The pandemic or, it seems to me, the actions taken in the garb of measures to address the pandemic, has resulted in many people being rendered jobless and incomeless. I don’t know whether to call what is happening a health crisis or a crisis due to manipulated or negligent or incompetent political decision making. But the outcome of it all is a humanitarian crisis. People have suffered innumerable indignities in India, and closer home in Goa.
Those who have suffered hugely included the general mass of people on account of the ill-advised steps of the Chief Minister such as deprivation of access to food by shutdown of even grocery shops or vending for substantial number of days initially, with no provision for delivery of provisions either for some days, the old and the sick who could not access their regular – and in my opinion essential - medical treatment, those who have suffered due to being rendered homeless (the legislation stipulating that migrant workers should not be charged rent and should not be evicted was either unimplemented or unimplementable), those who have lost their incomes – both local people and migrant workers suffered immensely, particularly those who were at the lower end of the caste and class and social and economic hierarchy.
There has been, continues to be, and forebodes to be another kind of impact on account of misgovernance or rather governance that suits the rich and powerful. That is the impact on the economy and the impact on the social, economic, civil and political rights of citizens. The decisions or steps that are being taken by the Governments of India and Goa at this time have no reasonable nexus, with the stated objective of addressing COVID-19 and its attendant consequences. Or at least do not seem to be because one is constantly seeing duplicitous practices on the ground, otherwise one would not see duplicitous regulations and practices on the ground. It in fact appears that Section 144 CrPC has been introduced for precisely that reason.
Let us examine some of the things that are happening in Goa. What is the purpose of introducing Section 144 CrPC? If social distancing is required to be maintained and it is not maintained, then action has to be taken for violation of the social distancing regulation? Why Section 144 CrPC? A chain legal exculpation then follows. Under other provisions of the law such as section 188 Indian Penal Code, where it becomes then possible to inculpate someone for disobeying the order under Section 144 CrPC. Thus the State is dangerously – to the people, that is – equipped in the guise of Disaster Management to quash all participation in democracy, including collectively questioning decisions, having informed discussions, - even with wearing masks and social distancing. Because Sec 144 CrPC trumps it all.
Several socially conscious citizens were in fact not permitted to even participate in processes of assisting with provisions of food, with arbitrary and ever changing orders regarding taking volunteers on board. Similarly several politically conscious citizens have been denied the possibilities of standing up for brazen human rights violations of migrant workers, of access to food, of access to shelter.
Today, you also have issues like conditions of quarantine facilities, failure to requisition adequate decent shelter homes for homeless migrant workers, brazen environmental violations such as land filling of agricultural fields, unconscionable labour law amendments, disaster relief funds being instituted by the State without accountability and no way to make the voice heard except in a limited way through those who have access to social media, and no way to clarify detailed positions.
Also, how can anyone have confidence whether the measures being taken are really in the interests of health, when those at the helm are themselves are not following those measures? What confidence can anyone have in measures that are interpreted literally, such as no restaurants open means no pantry in the railways, no vendors on railway stations, no food and water to the passenger migrant workers in the Shramik trains and deaths and vulnerability to disease for the migrant workers who have entrained. How can one explain the complete disregard for violations of rights of human beings to a decent shelter, saying shelters are full, when there are umpteens of governments schools which the Government could have easily acquired for instance, and done the needful, and the citizenry is left with only the option of making endless petitions, befriending government officers which often only those with the necessary social and economic capital can (barring a few exceptional officers), and getting things done or just letting go, while each day a different issue and concern grabs the headlines? How can one have confidence in extension of measures such as extension of fishing bans ostensibly again because of COVID-19, at the risk of workers being on the seas, with the weather already being what it is and the rains already lashing.
There have to be compelling grounds for the State to meddle with freedom of assembly, through which right and following which we, or rather, all as citizens and as people, could have more proactively dealt with all the above BRAZEN violations of human rights, happening in the name of COVID-19 measures. No such compelling grounds exist. COVID- 19 cannot become a ruse to throw democratic norms and fundamental rights to the winds. The very fabric of democracy is being hopelessly torn. The measures such as imposition of Section 144 CrPC are measures which do not help redress COVID-19 and on the contrary set a chain of human rights violations in motion.
(Albertina Almeida is a lawyer and human rights activist)