Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)

 has since become the country with the largest number of confirmed cases in all of Asia. This puts 

 which was an already dropping economy in a comprising position because in order to wrestle with the disease as big and as communicable as this the WHO suggested a method of total lockdown of the country and introduced the concept of social distancing to animals who are born to be “social“. Therefore the Indian state came up with a sudden lockdown with no prior warning and announcement by any state or any other organ of the government. The hours given to prepare the huge, mostly herd driven population into hibernation like state led to mass panic and immediate closing down of all the social and economic sectors of the society.

The pandemic led to the shutdown of all borders, be it the airways, the highways or rail, the closing down of liquor shops and bourgeois complexes that satisfied our trivial indulgences. But what was mostly affected by the sudden curfew was the left back economically weaker sections of the society, with almost no monetary backbone to support them through the process of social distancing. They were so publicly affected that the labor community or the migrants that were stuck in the metropolitan cities for the sake of their seasonal jobs became multimedia cuisine for the news/entertainment agencies. 

 took over the country with such a storm that the health care system had to readjust itself according to the needs of the pandemic. With continuously growing cases, the country had to gear up for mass hospitalization, for which 1.9 million hospital beds, 95 thousand ICU beds, and 48 thousand ventilators were made available both contributed by public and private sectors of healthcare. According to the 

 researchers, most of the beds and ventilators in 

 are concentrated in just the seven states – 

Uttar Pradesh (14.8%), Karnataka (13.8%), Maharashtra (12.2%), Tamil Nadu (8.1%), West Bengal (5.9%), Telangana (5.2%) and Kerala (5.2%).

 did try to use subtle stringent methods like the 

 and declaring the lockdown in phases and for shorter periods of time to help the population ease into the process of social distancing out of which the former was a strategic way of making the population think that they were holding the whip in controlling the coronavirus. It also created multiple portals to help the migrants, or the economically struggling parts of the Indian society like the 

. It also created events like banging the utensils and showering the healthcare workers with rose petals to keep up the spirit of the social distancing voters and after all these measures and methods used by the 

, it still failed to control the spread of the virus. One thing leading to another, India as of the month of July has come to a potential war like situation as it does in every economically threatening period of the Modi reign.

 report, there is a projected of the lowest economic growth in India’s history at -5.3% for the current fiscal. This becoming the sixth instance of contraction in India’s gross domestic product (GDP), the last such instance happened 40 years ago in fiscal 1979-80, which makes it a historical drop in the Indian economy. The economics of the country plays a very important part in the retrieval of the government for another term. If employment rate increases, the ratings of the government increase with it. If the layman connects the dots, he’ll find out that that the drop in the Indian economy started way before the pandemic reached 

 and the state was more than aware of it. The government could have easily gotten away with it, by outing the blame on the virus, if only t could have tackled it in a more systematic manner, but the atrocities on the migrants and poverty struck parts of the community, all this became more evident. Further stating that it is not only the economic but the social and domestic atmosphere of the country that deeps the fall in the rating of the leader.

The question that arises here is how does the state that would like to control the mass population for another term handle such a situation that threatens its legitimacy? The answer comes to us through the current news channels that have been broadcasting shows on War.

 land dispute dates back to 1962, but the manner in which it emerged again during these times of the pandemic creates a typical situation for a certain controversial foreign policy that is known as the diversionary theory. According to this theory the domestic issues that are prevalent in the nation lead to certain international policies. In easier terms it means when the position of a leader is threatened in the domestic scenario, the government often resorts to creating international situations that would create a sense of distraction from the prevailing environment. According to an unbiased and critical history of the Indian government, it is no stranger to such policies. It has often resorted to creating an aura of war to overcome the potential threat to its government.

The most appealing thing about war is that it creates a sense of unity against an out-group and tends to create a need for fraternity amongst the subjects. That is why terms of war are often used against situations that need immediate coming together. This is the reason why governments use such a strategy to get the rush of unity going in an otherwise struggling community.

Vulnerable leaders often tend to declare war or manufacture international conflicts in such times to garner more support and create a distraction from the issues that threaten his/her position. Various instances where such a policy has been used is often linked to western leaders connecting the 

Vietnam War (1963–1969), the Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991)

 etc to it. In fact amounts of literature have come to light to justify the existence of this strategy. So why should an Indian leader with massive need of popularity stay behind?

The need to answer the question of how a war becomes more important than a pandemic popped in my mind when I was surfing through news channels to look for a legitimate piece of information to help with a certain project, but all that is being broadcasted is the threat of potential War. Before there was any threat to the Indian claimed territory, the news was filled with corona virus pieces, the communal angle for the same and debates related to the same topic. The sudden shift from reporting the pandemic comes as no surprise to me because the news media is a propaganda portal for the government of 

. Where earlier the coronavirus dominated the scene, it seems that the government has found another way shifting blame and raising its popularity. The coverage of migrants, the needs of the healthcare workers, the growing cases of the virus seems to be of lesser importance now that a potential war has come along. But the timing of the war is what should be questioned, in a country that runs on the shoulders of Farmers and Laborers, seems to favor War more than the health of the aforementioned. In fact, the country that worships its soldiers pushes aside the threat to the same. This leads to the need of an inspection both of this highly militarized period where the war takes over a pandemic who are both equally important but one has more complex incentives than the other. Even though a nationwide unlock has started, the shift from the panic of pandemic to the panic of war seems suspiciously deliberate at least to the critic of the fascist politics. Is this really the time for aggression, exclusion and ultra nationalism that war promotes, or is this the time to question leadership? Nonetheless these times reminds me of a quotation by 

 (which is also linked with the divisionary theory):

“What this country needs is a short, victorious war to stem the tide of revolution.”

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of The Jamia Review or its members.

How the War Overshadows a Pandemic

 had morphed into a hot-spot of social and political reforms that were much needed in today’s democracy. The state had transformed into an open field of protests, propaganda and politics that were often aimed towards the ballots in the form of votes. These times were very significant in any election that involved India’s renowned political parties. Throughout the history of the rise of 

 we’ve encountered such volatile issues, find massive space on the ground. Be it the 

 issue, all have been taken up as pawns to pave the way for the saffron agenda. This is how the electoral politics of India goes about now. We are far from “simpler times” that were defined with just low economy, high farmer suicides and a knowledge hungry youth. Today the elections are lobbied by far right populists’ that jump at any opportunity of power.

Electoral Politics aims to identify the “trend” that runs in the electors demographic. It is a way of finding out the puncture point of the population. Elections in this context become a puppet in the hands of the leaders who identify themselves as part of the show. During the 2009 Elections the issues that were playing a major role in the voting process involved majority of the economic parts. Though caste and religion had a huge role they weren’t as prevalent as the former. The political atmosphere that had been emerging in the country had created an opposite environment for the recent elections. The economic issues had been sidelined while the country was fed with communal and biased narratives. While India fell into a severe economic slowdown, the youth and the working population were distracted with safforinised propagandas.

When these crucial years of the demographic dividend could be used to create a developmental growth in the global arena, few pluralists used the strategic feature to fuel their own power hungry bellies. As we saw in 

 protests had become a hot topic in the party rallies. The terms like 

 had been thrown at the crowded arenas to fire up the communal enthusiasms of the vulnerable men and women. The surprise visits by gunmen on protest scenes and the police junta with their unfazed attitude have become a common occurrence. These nothing short of horrendous ideas and party tricks that were put in the heads of the potential voters, ended up influencing their decisions. The thing that makes today’s parties (be it 

) smart is that they understand the psychological factors that go into the voting system of India and how the game of influence works on an otherwise politically inactive society. The 

 is in fact a product of the same but bigger political game.

 had proven to be the pressure point for the recent elections. It incited both the far right activists and the left leaning politicians to involve themselves in the scene. The different ways that 

 was portrayed by either of the sides to the rest of the population, became a vote bank strategy. The attempt to put the “

 in the saffron atmosphere of the country, hands off showed the strategies used by the political parties of 

. Issues like dropping economy, high unemployment and illiteracy got no chance to be a priority in a country where communalism and pseudo-patriotism takes shelter.

 is nothing short of a dystopian movie, where men are treated as a flock of sheep. They are fed hatred and taught the malady of “

, Identity had played a major role in not only mobilizing a certain section of the sleeping society but also creating a surrounding of insecurity for a pawned majority. The Underpaid failed to understand the politics that make-up the elections of such a vast country because of a saffron tie around their eyes. In truth, it isn’t the question of who wins in the elections but a question of how long can the so called leaders play with the structurally deprived people in the name of vote bank politics. The present cannot be ignored while trying to make history. It is therefore imperative to take note of the puppeteers and cut the strings off as soon as it’s found.

Electoral Politics in the Capital

I’ve put a picture of democracy in front of me; it’s your average mature lady, painted in different shades, holding a sickle in one hand and thresher in another. She has eyes encircled with black charcoal; if you look closer it becomes a beggars bowl, held out in anticipation. Outside my hostel room, it’s a mixture of cold and chaos. Our professors, seniors or any “scholars” for that matter have left the campus in the hands of this miscellaneous atmosphere. Education has taken a pause. But I have questions to ask outside of my lecture hall, I have thoughts emerging in my mind during these politically volatile times that need to be attended to. So I have decided to have a conversation with this lady in front of my eyes; A dialogue of sorts.

“Who do you represent?” She asks me. I tell her “The truth”, both my answer and assertion. We look at each other with suspicious eyes, as history has taught us both to see this way. She settles her brows slowly into wedged tension less lines. So I go on with my questions, I tell her I have been alone. I have grown to see borders and barbed wires between houses of the common and the uniformed. She tells me “but barbed wires keep out intruders”. I sigh and let her know that they come at us with such sharp lines to keep our foot from stepping into their territories. “Oh you must be carrying an unsafe object in your hands, your feet must be ridden with blades?” She tells me. “No” I reply. “We only come holding papers in our hands, an old revolutionary’s poetry on our lips.” “What do you point at them then?” she naively asks me and I tell her “our chests”.

She sees my hand rolled into a fist and asks me how as a student I hold a pen? “We don’t write often anymore” I tell her. “It is a ball of fear that I am holding inside of my hands, a slogan pitched at me from a reddened path by my comrades taking shelter from canisters of gas. We’ve all held it in” I whisper to her. Democracy eyes me down, funnels her words into a well known phrase. “Oh but they protect you. They wear our lands khaki on their shoulders; they would never betray any color of the flag” “The flag’s being repainted” I tell her. She refuses to hear the color. Democracy sits in silence with me, I offer her tea, as she tells me her throat is dry. I push aside my sketches of Kashmir to let her breathe a little. Democracy feels anxious in my hostel room.

“Why did you call me here?” She jabs at me. “To ask questions” I soothingly reply. “Be done with it then” The uneasy democracy says to me. So I grab my phone and use it to show her my modernly acquired evidences. Her charcoal circles shut themselves up at the sight of broken heads and blinded eyes. “They can be doctored” and as she says this I no longer feel surprised at democracy, she has given in too, her words have too been thrown into the machine and sieved through carefully vandalized thoughts. So I with all my years old sigh, ask her one last time “Who does democracy protect anymore?” She slowly crawls back into the 6×6 canvas lying unorganized on my desk.

In my quest to find the answers, democracy too falls short. There is a slight murmur in the air tonight again, that we’ll be going to sleep unprotected in our hostel rooms. That lathis and khakis are no longer peaceful. They can barge in anytime. I lay back in my rectangular bed too short for me to fit in and look at my poorly painted democracy with the same questions in both our eyes- “Who protects us anymore?”

Department of English, Jamia MIllia Islamia

A Midnight Consultation

I have a confession to make to my readers; it is that I have a rather pessimistic approach to life. I look at the glass as half empty with just a few gulps of water left. In fact the seasons depress me. They are a constant reminder of how things end after robbing you of either the warmth of the sun, the sweet cold of winter or the crippling leaves. This pessimism of mine doesn’t only come from the fact that half my genes are highly and actively negative but it also is boosted by my place of birth and I give credit where credit is due.
There is a way pessimism is spread. It is more like a spirit that you pour all over and then light a small matchstick to put everything to fire. If you ask us, the agents of pessimism, we’ll tell you that we have embedded ourselves in this society just like the spirit gets soaked up in objects and all we ever need to flame up is a tiny little spark. Thanks to our country and its secret allegiance to this school of thought, it has provided many matchsticks to help spread the order, further into the nooks and corners of the society where people still have the ability to raise the flags of peace and happiness. The biggest agents that we have amongst us are not the ministers who go up on the podium to spread the word of selective positivity, no. but in actuality are the fierce, bold and loud men and women you see on your television screens every evening after a tiring day of work. Their coarse voice plays a soothing tune in your head, while their pointy gestures virtually massage the tense tendons of your body and slowly when you fall asleep on your couch, their speeches about hate and regress crawls up in your subconscious mind and takes over the whole system. These are the top tier journalists, the want to be top tiers and the straight up copy cats. The biggest factor to pushing people towards pessimism is concealing the truth from them and this job that is being well done by the journalists of our country, actually if you think about it, this is the only job they are doing.

Our society/state has created a profession that not only spreads negativity but aims to tackle the leftover effects of positivity by covering up any marks of it. These agents get to play an off putting story, create fraudulent news or sensationalize feelings of hate and remorse to keep people from seeing the truth. Now my dear readers, when we are talking about the truth here we refer to the propaganda that is being spread through the passage of pessimism. In this country, journalism which was supposed to be a remarkable profession of truth and virtue has resorted to the fundaments of 

. Every news channel aims to woo the viewers who have already fallen through the rabbit hole of negativity. Instead of helping them take their blind folds off, these journalists further darken their visions by creating a series of news that diverts the viewers attention from real issues for example 

even after over 100 days of communication blackout in Kashmir, no news media did any form of coverage for this crucial piece, instead chose to air the false stories of “normalcy returning to the streets of the valley”

. In fact some of the rebellious journalists, who wanted to represent the realities of the state, were barred from even visiting the place. This proves the importance of censorship in spreading this idea, where people believe that bad things must have the upper hand, and good is more than often neglected.

Journalists have a huge influence, when it comes to selling an idea to the people of a country. These are the representatives of the reality. So when the reality is altered in such a manner that it only benefits a singular part of a diverse society, the whole scheme becomes toxic. If we switch our televisions on right now, we’ll most definitely find at least three journalists trying to sell propaganda and cheating the news by presenting an irrelevant story about things that hardly matter. The contemporary journalists have become so self-centered that they wish to create an image of themselves that fits in with the popular nationalist-hardcore-puppet of the government criteria. People are afraid of going against the pessimistic approach of the country. Where journalists, who were rather great orators like 

, have given themselves over wholly to the state, could’ve helped in pulling the majority out of the pits of pessimism. But unfortunately like all things, they too went to waste. Due to this phenomenon of selling what will sell the best instead what would be a better thing to do, the journalism of India has lost its legitimacy. It has become an entertainment industry that runs on the orders of a state. A democracy that should separate the media from the state has therefore transformed itself into a government that merged both of the things so roughly, that neither of the institutions can be trusted anymore. It became the biggest factor in creating a negative air that surrounds our country now and my dear sorry readers; I feel that all of us slowly are breathing the same thing that intoxicates our knowledge, approach and ideas. Oh all I can say is that I hope that God saves us all but first detaches the whip of control from the skin of the journalists where they’ll be free and help us free ourselves from the quicksand of pessimism that is devouring our country.

Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia

Articles by Babra Shafiqi

How the War Overshadows a Pandemic

Electoral Politics in the Capital

A Midnight Consultation

The Agents of Pessimism in the State of Control

How the War Overshadows a Pandemic

Electoral Politics in the Capital

A Midnight Consultation

The Agents of Pessimism in the State of Control