JOIN USA disguise
Known for his unconventional ways, Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissioner Krishna Prakash visited three police stations in – Hinjewadi, Wakad, and Pimpri, taking cops by surprise. A fitness-freak and Iron Man winner, Prakash, known for his good command over the Urdu language and Shayari was disguised as ‘Jamalkhan Kamalkhan Pathan’, wearing a kurta and skull cap. He also wore a fake beard and a wig while assistant commissioner of police Prerna Katte acted as his wife. The “couple” went to the police station with complaints and saw the response of cops on duty. In one police station, they complained how a Covid-19 patient was overcharged to be ferried to a hospital in an ambulance.
Mrityunjay Bose, Mumbai
Winds of change
When M K Stalin reached Fort ST George, the seat of power of Tamil Nadu government, he noticed hoardings carrying pictures of him and his father M Karunanidhi on one of the outer walls. Though such hoardings are not rare, Stalin got it removed the same evening. Also, the Secretariat notice board, for the first time in decades, featured photographs in which Opposition leaders were present. Photos of Stalin’s swearing-in including one with him and AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam sipping tea were displayed. Winds of change sweeping the Secretariat already? Only hope the new trend continues.
E T B Sivapriyan, Chennai
Groupism
Recently, some media houses got a call from the residents of an apartment complex in Thiruvananthapuram, that some politicians had gathered in the complex and were flouting social distancing norms. News channel crews rushed to the flat and found senior Congress leaders in the flat, all of them loyal to a specific group. It seemed as though a group meeting was in progress, even though leaders maintained that they came to visit a veteran leader who was unwell. Incidentally, groupism in the Congress party, some allege, is one of the reasons for the poor performance of the party in the recent Kerala Assembly elections.
Arjun Raghunath, Thiruvananthapuram
Who dares, wins
Congress leaders were all praise for Mamata Banerjee and her defeat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah-led BJP in the Assembly elections in West Bengal. Incidentally, while Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, complained about Modi government’s capture of institutions such as judiciary, media, legislature as the reason for successive failures, Banerjee pulled off a stunning victory beating all odds. Banerjee emerged victorious by daring the Modi-Shah duo, instead of spouting reasons for non-performance.
Sagar Kulkarni, New Delhi
Wasted exercise
As Covid-19 lockdown has brought life to hault in most parts of the country, including Kashmir, the administration in the Valley continues to issue routine press statements through the Department of Information. One such example is “Jumat-ul-Vida (last Friday of Ramazan), Shab-e-Qadr and Eid arrangements reviewed” by Additional Commissioner Kashmir. Over the decades, any festival would be an occasion for politicians to get some publicity by issuing statements instructing their subordinates to conduct rigorous market checks to curb the sale of sub-standard food items, black marketing and profiteering. But one wonders for whom these officials are reviewing arrangements this time when there’s a lockdown?
Zulfikar Majid, Srinagar
A long journey
As the nation marks the first anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown, HarperCollins India will publish journalist turned filmmaker, Vinod Kapri’s compelling book, “1232 km: The Long Journey Home”. The 2020 nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 left millions of migrant labourers without job, food and home. Desperate and helpless, most took to the road, embarking on a long, often fatal journey home. 1232 km is about one such journey that seven migrants from Bihar—Ritesh, Ashish, Ram Babu, Sonu, Krishna, Sandeep and Mukesh—undertook on their bicycles that lasted for seven days and seven nights.
Mrityunjay Bose, Mumbai