Amidst the ongoing turmoil in the Punjab Congress, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday met and had lunch with his ministers, Congress MLAs and other senior party leaders belonging to the urban areas of the state at his official residence. During this, about 35 senior Congress leaders, including 6 ministers, were present.

Although this meeting is being called to discuss the development works including the problems of the urban area and their solutions, in the eyes of the political experts, this meeting was a show of strength by the Captain. This meeting is being seen in connection with the intensification in the politics of Punjab after the meeting of MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi last Wednesday.

However, after the meeting, the Chief Minister tweeted that he had fruitful discussions with senior Congress colleagues of urban areas. He said that their feedback was taken to strengthen the party at the grassroots level.

According to the information, Ministers Brahm Mahindra, O.P. Soni, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Vijay Inder Singla, Sundar Shama Arora, MLA Raj Kumar Verka, Punjab Mandi Board Chairman Lal Singh, among others, were present in the meeting. Former minister Ashwani Sekhri also attended the meeting, regarding whom there were speculations about joining the SAD a few days ago.

However, according to political analysts, through this meeting the Chief Minister has tried to hit many targets with one arrow. In their opinion, by meeting with the ministers and leaders of the urban area, he sent a strong message that the Hindu leadership cannot be ignored, if there was a change in the organisational structure of the party. At the same time, he has given a message to the opposition camp about his hold over the party and the government.=

The Election Commission is thinking of holding by-elections in Uttarakhand and West Bengal in the next two months, as per constitutional provisions and requirements, sources have told The Daily Guardian. The election schedule may be announced by the end of this month or early next month.

Tirath Rawat, who replaced Trivendra Singh Rawat as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 10 March, is the Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal. But to continue as chief minister, he will have to resign from the Lok Sabha and get elected to the state Vidhan Sabha. Tirath Rawat’s deadline ends on 10 September.

According to the Constitution, leaders who are not members of the legislature can be appointed as ministers, but they will have to secure legislative membership within six months of being sworn in, or lose the position.

Last week, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the bypolls to six assembly seats in the state could be held within seven days as the Covid-19 situation is under control. She had alleged that the Election Commission of India is waiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s approval to hold the bypolls.

Banerjee said in the secretariat that if that is so, then “I will ask the Prime Minister to give his approval. The situation is fine now, but if the third wave of the pandemic comes, you cannot do anything.” She said, “We are waiting (for the decision of the Election Commission) to conduct the by-election as soon as possible because the situation of Covid-19 is completely under control. That’s why I think they can conduct elections in seven days. There is no need to give that much time to the candidates.”

The Trinamool Congress came to power in Bengal for the third time, but Banerjee herself was defeated by Suvendu Adhikari from the Nandigram Assembly seat. Although she has challenged this defeat in the High Court, according to the rules of the Constitution, she can remain CM only for six months without being elected as an MLA. In such a situation, an early by-election is necessary.

By-elections are pending in Khardah, Samsherganj, Jangipur, Shantipur, Bhawanipur, Dinhata and Gosaba Assembly seats in West Bengal. After being defeated in Nandigram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is now preparing to contest the by-election from Bhawanipur, sources said. Recently, Mamata Banerjee’s minister Shobhandev Chattopadhyay had resigned from the post of MLA of the Bhawanipur Assembly seat. That Assembly seat is also vacant. It is believed that the CM will contest the by-election from Bhawanipur itself.

Addressing doctors on the occasion of National Doctors’ Day on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that doctors are “another form of God”, as they can give a “new life” whether one is a victim of some disease or accident.

Referring to the violence against the health workers during the ongoing pandemic, the PM reiterated the Centre’s commitment towards the safety of doctors and announced that the government is providing free insurance cover to all Covid warriors. “The government is committed to safeguarding our doctors. Last year, we brought in several provisions against crimes against doctors. We are also providing free insurance cover to our Covid warriors,” he said.

The PM said that the way “our doctors have served the country is an example in itself. I express my gratitude to all the doctors on behalf of 130 crore Indians”.

The PM said at a time when the country is fighting the corona virus infection, doctors have saved millions of lives by working hard day and night. While doing this virtuous work, many doctors of the country have laid down their lives, the PM said. He paid tribute to doctors who lost their lives.

The Prime Minister said that his government has doubled the healthcare sector budget. PM Modi said that this year, the budget allocation for the health sector has been more than doubled i.e. more than Rs two lakh crore. “Now we have come up with a credit guarantee scheme of Rs 50,000 crore to strengthen health infrastructure in areas where there is a lack of health facilities.”

He said that till 2014, there were only six AIIMS in the country; work on 15 new AIIMS has started in the past seven years. The number of medical colleges has also increased by about one-and-a-half times. In a short span of time, there has been an increase of more than one-and-a-half times in undergraduate seats; also, there has been an increase of 80% in PG seats.

Meanwhile, PM Modi also mentioned yoga, and said: “Another good thing we have seen is that people from the medical fraternity have come forward to spread awareness about yoga. The work which should have been done in the last century after independence to propagate yoga, is being done now.”

Earlier on Thursday, PM Modi tweeted, “On Doctors’ Day, my greetings to all doctors. India’s strides in the world of medicine are commendable and have contributed to making our planet healthier.”

WITH AGENCY INPUTS

In a big win for India, nine European countries have cleared Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, amid a row over vaccines accepted for a “Green Passport” allowing free travel in the region. These countries include Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Estonia and Switzerland.

Under the Green Passport, people who have received vaccines authorised by the European Medical Agency (EMA) will be exempted from travel restrictions inside the 27-member European Union. The EMA, the EU’s top medical body, has approved only four vaccines so far and Covishield and Covaxin are not on the list.

The induction of Covishield in the Green Passport has come as a major respite for many Indians wanting to go to Europe. The European Union has started the Green Pass system from 1 July.

However, the EU has made it clear that “member states may decide to extend this (the certificate) also to EU travellers that received another vaccine”.

Under these rules, Indians, who have been inoculated with Covishield or Covaxin, may be subject to quarantine if they travel to the EU nations, unless these vaccines are cleared by the respective countries.

The softening in EU’ stance may be attributed to displeasure shown by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) over travel hassles faced by Indians in the pandemic era.  

On Wednesday, sources in the MEA said that India will begin a reciprocal policy when it comes to exemption from quarantine. This would mean that unless the European Union accepts those vaccinated with Covishield and Covaxin, people from the EU will also face mandatory quarantine upon arrival in India.

India’s first approved Covid vaccine, Covishield, is manufactured in India by Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine maker. Covishield was approved by the Central government for emergency use in February. Of the three vaccines available so far, India has inoculated the maximum number of people with Covishield only. So far, out of the total 33 crore jabs given in the country, the Covishield vaccine has been administered to more than 28 crore people.

On the other hand, Covaxin, India’s only indigenous vaccine, has not yet received WHO approval. Therefore, it has not applied for EMA authorisation. Sputnik V and Moderna are the other two vaccines which are approved for use in India and by the WHO.

In the meantime, new Covid-19 cases saw another jump on Thursday with 48,786 more people testing positive in the last 24 hours, said the Union health ministry. The number stood at 45,951 the previous day. With the addition of new infections, the cumulative tally has reached 30,411,634. Further, the number of new fatalities has gone upwards too as 1,005 succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours. The death toll due to coronavirus in India now stands at 399,459.

On the brighter side, daily recoveries outnumbered fresh infections for the 49th day straight with 61,588 people getting discharged between Wednesday and Thursday. This took the total number of discharges to 2,94,88,918. As a result, the active tally has fallen to 5,23,257, declining by 13,807 and constitutes 1.72% of the total infections.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS

On Thursday, China celebrated 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On this occasion, The Daily Guardian talked to Gautam Bambawale, former Indian Ambassador to China, Pakistan and Bhutan, who spent 15 years of his 34-year diplomatic career dealing with China. He served as the Indian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2018. He had previously served as the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan. Excerpts:

Q: It’s the 100th anniversary of the CCP and mega celebrations have been planned by them across the country. Should they really be celebrating?

A: If we look at the history of the Chinese Communist Party, it was founded on 1 July 1921 and they came to power through a civil war over with the nationalists on 1 October 1949. That time, China was a poor and backward country; now after 70 plus years, China is the second largest economy of the world, the living standards of people there have improved tremendously; so there is some reason from the Chinese perspective to celebrate.

Q: What do you think is CCP’s real report card in the past 100 years? Shouldn’t the party be remembered for its suppressions, be it in Tibet or the Cultural Revolution massacres or the Vietnam War?

A: It did happen under the watch of the CCP. Mao Zedong himself unleashed the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s and as a result of the policies of the Communist Party, almost 20 million Chinese are estimated to have died in that period. There is also suppression and repression in Tibet and Xinjiang, Today, Hong Kong is going through a very difficult time. On the economics side, China has done well under the party; where freedom of people is concerned, where freedom to practice religion and one’s own culture is concerned, the record has been quite bad.

Q: We hardly get to know what is happening in China since the media there is state controlled, but there have been reports of protests in several parts of China in some media portals. You having held office in Beijing, can you help us understand the real ground situation there?

A: With CCP, it’s a one-party system; there are no other parties; no periodic elections like we have in democratic countries like India. It’s the Communist party which rules with an iron fist. One aspect of that iron fist is complete control over media over what is conveyed in newspapers, magazines, television and radio to the people of China. CCP has complete control; they play their own tunes, sing their own praises, thus it is difficult to understand what’s happening in China today. Of course, the situation is slightly different depending on the difference is social media; though social media is also fully controlled in China by the Communist party, sometimes something gets out which gives you an indication about the mood of the people in China, and the concerns of the people in China. It is difficult to understand, but with social media today, we are able to see through the iron curtains to some extent.

Q: What do you think the CCP is trying to do in East Turkestan with the Uyghurs?

A: The Uyghurs are Muslims and there is problem in what is called Xinjiang province of China towards East Turkistan. There is very little doubt that there are a large number of local Uyghurs who are in internment camps, who are in prison etc. There is crackdown and repression which is taking place. Some Western media have been able to report on it. Chinese iron curtains have descended and very little is known about what is happening there, though we do know that there is heavy hand that is being used in Xinjiang. 

Q: How do you think India’s response to China has been at the LAC? What is your assessment of the situation?

A: The strategic India-China standoff at the LAC is a very serious situation and not similar to all the other border standoffs that we had like, one in 2013, 2014, even in 2017 when we had Doklam crisis. This is different because of the fact that the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army, has brought in several divisions of their soldiers and troops along with tanks and artillery and heavy armor weapons etc. This is not only a military affair, there is a military angle to it, but it goes far beyond that, the Chinese are trying to show that they are the biggest power in Asia and other countries, including India, should just understand the situation and accept it.

In 1980, the size of economies of India and China was roughly the same and now, China’s economy is five times bigger than India. It’s not merely economic size or GDP; this also reflects in their military preparedness, in technology, in science, in education and so on… So there is a huge asymmetry or gap between India and China and that is the main factor that has enabled the Chinese to do what they are doing in East Ladakh. Our military responses have been very brave and we, to a certain extent, blocked the Chinese military from moving forward. But in the long term, I am afraid, India needs to look really carefully at itself, we need to reduce this asymmetry in economy, technology, military etc with China for which we need to look at the domestic level. We need to grow the economy at a much faster pace, at least 8-9 percent per annum, and reduce the asymmetry with China. It is something that is going to test India’s nerve, India’s determination, but with the right policies, India is capable of achieving high levels of economic growth and in the long term, we can reduce this asymmetry between the two.

Q: Please tell us about Xi Jinping. What do you think he is trying to do?

A: Xi Jinping has accumulated most of the power in the Chinese system; he’s now more in the mold of Mao Zedong than in the mold of more recent leaders, when there was very easy and clear cut transfer of powers like from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao and from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping himself. So, he has accumulated a lot of powers in his hands, but what he has done with that power is he has not only decentralised political power, but also economic power. Why has China succeeded economically; why is it the second largest economy in the world next to the United States? There had been great decentralisation of economic decision making and economic power. Decentralising power may have a negative impact on China’s growth; we have to wait and see how this decentralisation of economic power in the hands of the party and state-owned enterprises, and public sector undertakings plays out. People like Jack Ma are themselves a product of change in China. This decentralisation is going back to the old ways of behaving and doing things and may be negative and detrimental to China’s growth.

Q: Is China finding it difficult to control resentment in Hong Kong, Tibet, East Turkestan or southern Mongolia, or has the CCP been completely successful in suppressing these voices?

A: These are all aspects of China aggressiveness, its assertiveness not only outside China, be it in its neighborhood like in the border with India or in the South China Sea, but within China’s periphery too in Xinjiang, in Hong Kong etc. In China, within the Communist party, the challenge to the leader comes from within the party itself; so the next few years, we have to watch China carefully to see whether there is any possibility of a challenge coming from within the party to the leadership of Xi Jinping. I think there’s a possibility that may happen, especially because many other people in the party have either faced a crackdown or put into jail for corruption charges etc. Whether Xi Jinping is able to maintain his control over the Communist Party or some other leader rises to challenge his leadership and challenge him is something that is in the realm of a future scenario.

On the day CCP celebrates its 100 years of founding, Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa appeared for a special broadcast “Real CCP Report Card” narrating horrific stories from Xinjiang.

Q: Tell us about the reality of the Chinese Communist Party that everyone must know.

A: Well, today is CCP 100 years, but it is the mourning day for Tibetians, Mongolia, and Chinese civilians. Since they came into power in 1949, the China’s Communist Party has continually committed crimes. Although much has changed in China for Tibet, for the Mongolian people, nothing has changed for the better. Through systematic discrimination of language, culture, religion, the CCP has continually attempted to erode the identity of all these people. Today, China and the Chinese government have pointed to the economic growth as a vindication for the CCP and the past century but, rights, and the freedom of the people living under this regime, have been suppressed significantly. CCP is the world’s most powerful criminal organization supported by the state. It is responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people, including Chinese people Tibetan widows. In the last 100 years, not only has the CCP committed genocide against Uyghurs and the cultural aspirations in Tibet, and Mongolian people, destroyed democracy in Hong Kong and threatened the national sovereignty of Iran, but also today CCP is threatening global democracy, human rights and international human rights system and international law. So that’s why I would like to say CCP crimes must be held accountable by the international justice system.

Q: Could you shed some more light on the ethnic cleansing that is being witnessed here. And if you could give us these gory details of the genocide, that is happening in Xinjiang at the hands of the CCP?

A: Today is the 21st-century, but the Chinese Communist Party Chinese government committed genocide against the Uyghurs. Most of them are suffering in the concentration camps. And were subject to forced labour and forced sterilisation and family separation. More than 1 million illegal children are separated from the family and in name of indoctrination are targeting the identity and changing names and showing loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping. The religious persecution is unbelievable.

Even what you see, what you eat, what you drink, what you talk about everything, is determined by the CCP government. I could hardly get access to my parents, and my family members. I got the very heartbreaking news of my mother who died in a concentration camp. My younger brother is sentenced to life.

Q: How long have you been in exile and currently, where do you inhabit? You think the CCP is targeting your family because you are speaking out against them at the international forum?

A: I’m living in exile since 1994, more than 27 years. For 27 years, I have never seen my family members. I’m living in Germany since 1996 for more than 25 years. I’m a German citizen, but the Chinese government never allows us to go abroad. Because of my activism, my family is paying such a price, you know. CCP is the biggest criminal organization.

Q: The Chinese Communist Party is obviously forcing the minority communities across Mainland China to toe the party line and therefore, it is going good and picking out officials from Xingjian as well as honouring them for quote-unquote “battling separatism” and “encouraging” loyalty to the CCP.

A: From time to time, the CCP and Xi Jinping try to get information, and campaign to try, cheat and confuse the internationally, but it is too late today. Today it is very clear that Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party are committing crimes, they commit genocide and crimes against humanity.

Q: What do you think needs to be done at the international level to hold China and the CCP accountable, keeping in mind that several other international communities and developed nations, the European Union nations, United States, Australia, they›ve all come out in support of the minorities living there?

A: CCP must be held accountable by the international justice system but, unfortunately, China is not a member of the International Criminal Court. That’s why it is not fighting, and the International Court for Justice should get approved by the UN Security Council. Today, quite a lot of western countries invest and continue to do business in China. I told you already that China’s government points to this economic growth as an indication of the success of the CCP. That’s why all business must be stopped with China. China and CCP must be held accountable as they commit crimes and all human beings, particularly democratic nations, should stand together, set up a coalition, and speak in one voice against the CCP. The Chinese government has also manipulated the UN system and has a monopoly there.