Recently, I posted on social media a few photographs of the cremation of a Covid-19 victim at the electric crematorium in Hyderabad. The comments my post evoked were surprising and unsettling. Quite a few comments from close friends were the refrain: ‘Wow! Be careful’ One response asked, with genuine banality, ‘What possessed you to photograph […]
Category: Religion & Spirituality
Shocking Neglect And Mix-Up Of Covid Patients’ Dead Bodies At Gandhi Hospital In Hyderabad
In a major goof-up and sheer negligence, authorities at state-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad handed over the body of a man who died of Covid-19 to another family which performed the last rites. The incident came to light lately a day after relatives of a 37-year-old man, who had succumbed at the hospital, found that […]
Despite Govt Earmarking ‘Graveyard Spaces For Covid Victims’, Stigma Remains In Hyderabad
A combination of stigma and fear has meant that this secluded graveyard, devoid of even a proper boundary wall, has ended up being the final resting place of a number of Covid-19 victims in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana. The Faqeer Mullah Kabristan in Balapur, a Hyderabad suburb, has so far been the final […]
The ‘Dirty Politics’ Behind ‘Auction Of Properties’ Donated To ‘Tirupati Temple’ In Andhra Pradesh
The fracas around the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam’s (TTD) auction lays bare the contradictions between the ritual renunciation of wealth by shrine’s devotees and the staggering wealth and hardball political intrigue behind one of India’s most famous temple trusts. As the topic gets more Focussed with the stance of a devotee. One day in December in […]
Why KCR Left ‘Corona Control’ To ‘Gods’?
After nearly two and a half months of fight with Coronavirus pandemic by imposing lockdowns, the Telangana government led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao seems to have thrown up his hands and left it to the fate of the gods. In the initial days of lockdown, KCR used to say that the situation was […]
Why The ‘Justice Delayed’ In Hyderabad’s ‘Mecca Masjid Blast Case’ Over 13 Years?
Thirteen years after the Mecca Masjid blast and several rounds of probes later, country’s top investigating agencies have failed in bringing the guilty to book. After the verdict of Special NIA court in 2018, the question that glaringly stares at the investigative agencies is who after all was responsible for the Mecca Masjid blast? The […]
Is ‘Tablighi Jamaat’ A Variant Of Islam?
Until the most recent political controversy in India over Tablighi Jamaat, a transnational Islamic revivalist movement, the organisation had existed in obscurity, far from the political imagination of the nation-state. It was in March this year that the spotlight fell on Tabligh after reports on its role in the spread of the novel coronavirus surfaced […]
The ‘Pain And Agony’ Of A Son Who Lost Ailing Mother With #COVID In Hyderabad
It was just after midnight on April 28, when Mohammed got the phone call he was dreading. For the last few days, his entire family was at home in a containment zone in Hyderabad while his mother was at the Gandhi Hospital, where all COVID-19 patients in Telangana undergo treatment. “Doctors treating my mother told […]
Post Lockdown, Lakhs Of ‘Telangana Migrants’ In Gulf Await Return
Estimates suggest that post lockdown, around 2,000 migrants from Gulf countries will arrive at the RGIA at Hyderabad every day for the next 2-3 months as all are either fired or lost jobs due to #Covid crisis. Around 7.5 lakh people from the Telugu States, including 3.7 lakh from Telangana, are awaiting their return to […]
Is Hyderabad Heading For An Exit Or For Lockdown 3.0?
Telangana must bite the bullet and end the complete lockdown, instead of focusing on areas where the COVID-19’s prevalence is high. It opted for an extension of the lockdown and the Centre went along with it. Put differently, the Centre extended it and complied. In Telangana, the 30 districts, 12 have below five cases, nine […]