Well, for one who had been
daddy sitting for almost 7 years, the lock down is only another name for
staying at home. (Not that my dad was sick, or bed ridden. On the other hand, well
into his 80s, he was far too active for his age. In a way, even for my age. And
that was why I had to be around, to ensure that he did not suffer any fall or
such mishap.) After his demise, the only change that had occurred in my routine
was an outing for about an hour in the evenings to visit relations or some
senior citizens in the neighborhood.
It was the compulsion that
came with the lockdown that made it unpalatable for the first few days. This
was so, although it was amply clear that the only way of prevention was to keep
social distance. In other words, be with yourself and your family, staying in
the same house.
As days dragged on the
main obsession was with news on the spread of the virus and the number of
casualties- both, who were infected and those who had succumbed.
In Kerala the Chief
Minster himself would give out the figures, ensuring that separate figures were
mentioned of those who had come with infections from abroad. Piqued by this
categorization, an NRI posted a message on social media that the CM should be
more circumspect and bear in mind the conditions under which Malayalees were
toiling out there to keep their relations here and the State itself
economically better off.
The CM had probably taken
on the briefing part himself after his Health Minster, who had been doing the
briefing earlier, had kept blaming the Center for not doing enough scanning and
segregation at the airports.
When lock down was
announced apart from essential services, in Kerala, all other government
offices were to work with 50 percent attendance every day, with the staff
rotating each day. And it was to be a five-day week too.
The Central government
offices too were required to work with minimum essential staff.
But almost a week before
the PM announced a three-week national lock down, the apex court had reduced
the number of benches from 15 to 6. And when the national lockdown was
announced it was reduced to a bench for considering urgent matters.
We all know that it is
only the courts that had been working as per schedules prepared by them,
including crowd management (if at all we could call it management) through the
number of cases listed for the day. So, there was no rationale in courts doing
with namesake benches to deal with ‘urgent’ matters.
How these benches would
work also would make one raise one’s eyebrows.
In the apex court, the
bench would be in one court room and the advocates in another. The hearing
would be conducted through video conferencing.
The Kerala High Court’s
designated bench would hold sittings on a few notified days only.
It has been reported that
all the cases that had been listed for hearing during the lock down days are
being adjourned to Jul 2020, after the summer vacation.
Thankfully, the Supreme
Court Bar Association has requested the court to do away with the summer
vacation to make up for the lost working days of the court.
The enforcement of the
lock down has also invited criticism from some quarters for the way police
personnel had resorted to extra-legal methods to punish those who violated the
lock down laws. For once, there is a need to condone this because wisdom through
the ages tell us that those who are not taught at home to behave will have to
learn it at the hands of the public (read police, here).
More importantly the great
job done by these public servants, working for more than 12 to 15 hours at a
stretch, in delivering food to the needy and assisting the health workers to
track and quarantine those who had come into contact with suspected infected
persons were a treat to the eyes. There have been reports of these teams facing
stiff resistance in some pockets, including being attacked and pelted with
stones.
The most heart wrenching
scenes during the lockout were of migrant laborers, along with families,
trekking back to their native places, hundreds of kilometers away, from Delhi
and other cities. The grit amidst helplessness had to be seen to be believed.
Some body rightly commented on social media that these poor people never
resorted to hurling stones at policemen and security personnel or abusing them.
Even their character was emulative when they would only accept the minimum that
they needed from those offering food, water and fruits on their way.
The Prime Minister, while
announcing the lock down, had clearly requested that the daily wage earners
should be looked after by the employers till the situation got back to normal.
If only those employers had resorted to paying the advance of their wages for a
month and held them back wherever they were, and opted to recover the advance
in instalments subsequently, a lot of hardship could have been avoided.
But unlike the migrant
laborers, those who congregated at a Nizamuddin mosque created havoc with the
national effort to contain the pandemic through social distancing and lock
down. Reports indicate that participants of this congregation have been
responsible for almost 60 percent of the spurt in cases reported thereafter.
Not to mention the herculean task in tracking those who had come into contact
with them and quarantining them.
Another alarming report
has been of consignments from China being contaminated. It was reported that a
few persons of a company in Mysuru, Karnataka who had handled some consignments
from China had tested positive. And a couple of European countries too had
reported that even the medical stores received from China were found contaminated.
There is this truism that
the true worth of a person can be righty gauged only when he is in difficult
times. It appears to be true of nations too. One report informed us that a
plane loaded with masks, ventilators etc for a European nation was diverted to
America because of a higher, cash down payment offered. The only thing missing
is the clarity on the role of the US administration in the incidence.
The pandemic has exposed
the underbelly of the international organizations like UNO and WHO. Particularly
with China heading the UN Security Council on a rotational basis, effort to
rake up the issue in the UN has not only failed but WHO is also alleged to be
complicit in spreading the virus by relaying too much on the information fed by
China only.
The way events have
shaped, if somebody believes that it was the trial of a biological weapon gone
awry, he cannot be blamed. Now China has also banned research into the origin
of this outbreak from Wuhan.
Amidst all these dark
clouds, the silver lining is the growth of India as a role model to deal with
crises. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to his fellow countrymen to thank
the Covid warriors by lighting a lamp or candle for 9 minutes at 9 PM on 5th
April was not only received with great aplomb by Indians, in India, it was
welcomed equally well by people in Australia, UK, US of A and many more
countries, large and small.
There have been reports
also of Japan setting up a fund to persuade its companies in China to shift,
back to Japan or anywhere else. The chances of many of them shifting to India
are good. Such moves can be expected from many of the European and American
establishments also.
And, yes, some body has
rightly pointed out that India is now a pharmacy for the world. The demand of Hydroxychloroquine
by the US of A, for which the President of the US had made a direct request to
our Prime Minister, is indeed gratifying.
Unfortunately, there were
unwarranted controversies raked up by the media who reported that Trump had
threatened India with retaliation and Modi succumbed to it.
But then, media apart,
there are many in this country whose only agenda seems to be belittling the
nation and it elected leader, Narendra Damodardas Modi. This Covid season seems
to establish not only Narendra Modi as a world leader but also this nation as a
wonder, defeating a pandemic stoically amidst a lot of poverty.
The predictions from
Nostradamus to Einstein are being recollected, of India’s rise to leadership
among world’s nations. Something we can all be proud of and help to cheer us in
these days of gloom.
P M Ravindran,
raviforjustice@gmail.com
14 Apr 2020
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