Lockdown-hit Indian farmers take protest over state capital relocation plan online

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Farmers protesting in small group to avoid the spread of coronavirus. Many farmers have donated their lands in the hope of reaping the gains of having a high tech capital in their midst but now they are facing existential crisis. (Supplied)
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Farmers sit whole day long outside their houses demanding the restoration of Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh. (Supplied)
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The farmers’ protests have taken a new virtual shape with majority of the illiterate farmers have learnt the tricks of social media and are using Zoom sessions to connect with around 30,000 farmers who donated lands for the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. On the completion of 200th day of protest farmers connected through Zoom sessions not only with their local fellows but also with more than 100,000 non resident fellow Telugu settled in 35 countries. (Supplied)
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Updated 27 July 2020
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Lockdown-hit Indian farmers take protest over state capital relocation plan online

  • Andhra Pradesh growers, many of them illiterate, use power of social media to rally global support during virus pandemic

NEW DELHI: Nearly 30,000 Indian farmers, the majority of them illiterate, have taken to social media to protest against relocation plans for the state capital of Andhra Pradesh (AP).

Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and social-distancing measures, thousands of growers from the southeast Indian state have had no choice but to go online, many for the first time, in order to continue their demonstrations.

Using Facebook and Twitter, they have been rallying global support for their objection to proposals for a decentralized three-city capital for the state instead of original plans to build a new high-tech center in Amaravati.

“Circumstances forced us to weaponize our mobile phones and social media sites and use them to protest against the AP government’s decision to shift the capital from Amaravati,” said P. Bava Sudhakar, of the Amaravati farmers’ joint action committee (JAC).

He told Arab News that farmers from 29 villages in AP’s Amaravati district had been protesting for the past 223 days against the local government’s decision. Up until March they had been organizing sit-in demonstrations and rallies to press for their demands but had to rethink their protest strategy after a nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25 over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Villagers had learnt to use video communication apps such as Zoom to organize conferences and share grievances with supporters around the world.

In 2014, AP was divided into two separate states – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – with a plan for Telangana to keep Hyderabad as its capital while AP would have a new capital by 2024.

AP’s previous local government zeroed in on centrally located Amaravati and thousands of farmers donated their land for the construction of the new capital which would have been built with the support of Singapore companies.

However, Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was elected to office last May, decided to cancel the project calling it “too ambitious and an unnecessary expense for a debt-ridden state.”

In December, Reddy instead announced plans to create three capitals, with the coastal city of Vishakapatnam to be the executive capital with all government offices, Kurnool to become the judicial capital, with courts, and Amaravati to be the legislative capital.

“The earlier government pegged the estimated cost of building Amaravati’s basic infrastructure at 1,090 billion rupees ($14.5 billion), while the spending capacity of any state government is only 5 billion rupees. At 10 percent of the estimated cost, we can develop places that already have basic infrastructure into capitals,” he had said in the assembly in December.

Since then, thousands of farmers have been demanding a rollback of the decision.

One of them, Pudota Sneha, 22, of Pedaparimi village, near Amaravati was helping her illiterate mother master the use of social media.

“We had three acres of land, and we gave two acres for the building of the capital with the hope that we would be part of the development of the new high-tech city. Now my family is left with just one acre of land, which is not adequate to live and earn,” she told Arab News.

Sneha said her mom had joined countless others on the 200th day of the protests when farmers held a Zoom session with expatriate Telugus in 35 other countries.

Another protester, Sudhakar, who donated 12 acres of land, said: “The idea is to organize opinion of fellow Telugus worldwide and put together a joint campaign against the AP government’s decision to annul the capital project.

“We have at least 100 million Telugu speakers worldwide, and they are all emotionally attached to their motherland. They are also unhappy with the government’s decision.”

The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of AP has described the chief minister’s move as “vendetta politics.”

TDP spokesperson, Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy, told Arab News: “The decision to make Amaravati the capital was taken after the recommendation of a committee and after proper survey. People came out openly to support the project and gave their land without any dispute. But the chief minister (Reddy) is guided by narrow political vision.”

Analysts said that the issue had now become more complicated. “Political rivalry has got in the way of the development of a new capital,” AP-based political analyst, Sreedharan Jayaram, told Arab News.

“The farmers gave their lands in the larger interests of the nation, but politics has put paid to their hopes. The livelihoods of many farmers are now at stake. This is not good for the development of the state and its people,” he added.


Belgian agency aid worker dies in Gaza — minister

Updated 7 min 23 sec ago
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Belgian agency aid worker dies in Gaza — minister

BRUSSELS: An aid worker who was part of Belgium’s development aid efforts in the Gaza Strip died in an Israeli strike on Rafah, the country’s development minister, Caroline Gennez, said on Thursday.
“It is with deep sadness and horror that we learn of the death of our colleague Abdallah Nabhan (33) and his seven-year-old son Jamal, last night, following a bombardment by the Israeli army in the eastern part of the city of Rafah,” the minister said in a statement.
Nabhan, whose nationality was not disclosed, worked for the Enabel agency, assisting small businesses.
The statement said at least seven people were killed by the strike on a building that housed about 25 people, including displaced people from other parts of the Gaza Strip occupied by Israeli forces following an attack on Israel by Hamas last October.
“The indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians goes against every international and humanitarian law and the rules of war,” Gennez said.


Ukraine, Russia exchange fire, at least seven dead

Updated 16 min 56 sec ago
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Ukraine, Russia exchange fire, at least seven dead

  • The uptick in civilian deaths came as Russian forces are pressing in hard in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine
  • A Ukrainian attack drone left two dead in Zaporizhzhia and two more were killed by Ukranian artillery fire in Kherson

MOSCOW: Ukrainian and Russian forces exchanged drone and artillery fire on Thursday, leaving at least seven dead, regional officials on both sides of the frontline announced.
The uptick in civilian deaths came as Russian forces are pressing in hard in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, ahead of events in Moscow on May 9, hailing the Soviet Union's victory in World War II.
A Ukrainian attack drone left two dead in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and two more were killed by Ukranian artillery fire in the southern Kherson region, officials said.
The Kremlin claimed to have annexed both regions in late 2022 even though Russian forces are still battling to gain full control over them.
"A man and a woman were killed as a result of a strike on a civilian car. Their four young children were orphaned," the Russian-installed head of Zaporizhzhia, Evgeny Balitsky, wrote on social media.
He said the children would be taken into care and provided with psychological assistance.
The Russian head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said separately that two more people were killed by Ukrainian fire in the village of Dnipryany.
The two frontline regions saw intense bouts of fighting in 2022 and the summer of 2023, when Ukraine launched a counteroffensive that failed to meet expectations in Zaporizhzhia.
The brunt of the fighting has since moved to the eastern Donetsk region, which is also claimed by Moscow as Russian territory.
The Ukrainian head of the Donetsk region, Vadim Filashkin, said three people had been killed in separate bouts of shelling in the villages of Udachne, where two people were killed, and in Kurakhivka, where one person was killed.
"The final consequences of the shelling have yet to be determined," he said.


Keralites in Gulf take ‘vote flights’ to join India’s mammoth polls

Updated 28 min 44 sec ago
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Keralites in Gulf take ‘vote flights’ to join India’s mammoth polls

  • ‘Vote flights’ are special chartered flights bringing Keralites home to cast ballots
  • Kerala is the single main place of origin of Indian expats living in Gulf countries

NEW DELHI: Tens of thousands of Keralites working in Gulf countries are flying home to cast their ballots as the southern Indian state opens for voting on Friday in the world’s biggest general election.

India’s seven-phase polls started on April 19 and take place over the next six weeks, with more than 968 million people registered to vote.

Some states are completing the process in a day, and others have it spread out in several phases. Kerala is joining other 12 states, which according to the schedule go to the polls on April 26.

Indian nationals living overseas have been allowed to vote since 2011 and have to register with both the Election Commission of India and Indian embassies in their countries of residence. Their names will then appear on the voters’ list, but to cast their ballots, they still need to be physically present in their constituencies.

India has one of the world’s largest diasporas, especially in GCC countries, where at least 9 million Indian expats live and work. The southwestern coastal state of Kerala is the single main place of their origin. Some 3.5 million Keralites reside in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE.

“I think about 30,000 people have come from Saudi Arabia alone to vote. Not all of them have come on ‘vote viman’ (vote flights). Some have also come by regular flights,” said Iqbal Cheri, a marketing professional working in Dammam, who reached Kerala on Thursday.

Cheri referred to the flights that have been bringing citizens home to participate in Friday’s polls.

“They bring voters only and they are mostly chartered flights,” he said. “We have come here to vote and save our democracy and secularism. It’s an important election and we all need to vote to save the nation.”

His compatriot, Shareef Chola Paramdil, who works as a marketing head of a hospital in Dammam, said these election flights have been bringing Saudi Arabia-based Kerala voters home for the past few days.

“Last week, also three chartered flights came from Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“People who come on the chartered flights pay less compared to the regular flights, as group booking brings down the fare. Besides, these people don’t get more than a few days of leave. So, they come and cast their votes and leave the next day.”

There are 543 contested seats in the lower house of parliament. The party or coalition that wins at least 272 is going to form the government. The state of Kerala will contribute 20.

For Paramdil, the election is particularly important as a Muslim because incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have been accused by the opposition and minority groups of marshaling majoritarian Hindu sentiment.

Critics say that India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has been under attack since Modi took power a decade ago and that his party has been fostering religious intolerance and discrimination.

“We want a government that does not discriminate in the name of religion, and we have been troubled by the politics of division that the government in Delhi has been practicing ever since it came to power in 2014,” Paramdil said.

Both Keralite Muslims and Hindus — like Gokul Padnabhan, a Kuwait-based professional in the oil and gas industry — see the election as an important exercise of their democratic rights.

“It’s very important to be here this time. That’s why I came for the vote,” Padnabhan said. “The vote will help us find the right person to rule us for the next five years.”

One of the organizations helping expat voters charter flights in Gulf countries is the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, an overseas wing of the Indian Union Muslim League.

“I feel around 100,000 people have come from the Gulf region to vote in this election,” said Ahamed Saju, head of the IUML’s student federation.

“Why they came is because this is a very crucial election this time ... Each and every vote is important. So, they thought that this time to protect our democracy, protect our constitution, protect our values and protect our secular credentials and the secular fabric of the country.”


Bangladeshis pray for rain as heatstroke deaths rise

Muslims offer special prayers for rains, in Dhaka on April 24, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 25 April 2024
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Bangladeshis pray for rain as heatstroke deaths rise

  • Country is reaching limit of adaptability to extreme weather, report warns
  • Heatwave has shut schools for 33m Bangladeshi children

DHAKA: Thousands of Bangladeshis have gathered in Dhaka to pray for rain in the middle of an extreme hot spell that has put health authorities on heatstroke alert.

The weather across the region is usually hot across the region in April before the summer monsoon season, but this year temperatures have been unusually high, reaching 42 degrees Celsius in parts of Bangladesh.

The country has been on alert since last week, as the punishing heatwave has disrupted agriculture, raised the risk of health complications and forced schools to close for 33 million children.

As the Bangladesh Meteorological Department renewed its warning that the heatwave is likely to persist during the weekend — or until a new notice is issued — thousands of people in Dhaka prayed on Wednesday and Thursday for relief.

They gathered in city mosques and rural fields to pray for rain.

“Special prayers for rain have been organized in many parts of Dhaka on Thursday. Thousands of people joined these prayers ... in addition to that, a special prayer for rain, which Muslims around the world have practiced since the days of the Prophet Muhammad, has taken place in many parts across the country,” Motiur Rahman Akand, spokesperson of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest religious political party, which organized the prayers, told Arab News.

“When there is a natural crisis, especially drought, which causes severe suffering for human beings and all other living creatures, people should seek help from the Almighty to get relief from this situation.”

Hospitals were on high alert as at least 20 people died from heatstroke in the past five days alone.

“We have been preparing quite ahead for managing heatwave-related patients ... all the government health facilities are guided not to admit any other patients unless it’s an emergency,” Dr. Moinul Ahsan, director of the hospital wing of the Directorate General of Health Services, told Arab News.

“We are on alert and monitoring the situation closely. Working-class people are suffering most amid this heatwave ... children, pregnant women and the elderly are also most vulnerable in this situation.”

Bangladesh’s geography and low-lying delta topography make it particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and for the past two decades, the country has launched various environmental schemes to mitigate the worsening situation.

Ranking among the 10 countries most prone to climate devastation, Bangladesh has been recognized as a global leader in adaptation and resilience, and in 2005 was one of the first least-developed countries to launch a national adaptation program of action.

A report released in February by the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, a leading research institute in Dhaka, warned that Bangladesh is reaching the limit of its ability to adapt to extreme weather.


Blinken calls for US, China to manage differences

Updated 25 April 2024
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Blinken calls for US, China to manage differences

  • China has not announced plans for US Secretary of State to meet Xi Jinping
  • Antony Blinken is the first US secretary of state in 14 years to visit Shanghai

SHANGHAI: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Thursday on the United States and China to manage their differences “responsibly” as he went on a charm offensive ahead of expected tough talks.
A day before meeting Beijing’s top brass to tackle thorny issues including Russia, Taiwan and trade, Blinken’s visit to Shanghai has seen him sample local food, watch a basketball game and stroll along the city’s famous Bund promenade.
Visiting the local Communist Party leader in a room with sweeping views of the Shanghai skyline, Blinken said US President Joe Biden was committed to “direct and sustained” dialogue between the world’s two largest economies after years of mounting tension.
“I think it’s important to underscore the value — in fact, the necessity — of direct engagement, of speaking to each other, laying out our differences, which are real, seeking to work through them,” Blinken said.
“We have an obligation for our people — indeed an obligation to the world — to manage the relationship between our two countries responsibly.”
The Chinese Communist Party secretary for Shanghai, Chen Jining, welcomed Blinken partly in English and spoke of the importance of US businesses to the city.
“Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the well-being of both peoples, both countries and the future of humanity,” Chen told him.
The country’s financial capital, Shanghai is often a stepping stone to power in China, with President Xi Jinping previously serving briefly in the city.
China has not announced plans for Blinken to meet Xi, although on Blinken’s last visit in June, they saw each other in a meeting announced at the last minute.
On Thursday, Blinken also met students at the Shanghai campus of New York University, where he voiced hope for more Americans to study in China.
He insisted the United States was committed to welcoming Chinese students.
Beijing has repeatedly alleged that Chinese nationals with valid travel documents, including students, have been subject to aggressive interrogations and deportations at US airports.
“President Biden and President Xi are determined to strengthen our people-to-people ties,” Blinken said.
Blinken, the first US secretary of state in 14 years to visit Shanghai, opened his visit Wednesday evening at a restaurant serving steamed buns.
Sporting a suit without a tie, he ate with his senior staff in a shopping arcade as curious onlookers snapped pictures.
Blinken then went to watch a basketball game between the Shanghai Sharks and Zhejiang Golden Bulls, staying until the end of the nail-biting play-off.
Such softer diplomacy, once a staple of US-China relations, would have been unimaginable until recently, with hawks in both countries speaking of an emerging new Cold War.
Blinken’s aides hope his smiling persona at public events draws an implicit contrast to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and his gruffer approach when he visited China earlier this month.
Blinken is expected to raise concerns about China’s relationship with Russia when he meets the leadership in Beijing.
Although US officials were initially pleased that Beijing has not shipped weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, they now say that China’s alarm at Moscow’s setbacks on the battlefield has prompted it to export vast quantities of industrial supplies to Russia.
US officials believe China is more receptive to Western concerns as it seeks to focus on managing economic headwinds at home and wants to avoid friction with the West.
But China is also furious about a series of moves by Biden — who is facing a tough re-election fight in November against Donald Trump — they say serve to constrain the Chinese economy.
Most recently, the US Congress approved legislation that would force the divestment of blockbuster social media app TikTok from its Chinese owners or face a ban in the world’s largest economy.
Biden supports the legislation, arguing that TikTok, popular among young people, poses security and privacy concerns. China has accused the United States of unfair economic coercion.
Unusually, Trump has distanced himself from a TikTok ban. He has otherwise championed a tough line on China, with vows to raise tariffs drastically if he returns to office.
US officials also say that Blinken will encourage China to act with restraint as Taiwan inaugurates a new president next month.
China claims the self-governing democracy as its own and has not ruled out using force to seize it.
Privately, US officials were relieved by China’s approach during Taiwan’s election, believing that easing US-China tensions helped.
They assessed that Beijing’s assertive military moves did not go beyond past precedent.