AlphaFold3: A Cautionary Tale for Open Science

S Krishnaswamy | 30 May 2024

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While private funding can accelerate scientific progress, such as AI development, it must not come at the expense of making inventions truly accessible to everyone.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Daniel Coppinger

A new AI (Artificial Intelligence) model, AlphaFold3, has excited the scientific community. Developed by Google's DeepMind Anglo-US subsidiary with Isomorphic Labs (a subsidiary of  Google group’s parent company, Alphabet), AlphaFold3 made headlines in the journal Nature on May 9, 2024 for its ability to predict interaction of protein structures with other molecules like DNA and RNA. This holds immense promise for drug discovery and medical treatments.

However, a cloud hangs over this excitement: limited access to the technology. DeepMind has not released the full code or the inner workings of the model, opting instead for a closed-source approach. They have provided a simplified algorithm description and a web server for limited use. This decision has reignited the debate about open science in an era dominated by private funding and AI.

Open science champions the idea of freely sharing research data, methods, and code. This openness allows others to verify findings, fosters collaboration between researchers, and ultimately speeds up scientific progress. Traditionally, research was fuelled by public funding, making open science a cornerstone of academic integrity. However, the rise of massively-funded private companies, such as DeepMind, and research done by them with a strong commercial focus has raised concerns. Their investment in AlphaFold3, and other similar cases, illustrates this tension.

Open Science and Protein Structures

Proteins are the tireless workhorses of our cells, performing essential functions and building the very infrastructure of life. To function properly, these must fold into a particular three-dimensional structure. This folding is constrained by the physical properties of atoms and the way amino acids link together in a protein chain.

Traditionally, determining this structure has relied on experimental techniques like X-ray crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and more recently, Cryo-Electron Microscopy. These methods can be time-consuming (days to years) and expensive, especially for complex proteins interacting with other molecules, like DNA, RNA, or other proteins.

Since the first protein structure was solved in 1957, only around 200,000 structures have been experimentally determined. Significantly, all these structures and the underlying experimental data are freely available in public databases. Research journals typically require this data to be made accessible as part of the publication process.

Unveiling protein structures and their interactions with other molecules are crucial for rapidly developing new drugs and therapies, including antibody-based treatments.  This has fuelled immense interest from the pharmaceutical industry.

Since the 1950s, researchers have strived to predict protein structures solely from their amino acid sequence, with limited success until recently. In 2018, Google's DeepMind introduced AlphaFold, and significantly improved upon it in 2020 with AlphaFold2. These advancements stemmed from collaboration with the public-funded European Bioinformatics Institute.

Both the AI AlphaFold versions were trained on a massive public database containing over 170,000 protein sequences and their corresponding structures. The programme utilises a type of deep learning, called an attention network, something like a complex jigsaw puzzle. The attention network allows the AI to focus on specific pieces, progressively assembling them to form the complete protein structure.

Only Private Funded Research

AlphaFold3 marks a significant departure from its predecessors. It incorporates a technique called Diffusion Networks, similar to those used in image generation programmes like DALL-E. Notably, this development was a fully private venture by Google's DeepMind, collaborating with its sister company, Isomorphic Labs.

DeepMind, of course, justifies its limited access model by arguing for a good return on investment. They offer a user-friendly web server as a way to democratise access to AlphaFold3's functionalities, even if the underlying technology remains undisclosed.

However, as many researchers point out, there are significant drawbacks. The web server restricts use for non-commercial research, limiting the ability of independent researchers and start-ups to innovate. Additionally, it cannot handle complex protein structures or those bound to potential drugs, crucial aspects of drug discovery.

Most importantly, the lack of access to the code hinders scientific progress. Researchers cannot fully understand, improve, or adapt AlphaFold3 for specific needs, thereby slowing down potential advancements.

Opposition from Researchers

The publication of AlphaFold3 in Nature sparked a significant response from the scientific community. A review team member and a group of biologists co-authored an Open Letter to Nature, raising concerns about several deviations from standard practices and potential policy violations. The letter garnered over 600 endorsements. Media outlets echoed these concerns, praising the technology's potential while criticising the lack of openness.

In response, Max Jaderberg (AI Chief of Isomorphic Labs) and Pushmeet Kohli (DeepMind's VP of research) announced on X (formerly Twitter) a planned release of the code within six months  for academic use. Nature, in a May 22 editorial, acknowledged the debate and solicited reader feedback on promoting open science practices.  The journal emphasised its existing open science policies, but conceded the challenges posed by private sector funding and potential proprietary research outcomes.

In a significant development, researchers from Columbia University and Harvard Medical School unveiled OpenFold in mid-May. This open-source tool offers an alternative to AlphaFold 2, providing researchers with more transparency into the underlying processes.

OpenFold allows labs to train their own customised versions, potentially incorporating proprietary data and tackling specific research problems. This approach could replicate functionality similar to AlphaFold 2 without relying on Google's servers.

The scientific community is actively pursuing open-source alternatives to AlphaFold3. While some are developing new tools, others are attempting to extract more information from the existing web server. However, the challenge lies not in replicating the code (estimated at a month), but in the immense computational resources required to train the AI model, a significant time and cost barrier.

Open Science vs Intellectual Property

The AlphaFold3 case exemplifies a longstanding conflict: open science versus intellectual property (IP) rights. Companies have a valid interest in protecting their investments, but excessive IP restrictions can hinder scientific progress and limit the societal benefits of innovation.

Potential solutions exist. Alternative licensing models, like those used in open-source software, could grant public access to the code while safeguarding commercially sensitive aspects. Restricting commercial use or sub-licensing could be other options. Additionally, data sharing agreements could allow independent researchers to analyse specific datasets used to train AlphaFold3, without revealing core algorithms.

Public-private partnerships can leverage resources from both sectors while promoting open access. Governments can incentivise open science by directing funding toward projects with data sharing plans. Journals can require authors to disclose data access policies and encourage open-source code repositories.

The Human Genome Project serves as a successful example. This international effort mapped human genes, using a hybrid model with private and public funding, while ensuring open access to sequenced data. This approach accelerated research advancements in genomics and personalised medicine.

The limitations of AlphaFold3 with respect to access raise ethical concerns. A tool with such potential to revolutionise healthcare should be more widely available to the scientific community. Restricted access risks creating a scenario where only well-funded institutions and companies can harness AlphaFold3 for drug discovery. This could significantly delay development of life-saving treatments, particularly for diseases affecting developing nations. Imagine a situation where a protein structure critical for a rare disease in a developing country is too complex for the web server. Without access to the underlying code, researchers there would be unable to contribute to finding a cure, creating a significant ethical barrier.

Need for Open Science in AI Development

The AlphaFold3 story sheds light on the challenges posed by AI in scientific research. AI models are often "black boxes," meaning their inner workings are complex and difficult to understand. This opacity can make it difficult to verify their results and replicate their successes. Open access to the code and training data used in AI models like AlphaFold3 would allow researchers to understand the model's biases, improve its accuracy, and adapt it for specific applications.

The AlphaFold3 case serves as a cautionary tale. While private funding can accelerate scientific progress, it must not come at the expense of open science. Finding a balance between protecting intellectual property and fostering transparency is crucial for maximising the societal benefits of scientific breakthroughs. Embracing open science principles ensures that advancements like AlphaFold3 make scientific inventions truly accessible for everyone.

The writer is a retired Professor, School of Biotechnology, Madurai Kamaraj University. He is in the All-India People’s Science Network. The views are personal.

South Africa Tiptoes Toward Coalition Politics

M K Bhadrakumar | 02 Jun 2024

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ANC would need help from other parties to re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term.

Voters waiting patiently in hours-long queues in South Africa’s parliamentary election, May 29, 2024.

The results of the election to the South African parliament on Friday confirmed the widely-held belief that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) which  spearheaded the country’s liberation from apartheid in 1993 and since dominated the political landscape like a banyan tree is in steep decline. ANC’s vote share plummeted from 57.5% in the 2019 election to around 40%. 

ANC’s halcyon days are ending but then, all good things come to an end, finally. ANC could at least hang on for thirty years tapping into the legacy of the freedom struggle, which is not an easy thing to do as politics gets more and more competitive and along with empowerment comes the challenge of accountability. In comparison, India’s Congress Party lost the majority in the parliament in less than 2 decades. 

Broadly, outside of some largely rural provinces, support for the ANC is now in general decline with a strong undercurrent of anti-incumbency sentiment working against it on account of massive unemployment, extremely high level of interpersonal violence, collapsing social services, and brazen corruption.

ANC would need help from other parties to re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term. The three other major parties are the liberal-oriented Democratic Alliance [DA], the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters [EFF] and the new MK Party [MK] led by former President Jacob Zuma, who once led the ANC. 

DA, which polled over 21% votes, is an established liberal party, white-dominated and also funded by white capital. EFF, on the other hand, is an authoritarian  populist party, non-ethnic in its support base and orientation and polled a little over 9% of votes. 

The big winner seems to be MK, a breakaway faction of ANC, which entered the electoral fray for the first time and surged on a tide of Zulu nationalism to garner 14.83% of votes. 

The likely character of the incoming ruling coalition is not yet clear. Unsurprisingly, the Western media is rooting for a ANC-DA coalition. DA has plateaued and is eager to align with the ANC despite its ideology of national liberation to share power.

The massive investments by the white billionaires in a set of new liberal parties failed to produce the desired results in Wednesday’s election. None of those parties gained traction. The DA is the solitary exception but even in this case, the mediocrity of its leadership and its inability to distinguish differences in pitch in the complex race politics puts inherent limits to the potential for growth beyond its current limits. Many black South Africans mistrust the DA, believing it favours the interests of white people.

Therefore, there is bound to be resistance within the ANC to a tie-up with the DA under white politician John Steenhuisen, whose free market programme of privatisations and an end to black economic empowerment programmes sits at odds with the ruling party’s traditions. 

Nelson Mandela’s grandson and an outgoing ANC lawmaker,  Zwelivelile Mandela told AFP, the DA held “different ideals” making it too difficult to partner with. He predicted that the radical left groups led by former ANC figures — firebrand Julius Malema’s EFF or Zuma’s MK — were more likely bedfellows for the ruling party. 

But then, arguably, these radical options might also meet resistance within the more moderate sections of the ANC. Besides, the rift between Ramaphosa and Zuma — who has long been bitter about the way he was forced out of office as president in 2018 — remains to be mended. 

Amidst all this maneuvering within the political class, it is difficult to gauge the popular mood, given the vice-like grip of the white liberal media over the national discourse. Thus, the gravity of the deep sense of political alienation driving many voters into forms of anti-liberal and at times anti-democratic populism is being blithely overlooked in the obsession to undermine the ANC’s towering presence on the political landscape.

Without doubt, the ANC has become an eyesore for the Western powers. South Africa’s active role in the BRICS and advocacy of multipolarity and “de-dollarisation”, its audacious move in the ICJ against Israel’s war  crimes in Gaza, its closeness to Russia and China and so on are hugely consequential to western interests in the contemporary world situation. 

The hold on the digital media in South Africa by white capital gives it significant power to shape the national discourse, but there is no attempt to understand the deep alienation of deprived sections of society, leave alone address it critically. Suffice to say, this is fertile soil for ethnic politics to strike roots. The paradox is, the legacy of one of the most progressive movements in the history of anti-colonial liberation may turn out to be the rise of ethno-nationalism and populism under darkly comic political personalities similar to Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro or Javier Milei. 

The crux of the matter is that the left has failed to present a credible alternative to the predatory form of ethnic nationalism and populism spawned by the terrible circumstances of poverty and deprivation in which most South Africans struggle to live. Not a single leader in the manner of Lula da Silva or Jeremy Corbyn is to be seen who could unify the left. All this leaves the field open for the predatory and kleptocratic political class to unleash the demons of ethnic politics. 

Come to think of it, Zuma convinced 2.3 million South Africans to vote for MK Party. The MK wants to increase the power of traditional leaders, nationalise banks and expropriate land without compensation, dating South Africa’s “prolonged period of national shame” back to 1652, when the first Dutch settlement was established. 

As for the EFF, it describes itself as anti-imperialist and inspired by Marxism. EFF also advocates taking land from white farmers and nationalising mines, banks and other strategic sectors, without compensation. It says that apartheid did not end in 1994, arguing that the democratic settlement left the economy in the hands of “white monopoly capital”, a message that resonates in a country where four in 10 adults are unemployed. 

The bottom line is that as with the mainstream Congress Party in India, there is no real alternative to the ANC as a unifier, which still retains the loyalty of many voters for its leading role in overthrowing white minority rule and its progressive social welfare and black economic empowerment policies are credited by supporters with helping millions of black families out of poverty.

MK Bhadrakumar is a former diplomat. He was India’s Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Turkey. The views are personal.

 

Courtesy: Indian Punchline

Monsoon menace

Naseer Memon 

DAWN

Published June 4, 2024

WITH the approach of the monsoons, timely precaution is needed. The South Asian Climate Outlook Forum has anticipated above-normal rains in the region during the season. Rainfall and temperature outlook maps from the SACOF-28 report forecast heavy rains in all the provinces and excessive temperatures in Pakistan’s snow-capped mountainous belt. This suggests looming flood conditions.

Sindh is the most vulnerable province as it is the final destination of glacial melt in the north and the hill torrents of southern Punjab and eastern Balochistan. A closer look at the temperature and rainfall maps of the report indicates the following perilous scenarios for Sindh:

(1) Scorching temperatures in the north triggering snowmelt and consequent flooding of the Indus river.

(2) Excessive rainfall in southern Punjab unleashing hill torrents from Koh-i-Suleman, which will eventually join the Indus river to swell its flows.


Timely steps can avert a disaster.

(3) Abnormal rains in eastern Balochistan, which can produce gushing spate flows entering Sindh from the Kirthar Hills. This flow can exert stress on the Flood Protection (FP) Bund and embankments of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD), turning Lake Manchhar into a threat.

(4) Heavy downpours in Sindh can choke malfunctioning drainage networks on both sides of the Indus and create ponds in case there are breaches and spill-overs. Sindh witnessed a combination of the first two scenarios in 2010, while an amalgam of the latter two was endured in 2022, causing calamity.

The next monsoon season is set to begin in a few weeks. The authorities remain in a state of slumber until disaster knocks. Precautions are delayed. They should realise that urgent actions can mitigate the repercussions.

A monsoon monitoring and coordination cell should be established at the Provincial Disaster Management Authority and equipped with technical, financial, logistical and human resources to enable swift action in case of an adverse situation. In 2022, a major disaster was unleashed due to record-breaking rains in eastern Balochistan in July and August. An enormous quantum of water entered Sindh along the foothills of the Kirthar range. The FP Bund couldn’t withstand the water sheet and was breached at five locations. The banks of the RBOD and Suprio bund also collapsed, inundating vast areas in Kambar Shahdadkot and Dadu districts. The Sindh irrigation department should devise a communication mechanism that can be put to use by the department and its counterpart in Balochistan to obtain timely updates on the rainfall and the consequent flows likely to veer towards Sindh. The FP Bund and the banks of the RBOD need critical surveillance to avert breaching.

After entering Sindh, the floodwaters travel the length of the 277-kilometre-long FP Bund before reaching Manchhar. The irrigation department has to ensure the timely emptying of the lake to absorb these flows. In 2022, delayed emptying resulted in breaches and relief cuts to save Sehwan town. Dozens of villages between Sehwan and Dadu towns were inundated. Dadu, Johi and Mehar just about managed to avert a disaster, thanks to the concerted efforts of the local community and authorities.

Clogged natural waterways are a chronic cause of flooding. In a bid to appease a few political favourites, the government exposes millions of poor people to flooding risks. A study commissioned by the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority in 2012 enlisted all blocked waterways and suggested a plan for the rehabilitation of the drainage network on the left bank side. In January 2021, the Sindh High Court ordered the removal of encroachments from irrigation department lands by June 30.

More recently, the court’s Sukkur bench issued a verdict in February 2023, asking the government to improve the drainage of storm water from both sides of the Indus by reviving the natural waterways via the construction of new surface/storm drains in the remaining area. The verdict identified 11 obstructions in waterways from Balochistan to Manchhar on the right bank side, and advised the authorities to rectify matters. These efforts yielded no result.

Obstructions created by the Left Bank Outfall Drain against the natural flow of the Puran river caused havoc in Jhudo in Mirpurkhas and put parts of Badin at risk in 2022. LBOD underpasses and regulatory infrastructure at zero point need to be completed before the monsoons. Similarly, the Aral Wah canal, which has been adequately remodelled, was meant to drain the surplus flows of Manchhar to the Indus, but the old regulator on the Indus Highway has not yet been removed. It can potentially cause a bottleneck and make Sehwan and Dadu vulnerable as in 2022. Devastation due to delayed action can cost far more than investment in resilience.

The writer is a civil society professional.

nmemon2004@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2024

Over 100 British artists urge PM candidate Keir Starmer to halt arms sales to Israel

Riz Ahmed and Paloma Faith among those calling on the Labour party leader to 'take a principled stand'.

Images Staff
04 Jun, 2024

Over a hundred British artists urged Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader running for premier, to halt arms sales to Israel and stand against the ongoing atrocities committed in Gaza if he becomes prime minister.

According to The Guardian, the letter adds to pressure on Starmer after London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, and more than 50 Labour members of parliament demanded that the UK government stop supplying Israel with weapons.

The letter, which is signed by Riz Ahmed, Kamila Shamsie, Paloma Faith, Fatima Bhutto, Miriam Margolyes and many others, stated that Starmer, as a former human rights lawyer, had “a unique opportunity to bring about meaningful change by ending UK complicity in war crimes in Gaza”. It further said that in doing so, Starmer would be “well supported”, as a majority of the British public supported ending arms sales to Israel.

It highlighted that in eight months, more than 35,000 people were killed by Israel and that the International Court of Justice had ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah, which they disregarded and continued to bomb the designated safe space.

“Continuing to sell arms to a country whose leader is accused of such grave violations of international law is morally reprehensible,” it read, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu currently faced arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The artists urged Starmer to bring about real change and demonstrate his commitment to justice and human rights as “the lives of countless Palestinians depend on leaders…taking a principled stand”.

Meanwhile, Starmer suggested that legal advice on UK arms sales to Israel would be reviewed under a Labour government. According to MSN.com, the Labour Party leader said, “The Rafah offensive should not go ahead. And that I think our government should follow the US lead on this in relation to arms sales and review the licences to see whether any of them would be or are being used in the Rafah offensive.”

Read the full letter:

“We, the undersigned, write to urge you to take a stand against the ongoing atrocities committed by Israel and commit to stopping arms sales to Israel should you become Prime Minister.

In just eight months, more than 35,000 people have been murdered by Israel. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top court, has ordered Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah.” Yet, Israel has disregarded this ruling and bombed a designated “safe space” 60 times in 48 hours, resulting in the deaths of entire families.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu currently faces arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Continuing to sell arms to a country whose leader is accused of such grave violations of international law is morally reprehensible.

Countries like Spain have already taken action by halting arms sales to Israel. It is time for the UK to follow suit and demonstrate its commitment to human rights and international law.

Polls suggest that you are likely to become the next Prime Minister, winning with a promise of “change.” As a former human rights lawyer, you have a unique opportunity to bring about meaningful change by ending UK complicity in war crimes in Gaza. You would be well supported: a majority of the British public supports ending arms sales to Israel.

The UK must no longer remain complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people. By suspending arms sales to Israel, particularly while its leader faces arrest warrants from the ICC, you can send a clear message that the UK will not tolerate human rights abuses and will stand up for the oppressed.

Sir Keir, we urge you to seize this opportunity to bring about real change and demonstrate your commitment to justice and human rights. The lives of countless Palestinians depend on leaders like you taking a principled stand.“

 

Indian elections and the deluge of disinformation

The "biggest" democratic exercise in history brought with it a surge of false social media posts and instant messaging.

AFP Published June 3, 2024  

India’s six-week election was staggering in its size and logistical complexity, but also in the “unprecedented” scale of online disinformation.

The biggest democratic exercise in history brought with it a surge of false social media posts and instant messaging, ranging from doctored videos to unrelated images with false captions.

Raqib Hameed Naik, from the US-based India Hate Lab, said they had “witnessed an unprecedented scale of disinformation” in the elections. “Conspiracy theories… were vigorously promoted to deepen the communal divide,” said Naik, whose organisation researches hate speech and disinformation.

With seven stages of voting stretched over six weeks, AFP fact-checkers carried out 40 election-related debunks across India’s political divide.

There were fake videos of Bollywood stars endorsing the opposition, as well as those purporting to show one person casting multiple votes. Some were crude or poked fun. Others were far more sinister and sophisticated productions aimed to deliberately mislead.

All were widely shared.

“Fear and animosity”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came under fire for posts stoking sectarian tensions with India’s minority Muslim community of more than 200 million.

These included numerous videos, matching incendiary campaign speeches by Modi, falsely claiming his opponents were planning to redistribute India’s wealth in favour of Muslims.

Naik said such posts “aimed at stoking fear and animosity towards Muslims to polarise voters along religious lines”. “The ruling party’s strategy of exploiting religious sentiments for electoral gain has not only undermined the integrity of the democratic process but also sowed dangerous seeds of division and hatred in society,” he said.

False information was detected across the political spectrum but the leader of the opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, was one of the leading targets.

His statements, videos and photographs were shared on social media, but often incompletely or out of context.

One digitally altered video analysed by AFP used Gandhi’s real boast that the opposition alliance would triumph, but flipped it to say Modi would win a third term when the result is declared on Tuesday.

Others purported to show Gandhi falsely appealing to people to vote for Modi.

Among the more egregious examples were those falsely linking him to India’s rival neighbours, Pakistan and China. Those included a photograph that claimed Gandhi was waving the “Chinese constitution” during an election rally. It was in fact that of India.

Other posts portrayed Gandhi, a Hindu, as being against India’s majority religion, capitalising on Modi’s efforts to cast himself as the country’s most staunch defender of the faith.

One video of a ruined Hindu temple, a real image from Pakistan, was widely shared. However, the post falsely claimed it was from Gandhi’s constituency and that he was responsible for its destruction. Another manipulated video falsely showed him refusing to accept a statue of a Hindu god.

One more claimed he was paying young people to support him on social media, when in reality he was talking about youth unemployment. They were all widely shared by BJP supporters.

Falling trust

While political parties across the board have well-oiled digital outreach and social media teams, critics said the BJP’s sophisticated online campaign was driving posts. Gandhi has alleged vast sums were “spent to distort my image” and blamed Modi’s party.

However, opposition parties also spread disinformation targeting the BJP and glorifying Congress.

Several digitally manipulated videos of two Bollywood actors criticising the BJP and appealing to the public to vote for the Congress party were published. Social media users also shared an old video to falsely accuse the ruling party of tampering with an electronic voting machine to rig the election in its favour.

“Overall, trust in content itself is falling,” said Joyojeet Pal, an expert in the role of technology in democracy from the University of Michigan. Pal told AFP that Indian social media users widely understood the prevalence of disinformation and doctored content during the election.

“So there is a very good chance that they do not believe the doctored content to be real,” he said. “However, there is a good chance they will forward these anyway because they align with their beliefs. “

Why is Modi’s BJP obsessed with anti-Pakistan rhetoric this election cycle?

Experts and analysts believe this year's polls are all about the common man's issues.




Sujatha Balasubramaniam

Published June 3, 2024

DAWN/PRISM 

“INDI gathbandhan ke neta kehte hain k Pakistan ne choodiyan nahi pehni hain, arre bhai pehna denge. (The politicians of INDI alliance say Pakistan has not worn bangles, oh brother we will make it wear them.)”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s jibe at an election rally in Muzaffarnagar last month was aimed more at his political opponents than the neighbouring country. The remarks, a direct response to an earlier comment by National Congress leader Farooq Abdullah, underscore the heightened political tensions and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) efforts to galvanise voter support through strong nationalistic sentiments.

With the tenure of the 17th Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament scheduled to end on June 16, India just completed its 44-day election cycle — starting April 19 and ending June 1 — to elect 543 members to the Lok Sabha.

This wasn’t the first time that Pakistan had been dragged into India’s political rhetoric. Over the years, the BJP has increasingly used the neighbouring country as a rhetorical punching bag, particularly as the campaign has heated up in successive elections cycles.
Distortive narratives

The recent escalation, with PM Modi taking jabs at the INDIA bloc — a multi-party alliance led by the country’s largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress — using Pakistan, can be traced to an interview of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, published by the Press Trust of India.

During the interview, Singh had asserted that India didn’t need to forcefully capture Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) since people were willing to be a part of India having witnessed the developments in Indian occupied Kashmir. The annexation of AJK remains a prominent and contentious agenda on the BJP’s election manifesto, fuelling further debate and drama.

According to media reports, Abdullah, in response to the defence minister’s statement, said: “If the defence minister is saying so, they can go ahead and do it, but remember they are also not wearing bangles; the country has atom bombs, and unfortunately, the bombs will fall on us.”

A few days later, an old video of Mani Shankar Aiyar resurfaced, creating quite a stir. In the clip, the veteran Congress leader can be heard referring to Pakistan as “the biggest asset to India” and advocating for dialogue with the neighbouring country.

Unsurprisingly, his comment was taken out of context, inciting a political firestorm. Aiyar’s remarks were interpreted by some as suggesting that India should engage with Pakistan out of fear of the latter’s nuclear arsenal — a stark misrepresentation of what the Congress leader actually meant.

During the Muzaffarnagar rally, Modi seized on this distorted narrative and accused the Congress-led INDIA alliance of being scared of Pakistan, suggesting that leaders of the bloc seem to be plagued by nightmares of Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities.
BJP’s campaign strategy

“The BJP’s Pakistan rhetoric during this election is different from 2019, which was all about the Pulwama-Balakot attacks and deterrence. It was built on the interplay between terrorism from Pakistan and nationalism from India; that’s why the BJP took the stand: ‘Ghar me ghus ke maarenge (We will enter your homes and hit you)’,” said A*, a professor of international relations at one of India’s largest universities, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivities surrounding the topic.

“But in 2024, the rhetoric revolves around a decision taken in August 2019 — revoking Article 370 of the Constitution. It is built around taking control of all of Kashmir. The prime minister has been emphasising Pakistan’s economic and political instability, as well as its involvement in Afghanistan and the resulting backlash.

“This was to portray Pakistan as a weakened state. Previously, the BJP’s narrative centred around branding Pakistan as a hub of terrorism. However, the narrative has now evolved. The message being conveyed is that while Pakistan remains a terrorist state, it is now weak and fragile, in stark contrast to India’s growing strength on the global stage,” A* continued.

During the 2024 elections, the BJP’s campaign strategy has included a blend of anti-Pakistan rhetoric, Hindu-Muslim dynamics, and foreign policy stances designed to appeal to voters in the west and north of India. Yet, these themes have not resonated as much in the eastern and southern parts of the country.

“Even among those who support these views, it’s uncertain if they will translate into votes,” A* added.

During various election rallies, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have said that if the BJP comes back to power, the party will move aggressively on “taking back” AJK, as the party has always mentioned in its manifesto, to reclaim the part of Kashmir that lies on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LOC).

Concurring with A*, Ajay Darshan Behera, a professor at the Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, said: “It was all about Pulwama back in 2019. Congress had a similar manifesto in a limited way back in 2019, but once Pulwama happened, the opposition was totally blown away by the BJP’s nationalist narrative.”

“In 2024, the rhetoric on Pakistan has diminished due to visible fatigue among the voters. People are more worried about day-to-day problems like unemployment and inflation. After 10 years of BJP rule, they have realised the false promises made by the BJP. After 10 years of BJP rule, many have become disillusioned with the party’s unfulfilled promises.

“This time, the opposition has wisely avoided getting entangled in the BJP’s anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim narratives, focusing instead on concrete issues that directly impact people’s lives,” Behera added.

Meanwhile, Modi and his party did not just continue to bring Pakistan into their election campaigns but also went on to accuse Congress, the main opposition party, of supporting and receiving support from the neighbouring country.

On May 1, Pakistan’s former information minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the comment, “Rahul on Fire”. The tweet went viral, racking up 1.8 million views.

BJP leader Amit Malviya, head of the party’s IT Wing, responded, “Is the Congress planning to contest the election in Pakistan? From a manifesto that has imprints of the Muslim League to a ringing endorsement from across the border, Congress’s dalliance with Pakistan can’t get more obvious.”

Behera, however, dismissed this as yet another attempt to distort reality. “For no reason, Mani Shankar Aiyar’s old video has been brought up during this election, with BJP campaigners claiming that Pakistan wants Rahul Gandhi to be the prime minister and that Congress will support Pakistan if they come to power. But these false narratives are not working; people are more concerned about other things now,” Professor Behera added.

‘People don’t care anymore’

Bharat Bhushan, senior journalist and former editor of Economic and Political Weekly and The Telegraph, raises a pertinent question: “BJP leaders have always claimed that Pakistan wants Congress to win. Why should Pakistan care about Indian elections until and unless there is a provocation? But that’s the BJP’s usual narrative, and Fawad Chaudhry’s tweet gave the BJP even more of a reason to accuse the Congress of getting support from Pakistan.”

“People don’t care anymore. The prime minister does this again and again to ginger up his base. It is only the hardcore BJP supporters want to hear this; it’s for them.”

Bharat said that Modi projects himself as a statesman and goes on to hug Biden, Trump, and all the world leaders to project himself as a great world leader. But back home, he is a majoritarian Hindu leader who makes demeaning comments like “Churiyan pehna denge (We will make you wear bangles)” against Pakistan.

According to Bharat, the BJP appeared to have resisted the temptation to use anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim rhetoric in the initial stages of its election campaign. “But perhaps worried by the low voter turnout, the prime minister soon switched to his old tactics,” said Bharat, quoting Modi as saying at a public rally that “‘Muslims give birth to four children, and if Congress comes to power, they will distribute the wealth of Hindus to Muslims’, which was never mentioned in the Congress manifesto,” the journalist pointed out.

The BJP does not talk about jobs for youth given that unemployment has been the highest in the last four decades, neither does it discuss resolving farmers’ issues — actual issues that many Indian voters care about. Meanwhile, India’s relationship with Pakistan has come to the lowest level during the BJP rule. It does not have high commissioners or visas for Pakistanis, there is no trade relationship between the two states, diplomatic relations have hit rock bottom, and the BJP is thriving only on its anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan rhetoric.

India’s foreign policy with respect to Pakistan has also remained highly questionable. According to a recent report by The Guardian, India’s foreign intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), has been involved in the killings of up to 20 individuals in Pakistan since 2020 as part of its policy to target terrorists living on foreign soil.

The report further mentions that India has previously denied any involvement in the assassinations, but after the Guardian report, India’s defence minister was quoted as saying: “If

 

How Safe Are Workers in India’s Automotive Industry?

Ashmita Sharma , Yugank Mishra | 

30 May 2024

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The automotive components manufacturing industry is a vital cog in India’s manufacturing juggernaut, but major issues with occupational health and safety despite abundance of regulations raises some serious questions.

On March 16, 2024, a blast at a Lifelong India Private Limited unit in Dharuhera industrial cluster in the Rewari district of Haryana injured 40 workers, 16 of whom have since succumbed to their injuries and died.

This particular factory manufactures components such as plastic injection moulded parts and aluminium pressure die casted parts. It also does the assemblies thereof, which are used in automobiles, electronics, batteries etc.

Its buyers are some of the leading global brands such as General Motors, Hero Motor Corps, Exide, Panasonic, LeGrand, amongst others. The cause, identified in a preliminary investigation report by the state authorities, was a spark spreading to the dust collector, used during the buffing operations, which collects hazardous fine metal dust and was inadequately maintained and cleaned.

A blast at a Lifelong India Private Limited unit in Dharuhera industrial cluster in the Rewari district of Haryana injured 40 workers, 16 of whom have since succumbed to their injuries and died.

Following the accident, a currently ongoing study on occupational safety and health rights of workers in the automotive industry in Haryana was undertaken by the authors. Here we present excerpted fieldnotes.

Regulatory mechanisms galore

It is a well-known conundrum, even if it is not often spoken about, among professionals working towards social sustainability in global supply chains that there is an abundance of regulatory mechanisms to ensure workers welfare but their implementation is glaringly bad.

This begs the question— do the overlaps of regulation— across domains of national and international, State and non-state policies, conventions and laws— reinforce and strengthen each or do they become a means of evading accountability and compromising workers’ and human rights.

Thus, for example, the occupational safety and health of the Indian automotive industry workers is wrought within multiple regulatory frameworks such as, the Eighth UN Sustainable Development Goal, International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Centenary Declaration Para II.D. and III.B., Principle 3 of National Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India; fundamental rights and directive principles of the Indian Constitution enshrined in the Factories Act of 1948 or Employee State Insurance Act of 1948, along with non-State, non-judicial mechanisms such as management standards of OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001: 2018 or a variety of supplier codes of conducts or sustainability compliances of international brands and companies. 

Though these provide differing standards of safe working conditions, inspections, audit regimes and enforcement mechanisms for regulation, prevention and remediation of occupational hazards, a non-compliance and violation of one is, in most cases, that of many.

However, what is curious is that such overlaps which, in principle, can strengthen regulatory frameworks across domains, in reality, work together to aggravate the shortcomings of each until what we are left with is a lacuna of regulation and a severely vulnerable ‘precariat’.

Lifelong precarity at Dharuhera

This is illustrated by one of the first interviews that we conducted with an ex-worker of Lifelong India Pvt Ltd in Dharuhera. He had been recently called from his village by the labour contractors and management of the factory as a significant chunk of workers resigned in the aftermath of the accident and the factory was facing a labour shortage.

When asked about the accident, he informed us, “I am unaware of the accident as I was not here… Thankfully, I had suffered a leg injury three months ago working in the same line where the blast occurred and I had gone to my village.

“A bin placed behind me fell on me and my leg got stuck in the machine. Otherwise, I would also be in the factory and would probably be dead today. Now, I have been called by the contractor but I do not feel like rejoining the factory where my friends died.”

When asked about whether such incidents are a common occurrence in the factory, he replied that his was a particularly grave injury but usually, minor injuries are common (“choti moti chotein lagti rehti hain”).

When asked about whether such incidents are a common occurrence in the factory, he replied that his was a particularly grave injury but usually, minor injuries are common (“choti moti chotein lagti rehti hain”).

On being asked what these ‘minor injuries’ are, he informed us of workers losing their fingers in the power presses and other machines.

As the Future of Work in the Automotive Industry by the ILO informs us, this ‘industry of industries’ is one of the most hazardous in the world, surpassing even mining and basic chemicals manufacturing in the dangers it poses to workers’ life and limb.

Organisations such as Safe In India have highlighted that losing fingers is one of the most common injuries which affects the automotive workers in India and have also highlighted that this occupational hazard is more pronounced for migrant workers who hail from marginalised backgrounds of caste, gender, religion and region.

They are mostly the ones who are employed as contractual, unorganised workers, usually unskilled or inadequately skilled for working hazardous machines and processes.

During our fieldwork, when we asked whether the company provides these workers with any safety and health hazards trainings or instructions, the workers informed us that the only instruction from the management on the machines is how much output thy should be ideally producing in a day and how the workers must make sure that the machines do not ‘stop’ in between the change of shifts.

One of the ways of making sense of the contradiction between the abundance and inefficacy of regulatory mechanisms was provided to us in a discussion that sparked off during our field visits.

The workers argue that the normalisation of unsafe and hazardous working conditions must be seen in relation to the precarity that they face in other domains of life.

This is symptomised by the absence of effective worker voice and lack of participation in co-creating implementable solutions for decent working conditions in the factories.

Thus, one of them informed us that normally the system of shift rotation works such that until the workers in the subsequent shift do not enter and start work on the machines, the earlier shift of workers are not allowed to go by the management.

The justification provided is that the machines, once they turn off, take a lot of time to start and ‘heat’ up. This leads them to often keep working for over 14 hours a day usually, and occasionally, even over a day!

Another worker highlighted that the factory has employed contract workers on abysmally low piece rates (the amount was ₹0.5 per bike handle that is buffed!) so that the workers are forced to accept long working hours to earn a living to meet their subsistence costs.

On being asked what these ‘minor injuries’ are, he informed us of workers losing their fingers in the power presses and other machines.

Another example given was of the time when the factory management issued a blanket prohibition on getting mobile phones to work when one of the workers had suffered an injury during work, making it a matter of the workers collective negligence and evading its own responsibility of providing safe working conditions.

In fact, on the day of the blast itself, the workers alleged that a number of them were not allowed to leave the factory premises even after having completed their daily targets and were made to wait in the factory until the next shift of workers arrived, which led to the deaths of quite a few.

For the workers, the normalisation of unsafe and hazardous working conditions is unambiguously the expression of the arbitrary power that the ‘factory’ enjoys because of the absence of their collective voice.

Long working hours, high production targets, low remunerations and other disciplinary measures exist and persist because of the workers inability to negotiate.

This inability is not organic. Rather, it is instituted by the ‘factory’ which has, on multiple occasions and through several means, curbed any attempt by the workers to collectively represent themselves and their interests on the shop floor.

So much so that the ‘factory’ or the ‘company’, as it is framed within the workers discourses, is a distinctly antagonistic entity, pitted against their interests.

“Company ko toh production se matlab hai, chahe main karu ya koi aur” (the company only cares about the output irrespective of who produces it), one hears as a colloquialism from many workers when probed on why do they not complain about unsafe working conditions.

Anecdotes of retrenchment or ‘blacklisting’ from the entire industrial cluster whenever anyone raised such concerns are part of the workers’ collective memory.

A larger problem

Symptomatically, this incident exemplifies one of the biggest problems that plagues production in the global supply chains, generally, and that of the automotive industry, in particular, in India.

The automobile sector as a whole contributes around 7 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India, of which 2.3 percent comes from the auto components manufacturing sector. In terms of manufacturing GDP of India, the sector contributes between 35–49 percent. The industry has contributed to India being counted as one of the five biggest players in the global automotive industry.

Cumulatively, the automotive sector employs over 25 million workers directly or indirectly.

Though a majority of the production, in terms of supply chain integration, is nationally oriented; a significant integration of the auto components manufacturing sector with the global value chain with a surplus of US $700 million in favour of exports was recorded in 2022–23.

The exports are expected to increase to US $30 billion in 2026 from the current US $19 billion. Haryana, and specifically its Gurgaon–Manesar–Bawal belt, is the biggest automotive industrial hub of India, where this incident occurred.

The workers argue that the normalisation of unsafe and hazardous working conditions must be seen in relation to the precarity that they face in other domains of life.

However, the growth of the automotive industry in India, and specifically, Haryana, has been ridden with industrial conflicts, as Tom Barnes has brilliantly captured in his book, Making Cars in New India.

Ironically, one of the major points of escalation of conflict in the Haryana automotive industry, a decade ago, was collectivisation. Ironic because despite such a history and such precarity of the workforce, the concerns of workers rights and a sustainable automotive supply chain are still given a backseat in policy documents such as Automotive Mission Plan, 2016–26 or the Automobile Components Manufacturers’ Association, 2023 report titled Mobility 360°: Sustainability for Competitiveness.

The suggestions by the workers during our field visit that the concerns of occupational health, safety and hazards cannot be effectively tackled without workers participation and collectives reverberates the opinions and experiences of many scholars, practitioners and case-studies from around the world.

If the labyrinth of regulatory mechanisms functions adversely for the workers wellbeing by aggravating the shortcomings in each, practitioners working towards socially sustainable supply chains must highlight and advocate the strengths in each level of regulatory mechanisms.

With specific regards to strengthening the occupational health and safety rights of the Indian industrial workers through means of collective participation, we find one such tool in the Factories Act of 1948, whose effective implementation and non-dilution may be the foremost agenda of development practitioners concerned with social sustainability in global value chains related to India.

As a statute, it is a comprehensive regulation which spans from detailing the safety provisions such as fencing the machines to mandating creches, bathrooms, spittoons and other facilities and mandating maintenance rosters. It provides many other safeguards, from maintaining adequate records of workers health to thorough inspections by the State authorities.

However, key for our purpose are its provisions for workers participation through their representation in safety committees and their right to raise grievances against unsafe and hazardous working conditions and robust procedures for the disposal of such complaints.

Further, more than the immediate supplier and factory management, such incidents reflect poorly on their buyers and brands at the top of the supply chains.

Though claiming conscientiousness through supplier codes of conducts and sustainable supplier selection processes, the industrial units have often been criticised for having inadequate mechanisms of inspection, follow-up, enforcement and sustainable supplier development process that would capacitate those lower in the supply chain to institute socially sustainable practices. This is specifically the case with automotive global supply chains.

Lessons to draw

Drawing lessons from other industries, such as the garment sector and textiles, which have implemented agreements like the ACCORD on fire and building safety in Bangladesh from 2013 and the Dindigul Agreement, nearer home in Tirupur from 2022, the automotive industry must adopt similar binding and enforceable mechanisms.

The automobile sector as a whole contributes around 7 percent to the GDP of India, of which 2.3 percent comes from the auto components manufacturing sector.

These should include comprehensive inspections, transparent reporting and genuine efforts towards capacity building at all levels of the supply chain.

In lieu of a conclusion, we would like to reproduce here a cynicism of the wife of a worker injured in the accident and urge the stakeholders to acknowledge a certain de facto negligence and, ipso facto, a certain persistence of unsafe and hazardous conditions for the workers.

“What will come of these enquiries? Nothing really changes here. Important people come, ask, and everyone forgets about it in sometime. We are the ones who have to struggle through it all,” she told us.

Beneath the apparent cynicism lies a historical and systemic negligence which articulates itself as a structural divide of ‘important people’ and ‘those who struggle’— of ‘us’ and ‘them’.

The trope of conflict as a cost to be borne for socially unsustainable practices is not lost on the automotive industry in India and even globally, and we urge reckoning with the same.

The path to a socially sustainable and safe automotive industry in India lies in bridging the gap between regulation and practice and fostering an on-going process of social dialogue that includes all stakeholders— workers, management, civil society organisations, policy makers and global brands.

More than the immediate supplier and factory management, accidents reflect poorly on buyers and brands at the top of the supply chains.

Ensuring workers’ right to collective participation is vital to this process. A process where the voices of the workers are not only heard but are central to the discourse on occupational safety and health.

By advocating for stronger enforcement of existing laws and fostering a culture of safety and accountability, we can ensure that the lives of workers are not sacrificed at the altar of industrial progress.

Ashmita Sharma is the executive director of SLD. She champions sustainable industrial practices that integrate gender equity and labour rights.

Yugank Mishra is a historian engaged with the social development sector.

Courtesy: The Leaflet