealing to both his own loyalists in AIADMK as well as the traditional supporters of DMK-Congress.

Also read: In Tamil Nadu, It Isn’t Just the BJP Which Struggles With the Core Values of Tamil Identity

M.K. Stalin (DMK)

DMK president M.K. Stalin, who took over the reins of the party following the demise of his father and founder of the party and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi, is a serious contender for the post of the chief minister this time. He is contesting once again from Kolathur, a seat he has represented since 2011.

While under Karunanidhi, Stalin served as deputy chief minister in the state, he was the leader of the opposition during the AIADMK-BJP alliance rule. This time he has allied with Congress in the hope of dislodging the AIADMK-BJP alliance and forming the government.

Tuticorin: DMK President MK Stalin addresses an election campaign rally in support of his party’s Tuticorin candidate Geetha Jeevan, ahead of Tamil Nadu assembly polls, in Tuticorin, Monday, March 22, 2021. Photo: PTI

Stalin had won his first election from Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai in 1989 and he later became mayor of Chennai. Aadhi Rajaram of AIADMK, whom Stalin had defeated from Thousand Lights in 2001, is this time taking him on from Kolathur.

Udhayanidhi Stalin (DMK)

Son of M.K. Stalin and actor-producer Udhayanidhi Stalin made his electoral debut in these elections, contesting the Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni seat, which has been a traditional bastion of the DMK.

The younger Stalin is hopeful of winning by a “huge margin” from the seat. A reason for his confidence is that this seat was won thrice by his grandfather and DMK founder M. Karunanidhi between 1996 and 2011.

Incidentally, Stalin’s main fight for the seat will be with A.V.A. Kassali of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, a party founded by S. Ramadoss in 1989 as a political outfit for the Vanniyars (OBC). The PMK is also an ally of AIADMK-BJP in these elections.

Also read: BJP’s Electoral Strategy for Tamil Nadu in 2021 is the De-Dravidisation of State Politics

The constituency which is in the heart of Chennai was represented by Udhayanidhi’s grandfather and late DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi thrice from 1996 to 2011. Thereafter Karunanidhi had shifted to Tiruvarur in the Cauvery Delta region.

The constituency which was known as Chepauk till 2011, was renamed Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni in 2011 after delimitation.

TTV Dhinakaran (AMMK)

Another key player in Tamil Nadu politics this time is TTV Dhinakaran, nephew of Jayalalithaa’s former aide V.K. Sasikala, and founder of Amma Makkal Munettra Kazhagam (AMMK).

An MLA from RR Nagar in Chennai, a seat which was earlier represented by Jayalalithaa, Dhinakaran had floated AMMK after he and Sasikala were ousted from the AIADMK following the latter’s conviction in a corruption case.

T.T.V. Dhinakaran. Credit: PTI

T.T.V. Dhinakaran. Photo: PTI

While Sasikala announced her decision to “stay away from politics” ahead of the 2021 polls, Dhinakaran had won the R.K. Nagar assembly seat in 2017 and sprung a major surprise. But this time, he is not trying to retain the seat and has moved to Kovilpatti, where he is pitted opposite AIADMK strongman and cabinet minister K. Raju as also K. Srinivasan of the DMK.

Kamal Haasan (MNM)

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan had floated Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) in 2018, a year before the Lok Sabha elections. In the general elections, his party contested 37 seats and got 3.72% of all votes polled. This time MNM has fielded candidates for 154 seats and left 40 seats each to its allies – All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi and Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi.

Haasan himself contested the Coimbatore South seat, where he is taking on Mayura S. Jayakumar of the Congress and Vanathi Srinivasan of the BJP. Srinivasan is also the BJP women’s wing’s national president. Though Coimbatore South was considered a traditional stronghold of AIADMK, this time the party has left the seat for BJP, which has fielded a local face and its women’s wing national president from it.

Kamal Hassan. Photo: PTI

Haasan is expecting a maiden entry into the assembly from the constituency, which has a significant number of Muslim, Christian, north Indian, Gounder, Naicker, Chettiar and Mukulathor voters.

Also read: The Return of Sasikala Natarajan  

L. Murugan (BJP)

While BJP is yet to make significant inroads into Tamil Nadu on its own, the president of its state unit, L. Murugan, is a prominent face in these state assembly elections.

At a time when BJP and AIADMK are hoping for a repeat of previous outcomes, it is being said that Murugan would be a strong contender for the post of deputy chief minister should the alliance win. He is contesting from Dharapuram in the Tiruppur district.

L. Murugan, president of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, being felicitated by party workers. Photo: BJP Tamil Nadu Facebook page

Though Murugan hails from Paramathi Velur in Namakkal district he chose to contest from the reserved seat, which has a significant population of Arunathiyars, Pallars, Kuravars and other scheduled communities.

Though the sitting MLA Kalaimuthu VS is from the Congress, this time the alliance has fielded Kayalvizhi Selvaraj of DMK against Murugan.

‘Sincere Sympathies’: Chinese President Xi Writes to PM Modi With Offer to Help Fight Surge

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also spoke to External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, who tweeted that he had raised the issue of air connectivity remaining open in the call.

New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a message of sympathy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the coronavirus surge in India and offered to provide support and help to deal with the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that in his message, Xi said China is willing to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation with India, and provide support and help to the country.

“I am very concerned about the recent situation of COVID-19 pandemic in India. On behalf of the Chinese Government and people, as well as in my own name, I would like to express sincere sympathies to the Indian Government and people,” President Xi said, according to a tweet by Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong.


“The Chinese side stands ready to strengthen cooperation with the Indian side in fighting the pandemic and provide support and help in this regard. I believe that under the leadership of the Indian government, the Indian people will surely prevail over the pandemic,” Xi also reportedly said.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on the telephone on the same issue. Jaishankar tweeted in the evening that he had raised the issue of air connectivity remaining open in the call.

On April 26, the Chinese Sichuan Airlines suspended cargo flights to India for a fortnight amidst the latest surge in cases, putting a spanner in the procurement of oxygen concentrators from China amidst a crippling shortage.

China had promised “co-operation” at that stage and said, “We will encourage and guide Chinese companies to actively cooperate with India to facilitate acquiring medical supplies, and provide support and help according to India’s need.”

Wang Yi had, on Thursday, also written to Jaishankar, promising to “do the utmost” in supporting India’s fight against the COVID-19 surge, and expressing empathy.

Wang, in his letter to Jaishankar, wrote that the coronavirus is the “common enemy of mankind” and reiterated that  the “international community needs solidarity and coordination for a concerted response.”

“The Chinese side firmly supports the Indian Government and people in fighting the pandemic,” he wrote in the letter, a copy of which was tweeted by Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong.

Wang also crucially added that materials to fight the pandemic, which are produced in China, are entering India at a fast pace. “The Chinese side will continue to do its utmost to provide support and help according to the needs of India. We hope and believe that under the leadership of the Indian government, the Indian people will surely prevail over the epidemic at an early date,” he added.


The messages from President Xi and Foreign Minister Wang come even as the militaries of the two countries are yet to resolve the stand-off at the remaining areas of eastern Ladakh after the withdrawal from Pangong lake area in February.

India on Friday logged 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976, while active cases crossed the 31-lakh mark. The death toll increased to 2,08,330 with 3,498 new fatalities.

COVID-19: West Bengal Announces Restrictions a Day After End of 8-Phase Polls

Activities related to the electoral counting processes and victory rallies will be guided by the Election Commission protocols, the order said.

New Delhi: West Bengal, on April 30, Friday, announced some restrictions to combat rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, a day after the eight-phase elections to the state assembly ended on April 29.

All shopping malls, restaurants, beauty parlours, gyms, spas, and swimming pools were ordered to shut down. Marketplaces and bazaars can only operate from 7 am to 10 am and from 3 pm t0 5 pm.

Medical shops, medical equipment outlets, grocery stores, along with home delivery services, have been kept out of the order’s purview. Home deliveries too will be permitted under the partial shutdown.

All social, cultural, academic and entertainment-related gatherings and congregations have been prohibited.

On the same day, the government announced that COVID-19 vaccination for people in 18-44 age group will not begin from May 1 in the state due to paucity of doses.

Activities related to the electoral counting processes and victory rallies will be guided by Election Commission protocols, the order said.

“The restrictions will be in place till the administration reviews the situation again,” a senior official told PTI.

Any person violating these measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides action under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and other legal provisions as applicable.

(With PTI inputs)

Watch | Should the IPL Continue As India Suffers?

Should the league be played while India’s COVID-19 crisis remains a harrowing picture?

In the same India where people are dying due to lack of oxygen and crucial medical supplies and where the COVID-19 tally has been constantly rising, the Indian Premier League is being played almost as usual.

The Wire takes a look at the controversy.

What the SOS Tweets Tell us About the Second Wave of COVID-19

Between March 1 and April 21, 2021, more than 519,000 individual accounts actively engaged with SOS and emergency tweets from other Indian users to help provide relevant information or medical aid.

Following a sharp spike in new COVID-19 cases, India is currently in the midst of an unprecedented public health emergency. The country’s medical and bureaucratic infrastructure has been stretched thin following an exponential increase in active COVID-19 cases from mid-March 2021 onwards, culminating in an acute shortage of hospital beds, plasma donations, and oxygen cylinders throughout the country.

As government sources of medical aid and welfare collapsed around them, many Indians took to Twitter, sending emergency SOS requests in a desperate attempt to crowdsource vital resources for their families and friends.

In response to their compatriots’ pleas for assistance on the platform, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Indian users rose to the fore, mobilising into decentralised support networks and helping others by compiling relevant information into lists and sourcing medical supplies chiefly through conversations on the social media platform.

Also read: Don’t Clamp Down on SOS COVID-19 Messages, Supreme Court Warns States, Police

How did we get here?

In India, a combination of lax public restrictions following a prior drop in active cases, the emergence of a new variant of the COVID-19 strain, and the resumption of “super-spreader” gatherings such as the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand and political campaigning in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and West Bengal are all postulated as key factors behind the resurgence of the virus.

A BJP rally at Illambazar in Birbhum district, Saturday, April 17, 2021. Photo: PTI

Several local and international outlets published articles highlighting how after a brief sustained dip in active cases between October 2020 and March 2021, the country has witnessed an unprecedented spike in active cases increasing from 168,627 on March 1, 2021, to 3,084,814 cases as of April 29, 2021. Other outlets drew attention to the horrific procession of videos, images, and messages emanating from social media users as the country’s public and private health infrastructure was pushed beyond the brink under the unrelenting caseload. 

Faced with mounting shortages of critical medical supplies and unresponsive government helplines, patients, medical practitioners and in many cases, even hospital staff took to Twitter to crowdsource supplies from a decentralised network of vendors, NGOs and concerned citizens who stepped in to address the growing deficit. Other users compiled open-source lists of helpful resources like civil society helplines, telephone numbers of local volunteers, and crowdsourced updates on the availability of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, and plasma donations in their area. Some users went further and mobilised to prepare home-cooked meals for COVID-19 patients under home quarantine. 

Examples of SOS tweets by Indian users on the platform seeking and providing vital resources. (Sources: @jyotsnasingh22/archive, @puneetbhl/archive, @anand_bala/archive, @priyanka14/archive, clockwise from top left)

Quantitative analysis of Indian SOS Twitter: Processes and patterns

Using Twint, an open-source intelligence tool, the on-platform activity of SOS tweets by Indian users was analysed between March 1, 2021 and  April 21, 2021. A custom rule was fed into the OSINT tool to extract the relevant SOS tweets on the platform between the examined time frame.

The rule employed a combination of more than 20 keywords related to the most common medical resources (oxygen, plasma donation, hospital bed) requested by users on the platform, paired with multiple combinations of verbs and synonyms associated with assistance (help, require, needed) to filter out the relevant SOS tweets.

This query yielded 81.63 million tweets from users directly asking for help, or responding with a relevant link, list, or contact over the same time frame. 

In comparison to the six million SOS messages recorded over the entire month of March 2021, the number of SOS messages increased by over sevenfold to 41 million tweets between April 8 and April 14, 2021, providing some indication of the severity of the public health crisis. On April 8, India registered the then-highest single-day increase in the number of new infections since the beginning of the pandemic, with 131,787 cases reported across the country. 

The SOS Twitter dataset was further parsed to identify the most commonly requested medical supplies, revealing that out of the total 81 million tweets analysed, 36.9 million were related to sourcing or refilling oxygen cylinders. With 14.1 million tweets Remdesivir (a broad-spectrum antiviral medication produced by US-based Gilead Sciences) was the second most requested medical supply, followed by 13.9 million tweets from Indians trying to procure hospital beds. 

On April 19, The Wire published a piece highlighting an investigation by Scroll.in into the inefficient implementation of a central government directive leading to only 11 of more than 150 planned oxygen generation plants being constructed, with only five of these being currently operational. Shortly after, The Indian Express reported on the crippling shortage in supplies of oxygen cylinders across several states in the country.  The high incidence of SOS tweets requesting oxygen cylinders and their refills reflected this reality.

Surprisingly, the number of SOS tweets requesting and responding to queries related to Remdesivir were significantly higher than requests for hospital beds, ventilators, or vaccines, despite its unproven ability to lower mortality rates or the length of hospital stays.

The SOS dataset was also filtered to draw out the Twitter accounts most tagged by Indian users in their SOS tweets. The top five accounts included a mix of politicians, comedians, and Bollywood actors. At the top was Srinivas B.V., the national president of the Indian Youth Congress, who was tagged in 88,321 SOS tweets from Indian users. The second and third most tagged Twitter users were Dilip Pandey, a member of the legislative assembly with the Aam Aadmi Party, and Sonu Sood, a Bollywood actor well known for assisting migrants during the first wave of COVID-19, with 74,492 tweets and 71,969 tagged tweets respectively. This was followed by stand-up comic and writer Varun Grover, and actor Vineet Kumar Singh.   

To understand the geospatial distribution of these messages across the country, the SOS tweets were categorised based on the cities where the assistance was requested.

The data showed that the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) saw the highest number of requests for assistance, with 39.86 million SOS tweets from Indian users on the platform. The area comprising the cities Lucknow, Varanasi, and Kanpur was in second place, with a combined 19.45 million tweets, followed by Ahmedabad, Surat, and Rajkot registering a combined 12.23 million tweets over the examined period.

It is important to note, however, that despite being one of the most popular social media platforms in the country, with an estimated 17.5 million users, in absolute terms, this user base represents just 1% of the country’s population. This digital divide is reflected in the hotspots, as many cities with less internet connectivity and fewer healthcare resources but higher caseloads are absent from the dataset.

Finally, the dataset was parsed to calculate the number of unique accounts that were driving the conversations around SOS tweets on the platform. Between March 1 and April 21, 2021, more than 519,000 individual accounts actively engaged with SOS and emergency tweets from other Indian users to help provide relevant information or medical aid. Over three-quarters of these accounts (356,000) belonged to ordinary citizens lacking official Twitter verification or large followings on the platform. The engagement of ordinary Indian citizens far outweighed that of prominent social media influencers as well as other public figures in media and government.

Also read: Youth Sought Oxygen for Grandfather via Tweet, UP Police File Criminal Case Against Him

Notably, this decentralised web of citizen-support networks continues to engage on the platform despite having multiple SOS tweets taken down by Twitter following directives from the Indian government. Following growing attempts by local police and state government officials to intimidate and even criminally charge users posting SOS tweets on the platform, the future of Indian SOS Twitter appears uncertain.

However, a silver lining is the selflessness exhibited by countless Indian Twitter users, which serves as a much-needed reminder of how individuals can band together to help each other through a national crisis. This analysis of the on-platform activity of Indian users through the country’s second COVID-19 wave also provides a case study of the immense potential of social media to enable societal resilience by giving ordinary citizens a platform to instantaneously communicate, organise, and provide for each other in moments of collective adversity.

Ayushman Kaul is a Research Assistant, South Asia, with the Digital Forensic Research Lab. Devesh Kumar is an independent data analyst and Senior Data Visualizer with The Wire.

Assam 2021 Polls: A Guide to the Most Critical Races

Results will be declared on May 2.

New Delhi: In the 2016 assembly elections, the BJP was in a pre-poll alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodo People’s Front (BPF). Together, the three parties won 86 of the 126 assembly seats of the state. While the AGP contested 24 seats and won 14, the BPF contested 16 seats and won 12 of them.

The Congress which had ruled the state for three consecutive terms under the chief ministership of Tarun Gogoi, contested 122 seats in the 2016 assembly polls but could win only 26 of them. It lost 53 seats in that election and was forced to form the opposition. In May 2016, a BJP-led government was formed with Sarbananda Sonowal as its chief minister.

The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which had contested 74 seats in the 2016 assembly polls, could win in only 13 seats. It reduced its tally from 18 in the 2011 assembly polls to 13 in the 2016 polls.

The following was the party-wise vote share in the 2016 assembly elections:

BJP: 29.5%
Congress: 30.9%
AGP: 8.1%
BPF: 3.9%
AIUDF: 13%
Independents: 11.4%
Janata Dal (United): 0.07%
Communist Party of India (Marxist): 0.55%
Communist Party of India: 0.22

The 12 key faces in the 2021 assembly elections are as follows.

Sarbananda Sonowal (BJP)

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal is seeking re-election from the Majuli constituency. This constituency had elected Rajib Lochan Pegu of Congress thrice since 2001. In the 2016 elections, in spite of a wave for ‘poriborton‘ (change) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigning for Sonowal as a hira (diamond) that he was offering to the voters of the constituency, Pegu turned out to be a formidable enemy for the top BJP candidate.

Sonowal however won the constituency because the votes of the majority Mishing community to which Pegu belongs, ended up being divided into three parts. An independent candidate, Ranjit Doley, pulled away a crucial 15,695 votes, leaving Pegu with 30, 679 votes. Sonowal won the seat with 49,602 votes by consolidating not only the non-tribal votes but also in succeeding to pocket votes from the Mishing community because he was a possible chief ministerial candidate who would go on to represent their constituency in Dispur.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Photo: Facebook/Sarbananada Sonowal

In the 2021 polls, Sonowal’s fate would be decided by development work in the constituency in the last five years and his possibility to return to the chief minister’s chair. Though much to public satisfaction, Majuli was declared a district during Sonowal’s tenure, the most important promise of the BJP to the voters — construction of a concrete bridge linking the island in the Brahmaputra to the nearest urban centre, Jorhat town — has remained unfulfilled.

Also read: Who Will Be Assam BJP’s Next Chief Ministerial Face?

Himanta Biswa Sarma (BJP)

A key face in the state’s BJP unit, Himanta Biswa Sarma entered the Assam assembly for the first time in 2001 as a giant slayer. He had defeated the former state home minister and one of the founders of AGP, Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, in the 2001 assembly elections.

Sarma has since been winning the Jalukbari seat. In the 2016 elections, however, he won that constituency not as a Congress, but as a BJP candidate.

Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Photo: PTI

All eyes are on Sarma’s win in the 2021 polls as there is strong speculation within the state media and political circles that he might stake a claim for the chief ministerial position if the BJP returns to power. An ambitious politician, he is widely believed to have been eyeing the top post since his days as a Congress leader.

Akhil Gogoi (Raijor Dal)

Anti CAA-activist and peasant leader Akhil Gogoi is contesting the elections as a candidate of his new party Raijor Dal from the Congress bastion Sivasagar.

Gogoi, in jail since December 2019 and charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, is a formidable opponent to Congress’ candidate Subhamitra Gogoi, a first-timer.

Akhil Gogoi. Photo: Facebook/Files

In the 2016 polls, Congress’ Pranab Gogoi had defeated the BJP candidate Surabhi Rajkonwar by a slim margin. With the recent demise of Gogoi, a former speaker and Congress MLA of the constituency since 2001, there is uncertainty within the party about the possibility of retaining the seat in the 2021 polls too.

Akhil Gogoi’s mother Ananda Gogoi had campaigned for her son in the constituency and was joined by a number of activists from outside the state. She reportedly received wide public support.

Also read: Assembly Polls: Will Congress’ Strategic Bet Pay Off on Counting Day?

Lurin Jyoti Gogoi (AJP)

All eyes will be on the Naharkatia and Duliajan constituencies on May 2 as Lurinjyoti Gogoi, the president of the newly formed anti-CAA party, Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), is trying his electoral luck from both the seats. Gogoi was the general secretary of the All Assam Students Union till he decided to make his maiden entry into politics a few months before the 2021 elections.

These two Upper Assam seats had gone to the BJP-AGP alliance in 2016. While Terash Gowala from the BJP had won the Duliajan seat, the Naharkatia seat was picked up by Naren Sonowal of AGP.

Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi. Photo: Twitter/@lurinjtgogoi

On May 2, it will be interesting to see if the sub-nationalist (jatiotabadi) voter base of the AGP in the Naharkatia constituency particularly would shift to Lurin Jyoti due to AGP’s support to the BJP on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) even after it had violated the Assam Accord.

Lurin Jyoti’s win in these elections will also give an impetus to the rise, once again, of regional politics in the state.

Ajanta Neog (BJP)

A key face in the 2021 elections is Ajanta Neog, former minister in the Tarun Gogoi government, who had shifted allegiance to the BJP just before the assembly elections. She is seeking re-election from the Golaghat constituency.

Thanks to the growing trend of politicians jumping ship to another party prior to an election, a peculiar situation has confronted the voters of Golaghat constituency in the 2021 polls. While Neog, the 2016 Congress candidate, is the BJP’s candidate from the seat in the 2021 polls, the BJP’s candidate in the 2016 polls – Bitupan Saikia – is the Congress’ candidate this time.

Also read: Ground Report: In Upper Assam, Voters Are Torn Between Choosing a Candidate or a Party

In the 2016 polls, Neog, in spite of a BJP wave, could retain the seat for the Congress based on her good report card. Neog’s victory in the 2021 elections would send out the message clearly that voters had gone for the candidate more than the party.

Hitendranath Goswami (BJP)

Assembly speaker and BJP leader Hitendranath Goswami is seeking re-election from the Jorhat constituency. In the 2016 polls, he had defeated Congress’ Rana Goswami who too is contesting the 2021 polls in his party’s ticket.

Though the BJP had won the 2016 polls in this constituency by polling 68,953 votes as against 55,436 votes by the Congress, political observers call it a close contest between the two Goswami this time though.

Debabrata Saikia (INC)

A key face of the 2021 polls is the leader of opposition in the state assembly, Debabrata Saikia, contesting from the Nazira seat.

The Nazira seat has been the bastion of his father and former chief minister and Congress leader Hiteswar Saika.

Debabrata Saikia has been winning the Nazira seat for the party since 2011. It is waiting to be seen whether he would succeed to hold on to it the third time around.

In the 2016 polls, Saikia had succeeded to get 53.77% of the total vote share.

Atul Bora (AGP)

AGP president and the state agriculture minister Atul Bora is a key face of the 2021 assembly polls, seeking re-election from Bokakhat. Among his top opponents are the Congress mahajut (grand alliance) backed independent candidate Pranab Doley and yet another independent candidate Jiten Gogoi.

Asom Gana Parishad’s Atul Bora. Photo: Twitter/atulbora2

With anti-AGP-BJP votes likely to get divided between Doley and Gogoi, Bora is likely to be the lucky one out on May 2. Though, political observers of the state have not ruled out a surprise winner from the constituency. In the 2016 polls, Bora had won the seat by wresting 62,952 votes of the total 12,3219 votes polled.

Ranjit Dass (BJP)

A key face in the 2021 polls, BJP state president Ranjit Dass is contesting the polls this time from Patacharkuchi.

He had entered the state assembly in 2016 from Sarbhog. However, with the Congress and the AIUDF votes consolidating due to the grand alliance, Dass’s chance of repeating his victory from Sarbhog seemed remote, leading him to move to a safer seat.

Also read: How the Akhil Gogoi Factor May Tilt the Electoral Scales Against Congress in Sivasagar

In the 2016 polls, Patacharkuchi was won by Pabindra Deka of the AGP with 64,558 votes. This time though, the seat was handed over to the BJP, leaving Deka to openly rebel against his party. He quit the AGP and is contesting the polls as a candidate of the newly formed AJP. A close contest is predicted at Patacharkuchi by the state’s political observers.

Ripun Bora (INC)

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president and Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora is contesting the polls from this constituency. If he wins the seat on May 2, there will be a vacancy in the current upper house.

In the 2016 polls, the Gohpur seat was won by Utpal Bora of the BJP by a whopping 84935 votes as against 56393 votes by Monika Bora for the Congress.

Indian National Congress candidate Ripun Bora. Photo: Twitter/ripunbora

Biswajit Daimary (BJP)

Biswajit Daimary, yet another state politician to jump ship to BJP just before the elections to contest the polls, has become a key face of the 2021 polls as he is also a Rajya Sabha member. He was re-elected recently to the upper house representing the BPF, then a BJp ally. But he is now contesting the polls as a BJP candidate from Paneri.

His win is crucial as it would then vacate a Rajya Sabha seat from Assam. Since this seat had gone to the BPF with the help of the BJP, it leaves open the possibility of a senior state leader of the BJP to go to New Delhi. With the question about who would be the next chief minister between Sonowal and Sarma looming over the BJP prior to the polls, Daimary’s win could be crucial to the party taking a decision on who among the two should be next chief minister and who to possibly join the Narendra Modi government in recent future. The expansion of the Modi government has been on the cards for some time now.

Watch | CAA, Unemployment, Price Rise Are Key Election Issues in Assam: Gaurav Gogoi

Jagadish Bhuyan (AJP)

Jagadish Bhuyan, former BJP leader who had quit the party opposing its controversial position in the CAA, is seeking his electoral luck from Sadiya. Bhuyan is now the general secretary of the new anti-CAA party AJP. His formidable opponent is Congress’ Bolin Chetia, the sitting MLA.

Bhuyan had won the Sadiya seat twice, as an AGP candidate, in the 1990s, and also served as tourism minister in the Prafulla Mahanta government from 1998 to 2001. In 2015 though, he had quit the AGP over political differences with the then leadership and joined the BJP. In end 2019, hours after the BJP-led central government passed the CAA in Parliament including Assam within its ambit, Bhuyan had quit the party. He played a crucial role in forming the Asam Jatiya Parishad (AJP).

Lack of Adequate Planning Led to the Oxygen Crisis. That Needs to Change Now.

There has been no accountability and moral responsibility, as is usually the case in our country.

India seems to be running out of breath. More specifically, it is running out of oxygen supply to hospitals for critical COVID-19 patients, whose numbers are growing by the day.

There have been reports across the country of people dying due to oxygen shortages. In the national capital, two different hospitals have reported about 50 deaths due to the non-supply of critical oxygen on time. Many people requiring a hospital bed are not being admitted, as hospitals have no further capacity or oxygen.

Heartbreaking videos of patients crowding outside hospitals, with their crying kith and kin, are being beamed on TV channels, scaring the common citizen. These scenes are splashed across the globe, with many loudly proclaiming that India has failed to control and manage this virus. We must accept the truth rather than blame each other or behave like an ostrich. For example, in a big state like Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister’s announcement that everything is under control is contradicted by the pictures on the channels. How long will we live in denial and play politics?

It has been a clear case of lack of foresight, planning, execution and monitoring, highlighting mismanagement and political games. There has been no accountability and moral responsibility, as is usually the case in our country. Some heads must roll to begin with, and at least some in the political leadership should resign on moral grounds. How long can we have the sole example of Lal Bahadur Shastri, who resigned as railway minister about six decades ago due to some railway accidents? Has our conscience died?

Watch: ‘Mid-May COVID Surge Could See 5-6 Lakh Cases a Day, 7,000 Daily Deaths’: Gautam Menon

For the current mess, admittedly there is shortage of oxygen from the adjoining sources for the requiring states like Delhi compared to the sudden surge in demand, though there is no dearth of overall production of oxygen in the country. However, the problem is of logistics. Most of the big plants producing liquid oxygen are in West Bengal and Odisha, and a few in the country’s west, but these are distant for many states like Delhi and it takes days for oxygen to reach by road or rail as liquid oxygen can’t be brought by air. Then there are not sufficient cryogenic tankers to carry this oxygen by road. The turnaround period is long.

The question naturally arises why there no foresight to tackle these issues when the situation eased after the first wave. A simple look at the map clearly shows that supply points are just in one area, only which can’t cater to the whole country. The example of the second and subsequent waves in Europe was also there to see, plan and act urgently. Yes, there is an empowered group of secretaries who flagged the issue a year earlier, the Central government also issued a tender for installing 150 oxygen plants in hospitals and state governments were entrusted with some responsibilities regarding execution – but only 33 plants have come up so far, including just one in Delhi.

Why was this execution not monitored? In the case of Delhi, when the Central government has allocated a quota of oxygen to Delhi (though it may be less than required due to less availability), it is for the Delhi government to pick it up and distribute it efficiently, but its micro-management is poor. It also doesn’t have even a single cryogenic tanker to bring liquid oxygen from far-off plants. Why? The Delhi government and Central government are only blaming each other. Same with other opposition-ruled states. Delhi and the Centre have now started importing necessary materials but the situation will take time to ease. Meanwhile, hoarding and blackmarketeering of oxygen cylinders and remdisivir injections is going on by unscrupulous elements.

Also read: COVID-19: The Adityanath Government Has Moved From Denial to Intimidation

The Supreme Court and the high courts have been also shouting in the meanwhile but to no avail. The Supreme Court has now asked the Central government for a national action plan to deal with this problem. Any action plan about oxygen should ensure that all major hospitals in the country have oxygen plants, which should also cater to the neighbouring small hospitals. Big liquid oxygen plants should be set up in all regions of the county in addition to the east and west. Each state government should have a sufficient number of cryogenic tankers. Also, it is important to fight air pollution in big cities on priority as this affects lungs, leading to more demand for oxygen in such situations. This plan should also include plans to deal with other concerned issues.

The required number of beds are also not there and the demand is increasing by the day. Many temporary centres opened last year after the first wave and were closed earlier this year when the situation eased, dreaming that all is well now. This short-sightedness has boomeranged and now officials are struggling to make these operational again.

To manage these additional beds, another problem looming large is the non-availability of the additional number of doctors, nurses and paramedics and they are just not there. In Delhi, patients were seen leaving a newly opened COVID-19 centre as there were no doctors and nurses. The existing ones elsewhere are overworked, tired and exhausted. A solution to this problem has also to be found on priority by some out-of-the-box thinking, and many solutions are being suggested by the experts.

All this action should be taken on a war footing with time-bound execution and monitoring, with cooperation among the Centre and states. We may have more waves of this pandemic, leading to an all-round collapse of our medical infrastructure. Many would want that to happen as they have their own agenda. Already, the criticism of the Central leadership is increasing by the day, partly for good reasons and the rest by vested interests. So, the time is to act now. Let politics be kept out of this for the sake of Indians’ lives.

B.L. Vohra is a former IPS officer.

COVID-19: Goa Goes Into Lockdown as Test Positivity Rate Crosses 50%

The COVID-19-related restrictions on movement of people and non-essential activities came into force at 9 pm on Thursday and will remain applicable till 6 am on Monday (May 3).

Panaji: Amid an extremely high test positivity rate of over 50%, Goa went into a four-day-long “lockdown” to curb COVID-19 cases as people stayed indoors, while streets were largely bereft of vehicles in the tourist state on Friday.

The tiny coastal state, with a population of around 16 lakh, has been witnessing an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases during the second wave of the infection.

In a development that will worry the administration in Goa, the state reported over 50% test positivity rate on Thursday when out of 5,910 samples tested for coronavirus, 3,019 returned positive, health department data showed.

Also, 36 patients succumbed to the viral infection during the day.

The test positivity rate (TPR) is defined as the percentage of samples that return positive among the total tested.

The COVID-19-related restrictions on movement of people and non-essential activities came into force at 9 pm on Thursday and will remain applicable till 6 am on Monday (May 3).

The state government has said all essential services would be allowed to function during the period.

A senior police officer said there was hardly any traffic on roads and strict patrolling was underway to implement the restrictions, especially in urban areas.

People have cooperated and are staying inside their homes, he said.

Popular beaches, including Calangute, Baga, Anjuna, Morjim in North Goa and Colva and Palolem in South Goa – otherwise teeming with tourists during normal times – wore a deserted look.

Colva-based restaurant owner Mathew Diniz said hotel business was already down due to the pandemic and with the lockdown in force, it has come to a complete standstill.

Tourists are not visiting beaches as neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka (key sources of travellers), too, have imposed lockdown-like curbs, he said.

“Weekly markets will not be allowed during the lockdown. Casinos will also remain shut. However, industrial activities will be allowed to function,” chief minister Pramod Sawant had said while announcing the curbs on Wednesday.

Vaccination centres will function normally during the period, he had said.

The Indian Medical Association’s Goa unit on Friday demanded that the lockdown be continued for 15 days or at least until the positivity rate drops to 10%.

“We wish the lockdown is extended by another 15 days or more to have the ‘Break the Chain’ effect which will definitely help in making the COVID-19 graph go in a downward trend,” IMA Goa president Vinayak Buvaji said in a letter to the chief minister.

Goa has so far recorded 88,028 COVID-19 cases and 1,146 deaths. As of April 29, the tiny coastal state had 20,898 active cases.

On Wednesday, the state had reported 3,101 COVID-19 cases, while on Tuesday, the daily count was 2,110.