One factor that is challenging the combined efforts of all the relentless workers is not even the communicability of the virus but superstition!
NIRMALKUMAR MOHANDOSS
As India is marching forward in its fight against the deadly COVID19, the Government of India and several State Governments, their officials and staff, particularly medical & para medical professionals, the police and sanitation workers are putting up all their efforts and knowledge for the noble cause. But one factor that is challenging the combine efforts of all these relentless and selfless human beings is not even the communicability of the virus but superstition.
Facilitating the fight against the disease, the Prime Minister initially appealed to the people of the nation to go on a Janata curfew on the 22nd of March preparing them for a self imposed restraint. In his speech, the Prime Minister called the people to go out to their balconies, windows or stand at their doors and clap, bang on their plates or ring bells at 5 p.m ‘as an expression of gratitude to those relentless workers who are keeping the country going’. As the nation was gearing up to self imposed restraint, the PM’s efforts went in vain at 5 p.m when public gathered in large numbers at several pockets and even carrying out public marches, clearly disregarding his advice to ‘neither leave our (their) homes, not get onto the streets or roam about our (their) localities’, banging whatever they had. This potentially created a catastrophe facilitating the deadly COVID19 to spread wide, the medical consequences of which are yet to be known.
It is rather shocking to know that the background of such irrational and insane behavior of several people is superstition. Several people with vested interest started attributing the Prime Minister’s call for clapping hands and banging plates to astrology and cosmology leading ignorant and naïve people to gather in large numbers. Unfortunately, well educated people from higher political and social strata not only believed such theories but became public relations officers and propagandists of the PM to appreciate him for cleverly giving such advice (which he, in fact, did not).
For instance, ironically the Vice Chancellor of a law university in Tamil Nadu declared in his social media that ‘someone very knowledgeable is (was) guiding Modi about this. It works on 22nd March Amavasya, darkest day…when virus, bacteria and evil forces have maximum potential and power on such days…. 5-pm clapping, shankh nada etc by 130 crore people at the same time will create so much vibrations that virus will lose all potency…must for everyone.’ This is not only medically false of the nature of virus, but also accelerated idiocy among the unread and fawners leading them to socially gather despite the Prime Minister’s clear advice to stay at home and exercise maximum self restraint and social distancing.
Instead of following the Prime Minister & his Government’s instructions to stay at home, in the third and fourth week of March several politicians belonging to his very own party gathered in large numbers for cow urine parties, even sickening one civic worker at Kolkata leading to FIRs and arrests. This not only slowed down the Government’s efforts to contain the spread of virus but also tarnished India’s image at the global level as several news papers and news channels reported such events.
Despite advisories otherwise, religious gatherings have been the biggest threat against containing the COVID19. For instance, gathering at a Church in Gyeonggi Province in South Korea infected 46 believers which potentially led to wide spread outbreak of the disease in the country. Similarly, on March 31st, Deutsche Welle reported how defiance of Islamic clerics is causing the wide spread of Covid in Pakistan, with specific examples from ‘Tablighi Jamaat’ congregation in Punjab province. All this after several Islamic countries including Saudi Arabia shut down their Mosques.
Even after the Prime Minister’s appeal, the New York times and several other news agencies, centre piece articles & opinions expressed their worries against UP Government’s inaction from stopping the mass gathering at Ayodhya for a 9 day celebration for Ram Navami. Thankfully nation-wide shut down in the week to follow potentially averted such gatherings and consequential Corona outbreak at Ayodhya. Testimonially, it is now well recorded and documented that large gathering by Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi’s Nizamuddin has clearly spiked the number of COVID19 infections in the country. A day after the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, the business standard article reported how Pilgrim flow rose by 7.5% to over 60,000 at Tirumala despite Coronavirus threat.
These unforeseen and tough times call for evolution of scientific temper and approach among the public and overwhelm superstition. However vested interests only take advantage of the largely backward mindset & prevailing superstition among the general public to propagate their beliefs and businesses by spreading several false, baseless unscientific information facilitated by several religious organizations, self – declared saints and their institutions.
Moreover speeches & social media posts declaring and endorsing such unscientific and superstitious beliefs by political leaders and people occupying high offices in the Government including educations institutions blow down the sincere efforts of the Central & State Governments and several self-less & relentless workers who have put themselves at risk to save our lives.
In fact, when people across political and religious spectrum should unite, co-operate & co-ordinate to stop the outbreak of COVID19, social media is turning out to be the hotbed of communal hatred discussing which religious text/God can fight the deadly virus.
Now that the Prime Minister urged the people to switch off lights at homes and light candles, dia or flash lights at door steps or in the balcony for 9 minutes from 9 p.m on 5th of April to dispel darkness, several baseless information on how ‘130 candles lit together will increase temperature and kill Corona’ and how ‘Modi’s research team has understood the quantum theory to kill viruses’ started spreading like wild-fire. Consequently, several places witnessed mass gathering of people with candles, lights and beacon rallying with Go Corona slogans endangering lives of a few thousands absolutely against the advice of the PM and Governments at the Centre and States.
It is high time that people stop reading and sharing information about COVID19 in Social media and start following advisories and directions issued by the Governments to keep themselves safe. All people who generate, endorse and spread such false & superstitious information should be put behind bars, among other offences for their ‘negligent or malicious act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life’ irrespective of their political leanings, high offices they hold or their socio-economic background.
[The author, our founder is available for comments at nirmalkumar.m.law@gmail.com]
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