PM Modi’s Photo to be Removed from Covid Vaccination Certificates
There is widespread criticism of Modi for his dictatorial tendencies of using huge public funds for his personal publicity.
By Rakesh Raman
The photograph of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi is being removed from the Covid vaccination certificates in 5 states where elections will be held in February-March 2022.
According to an NDTV report of January 10, 2022, official sources said filters have been applied on the CoWIN platform to exclude PM Modi’s photo in the 5 states as the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has been enforced.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule for the 2022 assembly elections in 5 states: Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Opposition parties and voters complain that Modi is taking undue advantage in elections by putting his photograph on vaccination certificates for gaining cheap publicity and deceiving the voters. Actually, there is no role of Modi in providing vaccines to the Indian citizens.
There is widespread criticism of Modi for his dictatorial tendencies of using huge public funds for his personal publicity. Instead of working as a wise politician, Modi behaves as a supreme autocratic leader.
Earlier, a petition was filed in the court to get Modi’s picture removed from Covid vaccination certificates. But a sycophant judge dismissed the petition. A Kerala High Court judge Justice P V Kunhikrishnan also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner who had challenged the use of Modi’s photograph on Covid-19 vaccination certificates.
The petitioner Peter Myaliparambil, who is a social activist, had argued that carrying PM’s photograph on the vaccination certificate is an intrusion of his privacy. The petitioner raised concern as Modi has been leveraging the Covid disaster to gain cheap publicity by putting his photos on different Covid-related messaging.
According to a report of December 21, 2021 in The Indian Express, the petitioner stated that even on the birthday of the Prime Minister a nationwide campaign was carried out calling for a record number of vaccinations to be administered as a gift to the person who has given free vaccines to India.
In order to gain political advantage, Modi has been hoodwinking the citizens by sharing misleading Covid vaccination data that conceals more than what it reveals. While the Modi government is telling understated numbers of Covid deaths and overstated vaccination numbers, it is deliberately hiding the fact about the efficacy of vaccines and the need for booster doses, as the ongoing vaccination programs have failed to contain the contagion.
But instead of considering these facts about Modi’s maneuvers, judge Kunhikrishnan said that it is the “duty of the citizens to respect the Prime Minister of India” and dismissed the petition after imposing a fine on the petitioner.
While the Indian judiciary has lost its relevance, the judges do not lose any opportunity to please the supreme leader Modi. The crooked judges either praise Modi unnecessarily or pronounce judgements that favor the Modi government with the aim to receive undue benefits from the government.
A former Supreme Court judge, Justice Arun Kumar Mishra, was handpicked by the Modi government for the post of Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India. Mishra – who is known for his sycophancy to Modi – was appointed despite strong opposition to his selection.
Mishra had retired from the Supreme Court in September 2020 and during his tenure he pronounced many dubious judgements to satisfy Modi and brazenly admired him presumably to grab a lucrative position after retirement.
Another Modi admirer Ranjan Gogoi – who is a former chief justice of India (CJI) – was gifted the membership of Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the bicameral Parliament of India, after just four months of his retirement from the Supreme Court.
Now, in the Covid vaccination certificate case, judge Kunhikrishnan has penalized the petitioner on whimsical grounds instead of using the legal statutes to dismiss the petition. According to a report in the Financial Express on October 10, 2021, a plea in the Kerala High Court had sought removal of PM Modi’s photograph from the CoWin Certificate. The court had sent a perfunctory notice to the Central government and finally the petition was dismissed.
No court or court judge in India has the courage to challenge the actions of the Modi government. And the Modi government is nothing but Modi alone, as he takes all decisions in an autocratic manner. Since Modi is a megalomaniac and narcissist, he desires to put his photographs everywhere to falsely attract public attention, although his performance as the PM of India is pathetic.
As a result of extreme corruption and lawlessness in the Modi regime, the people of India are suffering under unprecedented inflation, pollution, hunger, unemployment, human rights violations, injustice, and extreme misery.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also runs “Clean House” anti-corruption service to report about crime and corruption happening in Delhi’s cooperative group housing societies (CGHS).
