Opening up on a whole lot of issues related to the unprecedented 21-day lockdown, veteran Left leader and General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sitaram Yechury said India has to fight this pandemic as one nation.
“This is India”s battle against the deadly virus… To be fought by all the Indians together. You cannot leave one section out, and think that you are safe, you are not,” Yechury said.
Referring to the Tablighi Jamaat controversy, Yechury said: “Who allowed these people to come from Malaysia and Indonesia into India? Were they tested (at the airport) or not? These are the issues for which they (government) have to be accountable. But let”s now focus on the pandemic.”
When asked about the trail of incidents wherein MLAs and MPs of the ruling party celebrated a birthday bash or roughed up government officials during the continuing countrywide lockdown, the CPM leader said: “It”s a mockery of the lockdown, and strict action should be taken against these people. But nothing has been done so far. On the other hand, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced a reward of Rs 5,000 on giving information about Jamaatis (who are missing). But what about the public events held by the BJP? For example, the BJP organised a swearing in ceremony in Bhopal. Similarly, an event was organised in Ayodhya… where thousands of people gathered. The yardstick has to be the same, we cannot have different views on such events.”
The long drawn lockdown which has left migrant and the daily waged workers in utter distress, also worries the Left wing opposition leader.
“We are in the midst of a very grim battle against the pandemic. There are serious issues of livelihood, shortage of food and hunger. These problems need to be solved on an urgent basis. The government has stock of 7.5 crore metric tonnes of food grain in the FCI godowns. This stock should be immediately despatched to the states to be distributed among the poor. Prime Minister had promised to transfer Rs 5,000 to each Jan Dhan account and all the BPL accounts, but that has not happened. That has to be done for the survival of the poor,” said Yechury, an alumni of the Jawaharlal Nehru University known for his deep understanding of India”s socio-economic issues.
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