Have India's rulers favoured Gujarat by supplying only 'safer' Covishield to state?

By Rajiv Shah*

The controversy surrounding the two vaccines appears to be taking a scary turn. It so happened that I was talking to a senior healthcare expert of Gujarat on January 17. A very kind soul, this expert, whom I have known since 1990s, took the vaccine and posted the exercise on the Facebook so that others should know it's "safe". I contacted him on Facebook messenger, congratulated his gesture, and asked him which one was it. He said, "Covishield. This is the only one in Gujarat."
Covishield is the name the vaccine developed by Oxford, UK, and it is being produced in the Serum Institute in Pune. It has completed all the three phases of trials. The third and final phase, which took place after enrolling around 36,000 people, I presume, in Brazil and South Africa. In sharp contrast, the other vaccine, Covaxin, a Bharat Biotech product, hasn't yet completed its third trial, yet it has been "approved" by the Government of India.
The health expert telling me that Covishield -- the "safer" vaccine -- is the "only one in Gujarat" struck me. I phoned up several knowledgeable persons, and I was told that more than five lakh doses of this brand of vaccine has been supplied to Gujarat. "As for Covaxin (considered by doctors as 'unsafe' because it has not completed all the three phases of trial), it will be available, but at a later stage", I was told. I was left wondering: Why?
This made me contact some senior journalists in Delhi, who told me that in the national capital "only Covaxin has been supplied"! I was told, on Monday, out of 100 All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctors, only 11 agreed to take the vaccine because it is "unsafe." They would take Covishield and not Covaxin, they added. I wondered: Is it because Delhi's overwhelming majority disapproves of BJP politics that there the "unsafe" Covaxin has been made available, while in Modi's home state the "safe" Covishield has been supplied?
Not without reason, this seems scary for those of us who are proud Gujaratis. India's politics is dominated by two persons who belong to Gujarat -- Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. And, this is not the only time when they have favoured Gujarat over other states. Media has repeatedly reported how Modi is surrounded by officials who have served in Gujarat. Favouring Gujarat like this might lead to people from other states feeling uneasy. If one looks at social media, I have found that derogatory comments on Gujaratis have become more frequent.
Not only those critical of Modi and Shah address Gujaratis scornfully "Gujjus", they often say Gujjus have "captured" India and are destroying the country! I do take exception to such comments, telling those posting such comments are sounding "parochial", as Gandhi and Sardar Patel were also Gujarati. Some of them readily accept my argument. However, isn't there reason to believe that Gujarat's own leaders, who are ruling India, are showing clear signs of parochialism?

Meanwhile, searching through Twitter, I found that already there are misgivings about Gujarat being supplied with the "safer" vaccine. One of them, Shahid Siddique, editor of the Urdu weekly "Nai Duniya", tweeted, "According to my information only Covishield vaccine is sent to Gujarat. No risks taken with the privileged state." Another, Vidya Bhushan Rawat, a human rights defender, added, it is creating the "impression that Gujarat is now a VIP state treated differently."

Gujarati daily quotes state officials saying they are very happy

And, in a report, the Gujarati daily "Sandesh" has pointed out how Government officials are "very happy" over the state having been offered Covishield, which they consider as "more reliable" than Covaxin. The report states, Covishield has been given to Gujarat even though the state leadership didn't demand it. It quotes Gujarat health commissioner Mukesh Pandya, who is handling distribution of the vaccine, as stating that it is "good" this vaccine has been given both for the first and the second dose. Interesting!!!

---

*Editor, Counterview

Comments

Uma Sheth said…

People living in non-BJP states are also citizens of India as much as those in Gujarat are. Besides, if I am not mistaken, the vaccine exported is Covishield; so, people living in other countries are more important than those living in non-BJP states of India!

January 22, 2021

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra* The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Delhi HC rules in favour of retired Air Force officer 'overcharged' for Covid treatment

By Rosamma Thomas* In a decision of May 22, 2023, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of petitioner Group Captain Suresh Khanna who was under treatment at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, between April 28 and May 5, 2021, for a period of eight days, for Covid-19 pneumonia. The petitioner had to pay Rs 3,55,286 as treatment costs, but the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) only reimbursed him for Rs 1,83,748, on the basis of government-approved rates.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah* One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Search This Blog