Thank you for reading, Venantius. All the best!
VM On Sun, Apr 26, 2020 at 8:31 PM Venantius J Pinto <venantius.pi...@gmail.com> wrote: > > 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.” -- #2, Second Floor, Navelkar Trade Centre, Panjim, Goa Cellphone 9326140754