Canada's anti-vax protests: Justin Trudeau invokes rarely-used emergency powers

New Delhi, Feb 17: As thousands of people in a huge convoy streamed into the capital, Ottawa, to protest against vaccine mandates, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday invoked the Emergencies Act, to be used for the first time in the country, in a bid to end protests that have shut some US border crossings.

Since late January, the truckers are protesting the Canadian government's mandate that cross-border truckers, such as those travelling between the US and Canada, must be vaccinated against Covid-19.

On Monday, Trudeau said he will activate rarely used emergency powers in an effort to end protests that have shut some border crossings and paralyzed parts of the capital.

Taking note, Kerala Senior IPS officer IG P Vijayan recalled how India surpassed 173.38 crore COVID vaccination coverage. He also pointed out how in the last two years, India has been putting up an exemplary model before the world in the trust and scientific temper it displayed in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.

Taking to his Facebook account, Vijayan wrote,'' Often India is treated by so-called developed nations as land of superstition and blind faith. However, for the last two years, India has been putting up an exemplary model before the world in the trust and scientific temper it displayed in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic. Till today, India has administered 173 Crore of vaccine to its people. Whenever I travelled to the remotest villages of not just Kerala, but across, India and talked to people there, I was convinced about the enthusiasm with which they accepted both doses of vaccine. This has gone a long way in changing the perception about India in the world. At the same time, a developed nation like Canada is currently under State Emergency. Reason? To control intense protests against vaccination. The 'Freedom Convoy' started by truck drivers in Canada are copied by nations from France to New Zealand and the US. It is here that India, ridiculed for its traditional values, is standing tall with an emulative model. The world is now asking, who is superstitious? If India can continue showing this unity, as we have demonstrated in the fight against the pandemic, we can lead the world not just in demography, but in all agencies of development.''