“My people are needlessly dying. Our government has blood on its hands,” Kunal Kamra said in an opinion video for New York Times.
Indian stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, while featuring in an opinion video for New York Times, spoke about the deaths and devastation caused by Covid-19 in the country, blasting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly failing to control the crisis.
The Mumbai-based comedian, while refering to a speech by PM Modi where he said that India effectively controlled Coronavirus and “saved mankind from tragedy, accused the PM of downplaying the pandemic by “blatantly lying”.
Taking a jibe at the central government, the comedian asked: “Did you know India was the first country in the world to beat the coronavirus in January 2021?”
Kamra, while introducing himself, said: “My name is Kunal Kamra. I’m a stand-up comedian from India, and this is where even I stop laughing. At our peak in May, we had 400,000 case per day and 4,000 deaths per day and experts say these figures are a gross underestimate. Even now, as the rest of the world reopens, we are still suffering.”
“My people are needlessly dying. Our government has blood on its hands,” Kamra said. “No world leader can compete with Modi. He runs India on a cocktail of bizarre lies and high-octane hypocrisy. And boy, he can act,” he added while refering to a recent speech where PM Modi got emotional while condoling deaths by COVID-19.
The comedian also criticised the organisation of Kumbh Mela, Kamra said that “in March, not only did the Modi government refuse to cancel the Kumbh Mela festival, but they actually promoted it,” adding that that it was a “gathering of millions and millions.”
“Most of these Hindus went to wash away their past sins but they should’ve stayed home and prayed for a better future,” he said.
The comedian also came down heavily on the Prime Minister over his rallies during West Bengal Election.
“Crematoriums were overflowing. Hundreds of bodies washed up in the Ganga River. These are suspected COVID deaths. Dead bodies found in the river, of people who couldn’t afford to get a dignified spot in a crematorium.”
Kamra also took a jibe at the centre over India’s vaccination drive, refering to PM Modi’s statement where he called India as the “pharmacy of the world”. Kamra asked: “We produced more than 60 million doses for other countries, but we didn’t make enough vaccines for ourselves. So, what’s our government doing about this tragedy?”
Slamming the government over unscientific moves, Kamra said: “Modi’s Ministry of Science and Technology commissioned research into how yoga and breathing exercises can help fight COVID. The government dropped flowers from helicopters on doctors, as a tribute. As a mark of respect. But if you die as a doctor treating a COVID patient, we’ve cancelled your life insurance. That’s some sneaky pickpocketing.”
“We live in an out-and-out lie, but our government is a master of one domain, attacking its critics. Recently, at least two dozen people were arrested for putting up posters that criticised the government’s vaccine policy. The government even asked Twitter to block some of these tweets which were critical towards its COVID policies.”
“The police is filing FIRs against doctors who posted social media pleas for oxygen.”
Talking about his own family, Kamra said: “I am the privileged one percent. My parents and me got COVID, and my dad was fortunate enough to get an ICU bed for 14 days. Hundreds of thousands of Indians aren’t as lucky. Ordinary people and our frontline workers are literally keeping the rest of us alive. If we survive this pandemic, it’s because of them.”
“Even I, as a comedian, I’m struggling to satirise this absurdity. It’s a state-orchestrated COVID massacre, and I am outraged and heartbroken. And that’s all I got to say,” Kamra said before concluding with, “And you know what? You elect a joker – expect a f***ing circus.”
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