Covid protocol

Reports about people objecting to the cremation of bodies of those died of covid are very alarming. The latest such report cane from kottayam where people resisted cremation of a body in the church cemetery for fear of the virus speeding through air. Finally the district administration had to cremate the body rather surreptitiously and initiate action against many people under the epidemic prevention ordinance. It is quite unfortunate that even peoples representatives side with such people , may be because of lack of awareness.

This unfounded fear might have been created in the minds of the people due to the extra precautions taken by the authorities while cremating such bodies under 'covid protocol'. The precautions taken are only to ensure that nobody contracts the virus by coming into physical contacts with the dead body. I do not believe there is any basis for the fear that virus from the dead body will spread to the surroundings during the cremation. However the medical professionals and the health authorities are the best person to disseminate information in the matter.

I would request the authorities and health professionals to educate the public in this matter too along with the other advices like using mask, washing hands and observing social distance to avoid any such unfortunate incidents in future resulting in showing disrespect to the dead person .

Rajasthan drama

The political cum judicial drama being enacted in Rajasthan is crossing all limits, i feel. The political crisis created by the challenge of Mr Sachin Pilot has reached absurd levels when the Chief Minister and his supporters chose to hold a demonstration in Raj Bhavan demanding urgent convening of the assembly to prove his majority. I wonder since nobody has challenged the majority of the minister why the CM should waste his precious time and energy in such uncanny actions. It is true that the speaker has sent notices to the diffident MLAs on the request of the ruling party to disqualify them as MLAs which has been challenges by then in high court. The High court in all its wisdom has restrained the speaker in proceesing further with the disqualification request. The speaker's effort to get this quashed by supreme court has not met with success too. It is at this juncture the CM has requested the governor to summon an urgent meeting of the house to prove his majority . As one understands, a minimum periods notice is required to be given for convening the assemble and hence how the CM can urge the governor to call an emergency meeting in 3 days?

All this events have led to display of money power (the source of which needs to be probed) first by herding of MLAs of both camps to resorts on all expenses paid holidays. Then comes approaching the high court and supreme court engaging eminent advocates paying them huge fees!

The high court has also knowingly or unknowingly played into the hands of the politicians when it prevented the speaker from taking further action on his notices to the dissident MLAs. Nobody knows the locus standi of judiciary in the discharge of the speaker's duty under anti defection law, which needs to be suitably explained by the high court. And what is such an urgency to hear such petitions when thousands of other petitions of even more important issues are pending in the courts for years together? Isn't it high time the judges opened their eyes to reality and accord priority to long pending cases and not become pawns in the political games played by all parties ? When seen from a common man's side i feel importance should be accorded to cases where even the very subsistence of the parties are involved and not to such political dramas.