Social Distance: When Violators Preach Compliance
The specter of lockdown is looming large over the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared on television and warned people that ‘stringent measures must be followed.’ Partial lockdown has been imposed in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and other cities. With shops and hotels on the verge of opening, the government issued an order to shut them down. In Mumbai, the condition of hoteliers from coastal Karnataka is worrying. The government that demanded and made the hoteliers pay for new licenses before March 31 is now imposing restrictions on opening hotels. Hoteliers who have paid up for licenses have no business now. These hoteliers who are reeling under losses are now on the verge of selling their hotels. Hotel workers are unable to return to Mumbai and not able to stay in their hometowns. Those who were on their way to Mumbai are now in a quandary of returning home with the new restrictions in place.
The plight of migrant workers who had left their villages to return to cities is also pathetic. The statement of Maharashtra Chief Minister that migrant labourers are responsible for spreading the Coronavirus in the state has scared workers. Migrant labourers take refuge in cities leaving behind their villages for three main reasons. One, most of these labourers are agricultural workers. Having failed in agriculture due to drought and other adversities , they inevitably take the route to the cities. And most of these people belong to lower castes. Besides, farmers who were employed by zamindars and paid low wages leave for cities for a higher pay. The third group of people are those who are frustrated at the caste discrimination in rural areas. These people go to work as construction labourers in cities. Roads, bridges, and buildings that the government claims is development are constructed with the blood and sweat of these workers.
During the previous lockdown, thousands of migrant labourers who were without food and water had to inevitably return to their villages and towns. The financial loss, destruction of lives, and deaths are still fresh in people’s minds. The problems of these migrant labourers did not get resolved when they reached their native. Villages that were also facing the brunt of the Coronavirus considered these migrant labourers untouchables. As villages were not willing to welcome them, they had to be in quarantine on trees and open spaces. The media however has not published any details about those who fell sick and died in villages. Very few of those who went back to villages stayed rooted there. Those who had agricultural land did not take the risk of going back to the cities but those who depended on daily wages had to return to the cities within a few days. As thousands of labourers reached their villages and towns at the same time, there were no opportunities for work there and villages treated them with cruelty. When lockdown was relaxed, these labourers returned to the cities. But now that rumours of an impending lockdown in cities like Ahmedabad and Mumbai are floating, these labourers are scared and are packing their bags to return to their native before transportation is completely stopped.
Prime Minister Modi has called on states to ‘impose stringent restrictions.’ But people are asking why were these ‘stringent restrictions’ not imposed in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other states during electioneering? Gathering lakhs of people, Modi had conducted electioneering in states that were going for elections. How were these ‘stringent regulations’ discounted then? If the Coronavirus does not spread when lakhs of people gather, how does it spread when people go about doing their daily work in urban areas? People are raising questions whether Modi has the morality to order ‘stringent regulations’ when he is guilty of convening large-scale programmes with lakhs of people by throwing to the wind all regulations.
How appropriate is it for the common man to pay a heavy price with the lockdown when politicians convene election meetings and spread the Coronavirus? The biggest irony is that the same government that is concerned about people and imposes restrictions and threatens a lockdown has permitted Kumbh Mela where crores of people from various parts of the country gather. How does the coronavirus that does not spread in the Kumbh mela spread when people engage in everyday business or when malls open and buses and vehicles ply on the roads? Without clarifying these issues, it would become difficult for people to take the Coronavirus regulations seriously.
Even as the Chief Minister was announcing restrictions in Karnataka, a massive religious programme has been organized in the house of BJP state unit President in Dakshina Kannada district. Leaders of all political parties are arriving in droves to participate in this religious programme. When there are no restrictions around these people, the common man is bound to raise questions whether the government is deliberately trying to make life difficult for ordinary people. It is therefore imperative for politicians to comply with regulations before issuing orders to people.
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