Here's a short yet noteworthy response from a veteran of many struggles, Dr. Hiren Gohain - a/the leading leftist intellectual from Assam. Only last year he himself had become the news with the Assam government filing a sedition case against him. (The few words above are meant for those not too familiar with Assam.)
<<It will be risky from all angles to organize rallies in protest now.As always this anguished plea will also meet a cavernous silence. The point is to keep on reverting to this theme repeatedly in public and put in place organizational links to connect with various branches at regional and local levels,so that awareness and urgency do not peter off.>> Sukla On Sat, 15 May 2021, 13:48 Sukla Sen, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Leaders of twelve major opposition parties, on May 12, have written a > joint letter to the (missing?) Indian Prime Minister on how to tackle the > raging pandemic. > > The signatories are: Sonia Gandhi, H D Deve Gowda, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav > Thackeray, Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Hemant Soren, Farooq Abdullah, > Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, D Raja and Sitaram Yechury. > The signatories include four chief ministers - from (four) regional > parties, while four (other) chief ministers belong to the Congress (three) > and the CPI(M) (one). > > Quite significantly, the list doesn't include either Arvind Kejriwal or > Mayawati - perhaps, too faint-hearted or even worse. > Also significant is the inclusion of the Maharashtra Chief Minister in the > list. > > While the signatories are ordered (roughly) in order of their (perceived) > rankings in national politics, there's a somewhat queer and rather > conspicuous exception in case of the last two: D Raja precedes Sitaram > Yechury. > *It has to be read together with the fact that Mamata and Yechury are both > signatories to the letter.* > > Does the reversal of order between Raja and Yechury indicate that the > signature of the latter came only at the very last moment - after a good > deal of (internal) wrangling and/or (external) coaxing etc.? > One - at this moment, can only speculate. > But, *more significant is the fact that, eventually, both Mamata and > Yechury are signatories to a joint letter*. > One only hopes that the trend will persist. > > Things are utterly grave and threaten to turn far more so in the coming > days. > No time for petty squabbling. > > The letter emphatically holds the Central government, via its acts of > omissions and commissions, responsible for the ongong "apocalyptic human > tragedy". > It lays out a nine-point action programme - to be undertaken on a war > footing, as under: > * Central procurement of vaccines from all available sources - global and > domestic. > * Immediate free, universal mass vaccination campaign > * Compulsory licensing to expand domestic vaccine production > * Spending the ₹35,000 crore budgetary allocation for vaccines > * Stopping the Central Vista construction and using the money for oxygen > and vaccines > * Releasing all money held in the "unaccounted private trust fund", > PMCares to buy vaccines, oxygen and medical equipment > * ₹6,000 per month for the unemployed > * Free distribution of foodgrain to the needy > * Repeal of farm laws to protect farmers falling victim to Covid > > (Ref.: < > https://www.livemint.com/news/india/dear-prime-minister-opposition-parties-write-to-modi-seek-free-mass-covid-vaccination-suspension-of-central-vista-project/amp-11620832349529.html > >.) > > "Though it has not been the practice of your office or government, we > would appreciate a response to our suggestions in the interests of India > and our people," the letter further reads. > > For the facsimile (of the first page) of the letter: < > https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10226033232282522&id=1387786704 > >. > > There, as it appears, is no response as yet. > > The joint letter - while a significant positive development, coming in the > wake of the severe electoral drubbing suffered by the BJP in West Bengal, > which it was out to "capture" by hook or by crook - needs be followed up > with further actions on the ground. > Despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic, that's direly called for. > > Sukla > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenyouth/CACEsOZgz%3DXmiJBriHxg5VkdW8k%2Bx82rB-dzCo22agEfWxA2rTQ%40mail.gmail.com.
