Before the pandemic and (maybe) after: A catalogue of what cities lose scroll.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scroll.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
New Delhi, India – On May 25, the day India celebrated Eid al-Fitr, Talha, 12, and five-year-old Mariam slept with their mother’s mobile phone next to them all night.
They had not spoken to their father, Khalid Saifi, since a nationwide lockdown was imposed in India on March 25 to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“They thought he would call on that day [Eid], ” his wife Nargis Saifi told Al Jazeera.
Khalid, in a New Delhi jail since February, is among thousands of prisoners awaiting trial as India’s criminal justice system came to a complete halt during the pandemic.
Under the lockdown, legal services were not classified as essential by the government, which allowed only a small number of “virtual” courts to operate.
Farmers Protest: Bid to mislead farmers will not succeed, says Rajnath Singh; repeal agri laws, Kejriwal tells Centre Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana have been camping at the borders of the National Capital for over a month now, demanding the withdrawal of the three farm laws. FP Staff December 27, 2020 23:21:05 IST Farmers strike. File Photo/PTI
Farmers protesting against the Centre s three recent agriculture sector laws stayed put at the borders of Delhi amid biting cold weather on Sunday, firm on their demand for the repeal of the reforms.
This, as defence minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh asserted that attempts to mislead the farmers will not succeed.
Farmers protest at Shahajanpur at Alwar Border.
IN solidarity with the farmers protesting against the new farm laws brought by the BJP government at the Centre, at least 10 activists lodged at Dumdum Central Jail on Sunday started their “symbolic” hunger strike. Eight inmates of Behrampur jail are expected to go on a hunger strike from Monday.
The inmates, most of them arrested in connection with Maoist cases, in a letter announcing their hunger strike accused the Central government of taking advantage of lockdown and pandemic to pass the farm laws “to benefit the corporates”. They alleged that while the farmers are fighting for their rights in this bitter winter, the government instead of showing some solidarity is trying to complicate the matter.
Representative image
KOLKATA: Extending solidarity to the farmers protest demanding repeal of the three new farm laws, at least 10 political prisoners of a correctional home here started a hunger strike on Sunday.
In a statement released from the Dumdum Central Jail, the protestors described the laws as anti-farmer and alleged that the BJP-led Central government passed the agri laws taking advantage of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation.
They also hit out at the BJP-led central government claiming that the laws will actually benefit corporates.
Sources in the state correctional department said that eight other political prisoners lodged in Berhampur Central Jail in Murshidabad district will start fasting from Monday on the same issue.