'Delhi police have asked residents’ welfare associations to spy and report on people stepping out for morning or evening walks, or even moving about on the compound, attracting charges of trying to create a “police state”. The advisory, which asks the RWAs to go through CCTV footage to identify those violating the lockdown, says people with valid reasons to step out will not face action.
'Close your eyes and those of your children, order personnel in protective gear, as a group of men, women and children squat on the road. Next comes a spray of bleach and many cry out as their eyes sting. The shocking video of migrants being "disinfected" has emerged from Uttar Pradesh on a day the Supreme Court took up a petition seeking relief for the thousands walking to their home states amid the 21-day lockdown. The video was filmed in Bareilly district - about 270 km from Lucknow.
'The Surat police on Monday arrested 96 migrant labourers following a violent clash late on Sunday night with the police. Over a thousand workers, who wanted to go to their natives mostly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were stopped by the local police that resulted into the clash... Police said that more than 1,000 migrant workers had gathered on the road in Vanod under Pandesara police station and were seeking permission to leave the city for their natives in UP, Bihar, Bengal among other places.
'Anxiety reigns in India’s smallest state as its unprepared administration struggles with implementing the nationwide lockdown, compounded by the heavy-handed insertion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The situation threatens to blow up into an explosive social crisis. On Saturday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant declared the CRPF “will be given a free hand to take action against people violating the lockdown orders". Less than 24 hours later, there were already videos circulating of passers-by being assaulted and humiliated in the capital city of Panjim.
'If you have been rolling your eyes at the number of social media posts appearing on your timeline from friends and family, this big brother’s expectations are on another level altogether. The Karnataka government has asked all those who are quarantined at home over the COVID-19 outbreak to send a selfie every hour from their home, failing which they may be housed in mass quarantine centres. That’s 15 selfies per day for 14 days, amounting to a total of 210 selfies for the entire quarantine period!...'
'Just as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray declared on Sunday that 163 emergency safe spaces were up and running in the state to shelter stranded the homeless, including migrant labourers, 40-year-old Shanta Sawant was in fact turned away from one of them. At some places in Mumbai, local residents have taken exception to such centres being put up in their locality and have claimed that this puts them at risk...'
'Police opened fire in the air in Assam's Bongaigaon district on Saturday morning to disperse an unruly mob at a market that attacked the security personnel when asked to abide by the lockdown order, an officer said. None was injured in the melee, he said...'
'Of the scores of horrific video clips in circulation of the anti-Muslim violence that engulfed large parts of North East Delhi a month ago, one piece of mobile-phone footage has been indelibly seared into our collective memories. Even a country habituated to seeing Muslim victims of lynchings being filmed by their attackers was stunned at the sight of the assailants in this video – men in police uniform... A month later there has been no investigation, no explanations offered by police, leave alone starting an inquiry that would hold the assailants accountable.
'Amidst the criticism over the handling of the coronavirus crisis, the Indian government has decided to go ahead with an arms deal with Israel worth hundreds of millions of dollars. According to a statement released by the Indian government, Israel will supply the Indian military with 16,479 Negev light machine guns, despite growing concerns over the health emergency facing the country of 1.3 billion people.
'The BJP’s Ghaziabad MLA has asked the police to shoot violators of the 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of the coronavirus. According to a report in the Deccan Herald, Nand Kishor Gurjar has also announced a cash reward of Rs 5,100 to every cop who shoots the violators. Calling the violators “traitors”, Gurjar said that “cops should break their legs….if they do not follow the orders then the police should shoot them in their legs’.’...'
