Splendid narrative, practically allegorical! Thank you
On Thu, Apr 23, 2020 at 8:21 PM V M <vmin...@gmail.com> wrote: > > https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2020/04/23/democracy-dies-in-darkness > > Long before the Washington Post adopted ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ > as its first official slogan in 140 years, the powerful phrase was > associated with government skullduggery. It originated during > Watergate, the stunning 1970s political scandal which resulted in the > resignation of president Richard Nixon. Five decades later, > resuscitated on the masthead of Jeff Bezos’s newspaper, it’s an > enduring reminder that vigilance – and the sustaining transparency of > daylight - is the eternal price for liberty. > > Immensely worrying then, with authoritarianism already on the rise, > that the coronavirus emergency has plunged the world into virtual > darkness. With checks and balances in disarray, alarming power grabs > are underway in several countries. > > Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban has secured emergency powers > giving him the right to rule indefinitely. A few days ago, the Israeli > newspaper Haaretz accused Benjamin Netanyahu of perpetrating “a > coronavirus coup” and editorialized that “Americans should beware a > Trump who decides to emulate Netanyahu. The U.S. president, who now > fancies himself a “Wartime President” with all the emergency powers > that accompany the title, will go farther and more radical than > Netanyahu would ever dare.” > > In Brazil and Chile, and closer to home in Thailand and the > Philippines, there are inescapable indications of the emergence of > autocracy. As Fionnuala Ni Aolain, the United Nations Special > Rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights recently warned, “We > could have a parallel epidemic of authoritarian and repressive > measures following close if not on the heels of a health epidemic.” > > In India, there are many disconcerting developments under cover of > lockdown. The outspoken author and conservationist Prerna Bindra told > me, “during the current crisis, there have been a number of official > decisions which are of great concern, that undermine democracy.” She > pointed out the government published its highly contentious draft > environmental impact assessment notification to dilute its crucial > public hearing component after the WHO confirmed that Covid-19 was a > pandemic. Many environmentalists fear this is the backdoor > regularization of massive violations. > > Bindra says, “while the country is caught in crisis mode, projects > have been approved in and around sanctuaries, and crucial tiger > habitats, including the pristine Western Ghats. Calling for public > comments in this situation seems to be a mockery. How do the people in > remote regions who are going to be impacted even know this process is > going on? Where is the democracy in this? In my view, to prioritize > these kinds of ecologically damaging projects, even as we know > definitively that the root cause of such pandemics is the destruction > of natural ecosystems, demonstrates dismal disregard for consultative > processes as well as public health.” > > Earlier this week, the New York Times carried a trenchant opinion > piece entitled, “In India, a Pandemic of Prejudice and Repression.” > Its author, Siddharth Varadarajan, is an editor of The Wire, an > independent-minded news website, about which he says, “At one point, > we faced 14 defamation cases, all of them frivolous, seeking damages > totaling $1.3 billion. The cases were filed by people who are either a > part of the ruling establishment or considered close to it.” > > Even though state borders are closed, Varadarajan writes, “policemen > were dispatched from Ayodhya to my home in New Delhi, 435 miles away, > to summon me” even though, “they knew I would never be able to make it > across state lines. They also knew I would be unable to approach the > courts because of the lockdown, making me potentially liable to > arrest.” > > The Editors Guild of India responded sharply, “No democracy anywhere > in the world is fighting the pandemic by gagging the media” and > Varadarajan notes “civil society outcry over this intimidation forced > the police to backtrack.” But immediately afterwards, “the human > rights activist Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde, a management > professor and leading intellectual, were taken into custody last week > under a draconian antiterrorism law on the flimsiest of evidence.” > > Just this week, the Editor’s Guild was forced to react again, as the > acclaimed Kashmiri journalists Gowhar Geelani and Peerzada Ashiq were > charged by the police in the normal course of their daily work, with > their colleague, the brilliant 26-year-old photojournalist Masrat > Zahra facing the extraordinary accusation of “activities against the > integrity and sovereignty of India” under the oppressive Unlawful > Activities (Prevention) Act. > > This time, the apex journalist’s body said “Any recourse to such laws > for merely publishing something in the mainstream or social media is a > gross misuse of power. Its only purpose can be to strike terror into > journalists.” > > The day after she was charged, Zahra reacted poignantly on Twitter, > “I am slowly learning what it means to be human. What it means to make > mistakes and learn from them. How to stop running from what is heavy > and uncomfortable in my life. How to understand that I cannot control > life. I am slowly learning how to laugh and cry and feel through it > all.” >