Maharashtra lockdown: Journalists and ‘celebs’ who cried hoarse on the migrant disaster final yr are actually silent

As Maharashtra witnesses a resurgent second wave of COVID-19 outbreak, with each day coronavirus caseloads touching a brand new excessive, there’s a palpable sense of panic set in among the many migrant inhabitants that was arguably the worst-hit by the pandemic when it began in March final yr. There is rising anxiousness among the many migrant labour within the metropolis as they queue up at varied bus stands and railway stations to board buses and trains to get again to their native locations earlier than the imposition of an inevitable lockdown.
After braving a tumultuous yr, the migrant laborers had been again in Mumbai to choose up their lives as soon as once more that had been upended by the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. As it seems, their reduction was short-lived as Mumbai and different components of Maharashtra are once more underneath lockdown-like restrictions, in a bid to cease the inexorable unfold of the coronavirus.
With new restrictions kicking in right now in Maharashtra, migrant staff are queuing up exterior railway stations in Mumbai to get out of town. @Shilparanipeta studies from two of Mumbai’s busiest railway stations. pic.twitter.com/lR5xIR3hi6— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) April 6, 2021
Several studies declare that migrant labourers are leaving Mumbai, Pune and different components of Maharashtra for his or her native locations, fearing a second spherical of full lockdown within the state. Numerous migrant staff had flocked to CST and LTT stations in Mumbai to board a prepare again to their villages earlier than they’re caught within the lockdown. Similar is the situation in Pune, the place the hoteliers affiliation claimed that fifty per cent of the migrant staff within the metropolis had been planning to return.
Crusaders who pledged assist for migrant disaster stay silent over the migrant exodus in Maharashtra
This exodus of migrant labourers is paying homage to the disaster that was struck final yr when hundreds of thousands of migrant staff streamed on the highway to hoof it over to their native locations. During that point, the media, the journalists and plenty of others went into overdrive to outrage over the central authorities’s choice of imposing a complete lockdown, following which hundreds of migrant staff had been seen strolling on foot to their villages.
Scores of journalists, outstanding personalities with left bias had spoken incessantly on this exodus. Many of the privileged journalists and eminent people even ran a Twitter marketing campaign “#MeTooMigrant as a mark of solidarity for the migrants and to empathise with their sufferings. Extensive campaigns had been run to spotlight the plight of the migrant labourers and to power the federal government to undertake reduction measures for them.
By distinction, the exodus that’s presently underway in Mumbai, Pune and different components of Maharashtra has not obtained as a lot consideration because it deserves. The crusaders who had vowed to struggle for the migrant labourers final yr have conveniently turned a blind eye to the tribulations suffered by the migrant labourers in Maharashtra.
None of the voices who had passionately slammed the Modi authorities for the migrant disaster then has voiced their concern on the exodus of migrants now. The migrants are left to fend for themselves because the very individuals who fell over themselves to champion their trigger final yr have displayed an keen alacrity to fawn over Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray for his “exceptional” dealing with of the coronavirus.
Propagandists flip a blind eye to migrant exodus as they reward Uddhav Thackeray for his “exceptional” dealing with of COVID-19 disaster
As Maharashtra noticed an alarming spike within the coronavirus circumstances, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray convened a press convention final week to announce measures to curb the unfold. However, removed from asserting any credible motion to be taken to cease the unfold of the coronavirus, Thackeray hinted at bringing strict lockdown if the scenario persists.
Soon after his handle, the left-leaning journalists reworked themselves into cheerleaders of the Maharashtra authorities, which is beset by difficulties within the wake of the Antilia bomb scare and Rs 100 crores per thirty days vasooli case.
The journalists sang paeans to Uddhav Thackeray, hailing him as a pacesetter who “spoke from his heart”, was “honest” and had “empathy” for the folks, even because the coronavirus disaster continued to exacerbate and the state continued to be the highest contributor to the entire variety of caseloads within the nation.
Source: TwitterMaharashtra is within the throes of a raging coronavirus disaster, with the variety of caseloads growing at an alarming charge. However, the deteriorating scenario within the state was a non-issue for the left propagandists as they lavished praises on Uddhav Thackeray for merely conducting a press convention on the COVID-19 disaster.
The left-leaning journalists have additionally been silent on the putting revelations which have come to the fore within the Sachin Vaze case and the explosive allegations of corruption levelled by the previous high cop Param Bir Singh in opposition to the previous Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
Vaze was embroiled within the Antilia Bomb scare case and the loss of life of Mansukh Hiren, the particular person whose automotive laden with explosives was discovered exterior the residence of Mukesh Ambani. Vaze is believed to be near Shiv Sena and he was restated into the police power after Uddhav Thackeray-led authorities got here into energy. It is alleged that Sachin Vaze was concerned within the homicide of Mansukh Hiren. However, the left-leaning journalists have studiously averted questioning the Maha Vikas Aghadi authorities on the problem.
As the case spiralled, the previous Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that then Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had requested Sachin Vaze to gather Rs 100 crores per thirty days from enterprise institutions within the metropolis. Even the lodge homeowners in Mumbai had admitted that they had been harassed by Sachin Vaze for extortion. The Supreme Court ordered a CBI inquiry into the allegations and the Maharashtra Home Minister needed to submit his resignation. But, as a substitute of searching for accountability from the Maharashtra authorities, the propagandists had been busing lauding the chief minister for organising a press convention.
Just a day after Thackeray’s press convention the place he instructed that strict curbs is perhaps enforced and introduced the weekend curfews, a report revealed in Cricbuzz stated that the Maharashtra authorities had granted its permission to the BCCI to go forward with the scheduled IPL matches in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium.
The choice sparked outrage amongst netizens who referred to as out the Maharashtra authorities’s duplicity on putting curbs for native institutions whereas permitting IPL to proceed uninterrupted. However, as anticipated, the left-leaning journalists and eminent personalities didn’t see any benefit in outraging over the Maha Vikas Aghadi authorities’s hypocrisy.
Additionally, an investigation was carried out by Mid-day to find out the reason for the disproportionate rise within the variety of COVID-19 circumstances in Maharashtra. The investigation discovered gross irregularities on the a part of BMC officers deployed on the Mumbai worldwide airport, who reportedly took bribes to let worldwide fliers escape their necessary quarantine.
Champions of migrant disaster busy in salvaging embattled Maha Vikas Aghadi authorities in Maharashtra
However, these incriminating information did nothing to shake the unwavering devotion of cheerleaders to the Thackeray authorities. Since the information that underscore the bungled dealing with of the Maharashtra authorities coronavirus outbreak didn’t trigger them to query Uddhav Thackeray, it’s profoundly silly for one to anticipate that the anguish and agony of the migrant labourers would transfer the propagandists into holding the Maharashtra authorities accountable.
In 2020, these propagandists indulged in ‘scavenger activism’, feeding on the sufferings of the helpless migrants, as a canopy to slam the Modi authorities. Their reluctance in taking over the cudgel for the migrant labourers now betrays their precise motive in co-opting the problem. The major purpose, it appears, was to make use of the problem to color the Modi authorities in a foul mild and spark a nationwide marketing campaign in opposition to the central authorities. However, as is the case with them often, their marketing campaign boomeranged as PM Modi emerged out with the best approval scores ever since he got here to energy in 2014.
A yr later, in 2021, when the nation was on the verge of rising out of the disaster, solely to be pushed again once more, on account of the inept dealing with of the COVID-19 outbreak in Maharashtra, the leftist vultures now see no benefit in outraging over the sufferings of the migrant labourers. Instead, they’re now extra occupied with salvaging the Maharashtra authorities that’s quickly circling the drain and going through an existential disaster.