BackOpinion | India must combat both corona and communal viruses
A country as large as India cannot bear the burden of a lockdown for a longer period
PremiumAllow me to begin with an incident which occurred on Sunday afternoon. When an SUV tried to enter the sabzi mandi in Patiala city, Punjab Police personnel tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver rammed the vehicle into the barricades and tried to speed away.
However, a part of the barricade got stuck, and the vehicle could not move. As soon as the car stopped, five Nihangs jumped out of the car and assaulted more than half a dozen policemen, seriously injuring an assistant sub inspector, before taking shelter in a nearby gurudwara. Later, Punjab police commandos arrested them from the gurudwara and recovered weapons and lakhs of rupees.
Just imagine, had there been Maulanas in place of the Nihangs, and a mosque instead of a gurudwara—all hell would have broken loose! Both Sikhs and Muslims are minority communities, but we live in an India full of contradictions. And, this incident is a live example.
There was yet another incident in Surat, wherein a group of migrant labourers, sick and tired of their helplessness and misery after losing their livelihood following the nationwide lockdown, came out on the streets on Friday. The protests became violent, and the police used force to disperse the crowd.
However, elsewhere, similar gatherings of migrant labourers did not invite similar action from the police because they were in large numbers. It was obvious that the police did not hesitate in confronting the small crowd in Surat, but was careful not to lose their cool when thousands hit the street.
In fact, if the lockdown continues, such flare-ups maybe on the cards considering the uncertainty, frustration and helplessness of our unorganized labour force.
Concrete efforts should be made for the betterment of daily wage workers when state governments move to extend the lockdown.
This lockdown has become a cause for anxiety, hunger and restlessness for them.
In India agriculture is the main source of livelihood for a majority of the people. The rabi crop is standing in the fields ready to be harvested. As temperatures rise, the possibility of wheat being burnt will be stronger. Besides relaxing the rules for harvesting, workers too will have to be made available by lifting curbs.
This doesn’t end here. This crop has to reach the mandis and farmers should be given an appropriate price for their crop. For this, the supply chain will have to be freed. Not doing this will cause various challenges and the consequences may hurt us for a long time.
Not only this. Closing down of large and small scale industries for a longer duration will harm a large section of the population and, subsequently, the country’s economy. Industrialists and entrepreneurs have voiced their fears and demanded that they be allowed to run at least one daily shift.
Air traffic, trains and national highways will also have to be opened. Some restrictions can be enforced to prevent the spread of this pandemic. For example, the number of passengers travelling in buses, trains and flights can be limited so that people can follow social distancing. This will help restart the circulation of money, and the country maybe rejuvenated. More than four hundred districts of the country are still untouched by the coronavirus. The rules can be comparatively more relaxed there.
According to Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), a country as large as India cannot bear the burden of a lockdown for a longer period. Therefore, special arrangements should be made to send migrant workers to the uninfected areas after medical tests.
Ficci has also appealed to the government to advise the district magistrates that they should take help of MGNREGA workers for harvesting rabi crops. Imposing heavy tax on imports for the next six months to help the domestic small scale industry has also been suggested.
It’s obvious that while grappling with this pandemic, the government will have to find ways to cure this economic depression. Let’s hope the present regime will pay attention to this. As far as the communal virus is concerned, the society will have to deal with it.
If we don’t, then coming generations will ask us with shock and surprise—was coronavirus not enough that we created another infection of communal virus for ourselves?
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. His Twitter handle is @shekarkahin
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
