Switch on the TV and all you will hear are reports about the spike in the number of Coronavirus cases. These are being linked to the congregation in Nizamuddin
A rather disconcerting communal atmosphere seems to have enveloped the entire country at a critical juncture when we all should be displaying common sense, unity and the resolve to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19. We were on top of things till a week or two ago but now the virus seems to be spreading at a faster pace. Till now we have 4,858 confirmed cases and the deaths have spiked to 136. However, we still seem to be doing better than the developed nations with better healthcare infrastructure than us. For instance, the US has 3,67,650 cases and nearly 10,000 fatalities while Spain has 1,36,675 cases and 13,341 deaths and Italy is battling with 1,32,547 cases and has seen 16,523 deaths so far.
If we were to compare ourselves to all these nations, their population density to ours and the number of cases they have, we would realise that till now we have not done so badly.
Yet, switch on the television and all you will hear are alarming reports about the exponential rise in the number of positive cases in the last two weeks. Worryingly, these are being linked to the congregation at the Markaz Tablighi Jamaat at Hazrat Nizamuddin.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, is certain that criminal proceedings must be initiated against the maulana of the Markaz. The discourse has become so distorted and warped that it has now assumed a communal hue. The hawkish rhetoric directed against the minority community continues unabated. Compounding this trend are news reports that there have been instances of stone pelting by the community in question against the healthcare professionals and the law enforcement authorities who were urging citizens to get tested. Many videos of these alleged incidents are also doing the rounds on social media. This only galvanises the situation and the social context.
A closer look at the chronology of events portrays a different picture. Were events of this kind held across the country in the days that followed the fateful gathering? The answer is an unequivocal “yes.” On March 16, the Hindu Mahasabha conducted a gau mutra (cow urine) party to “cure” Coronavirus in which thousands of people assembled. The revered town of Tirupati hosted close to 40,000 people on March 18. It closed only the following day. When the “Janta (people’s) curfew” was announced on March 22, we all saw the throng of humanity erupting in ebullient cheers minutes after it ended and thronging the streets. The instructions were clearly articulated earlier. Stand on your respective balconies and praise the diligence of healthcare professionals, the media, the armed forces, police force, essential commodity providers, the sanitation workers and so on, who are on the frontline battling the Coronavirus by going above and beyond their call of duty in these trying times. What did people do instead? They gathered in disturbing numbers, banged plates and distributed sweets. They pranced around the streets in different parts of India. When the people were given a four-hour notice by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the country went into a 21-day lockdown, millions desperately took to the streets to procure vital rations and groceries. The norms of social distancing were conveniently forgotten.
The following day, amid the nationwide lockdown, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted the Ram Lalla movement event. It did receive a lot of flak by the Opposition, the media and on social media and other platforms but the story slowly fell into oblivion and is now far removed from public consciousness.
Migrants who are scattered across the country embarked on an arduous journey home; in large numbers. Could the lockdown have been better planned? Perhaps yes. Was there an acute failure in implementing public policy? Most certainly. Why could not the Centre have foreseen the situation arising and the States not have been cautioned that such a mass migration would take place. The Union Government and the States should have worked together to prevent the humanitarian crisis that eventually unfolded and also increased the risk of a spike in Coronavirus cases across the country. The Centre and States should have planned to have the necessary infrastructure, transport and medical equipment in place to facilitate a smooth transition instead of the chaos which ensued? We are a nation where rural-urban migration is a reality and has been the subject of numerous studies. So could this not have been foreseen?
So is Arvind Kejriwal correct in his assessment in implementing criminal proceedings against the maulana of the centre? After all, the assembly was a flagrant violation of the norms. Should the debate assume a communal context? No. This debate is not about which community conducted a gathering and which conformed to the norms of “social distancing” which mind you was emphasised only recently after the Prime Minister announced the first nationwide lockdown on March 22. The gathering had a number of international visitors which can partially explain the spread of the virus.
But what is disquieting is the lopsided nature of the debate. It is immoral and unfair to attribute the exponential rise in the number of detected cases to one community. This is because there were other leakages in the system and with time we will begin to understand and identify the causations and patterns. We all need to take collective responsibility because the virus, as stated innumerable times, does not discriminate. You could be Prince Charles or Boris Johnson. It will not see your lineage or blue blood before striking you. The Nizamuddin event was a matter of chance with things taking a deadly turn. The debate needs to be more realistic and balanced. However, that said, it is also incumbent upon the community in question to ask its people to behave in a more respectful and cooperative manner with those who are looking after them in quarantine. Reports of roaming around in the nude to harass the women healthcare workers and spitting on people will embarrass and silence even the most neutral of observers.
As it is, there have been so many misconceptions about the virus that even the so-called “educated” people in society have become susceptible to rumours. When my sister-in-law returned from the United Kingdom (UK) on March 9, the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) members demanded to see her travel documents. They did not heed the fact that testing was being conducted at airports and she was anyways adhering to self-quarantine norms. Much to her consternation, the situation was only defused after the intervention of relevant authorities.
There is another unnerving trend which seems to be gripping India. The Nizamuddin episode seems to have polarised the country. At home we have a large live-in staff. At night, post dinner, they all sit upstairs in their bedroom and watch television. Every day the conversations are invariably about how India will descend into chaos and anarchy and Muslims are the ones to be blamed for this mayhem. I try to reason with them and apprise them about similar developments around the country but they appear obstinate and are determined to pursue a chain of thought. I wonder what the broader ramifications of such a thought process will be for the entire nation. What if we have more illiterate people who are being brainwashed and subscribe to this same propaganda? It could have a cascading effect, which could arrest the harmonious progress of a pluralistic nation like ours. After all, this is a once in a lifetime occurrence for many of us and if a certain community is portrayed in poor light then it will take a lot to erase the scars and the pervasive prejudice.
In such uncertain times, when a lot of negative publicity is being hurled at us, it is vitally important that we are circumspect and unbiased in our appraisal of the situation on the ground. Let’s not make this global calamity about a community and isolate them. This is a time to shed grudges and imagine a new world; a world where we all can take a common stand and tread a path together. And hopefully we will be able to surmount this malaise which affected one and all, so that we can once again see each other as human beings who share the same needs and have the same vulnerabilities. The boundaries of caste and creed are only imagined because when tragedy strikes it knows no distinctions.
(The writer is a socio-economic commentator)
