The pavements and roads leading to crematoriums are lined with bodies — this is the final state of affairs. Even in death, the country’s top leaders have let the patients down.
The innumerable pictures and videos showing multiple flaming pyres of people who died of Covid-19 for lack of hospital beds, lack of oxygen, ventilators and the complete failure of, specifically the Central AAP and Uttar Pradesh governments to get them their fundamental right – timely medical service, should shock any human being to the core, especially the leader of the country. In a country where in life, there is a mad scramble for space and now, even in death. Crematoriums have no room left. The pavements and roads leading to crematoriums are lined with bodies — this is the final state of affairs. Even in death, the country’s top leaders have let the patients down. Sadly, instead of owning up to the complete breakdown of the public health services and their inability to cope, expectedly, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government predictably, has cast a shroud on this news too. Falling in line, the sell-outs – some editors, journalists and innumerable celebrities, including industrialists, have begun tweeting how Indians should be collectively calm, be responsible and work together.
Instead of being shocked and questioning why the government was not prepared for the second wave, which was expected, Twitter removed posts of pictures and news stories of the crematoriums and the masses at Kumbh, both of which should cause worry to those ruling.
Hold leaders accountable
Honestly, the time has come for us, those who are NOT bhakts, to call out the real offenders and their fallacies. I was glad that finally, international media was taking cognisance of the complete collapse of the Indian public health system and how the Modi government had failed the citizens. On this Monday, on Al Jazeera, in its usual style, the ‘Listening Post’ dissected the false claims of the PM, his government and the real picture on the ground. I was waiting for this day and yeah sure, they did a bloody good job. The next day, The Stream too discussed how India is overwhelmed. No Indian or foreign publication till then had done such investigative reporting. They highlighted the claims, last year’s Islamaphobic narrative and how election rallies and the Kumbh have been the biggest spreaders of this virus.
The Stream anchor specified how people are struggling to get medicines, oxygen and beds. During the discussion, Sayyad Zaffer Islam, MP and BJP leader, sported a BJP scarf and the party emblem dominated the scene. Dr Kamna Kakkar said the 2,500 deaths being reported each day, was under-reporting. Visuals of people on stretchers and ambulances, some on oxygen, some with nothing, this inequality is what has dominated the entire period of a pandemic. The Listening Post, meanwhile, dissected the role of the Indian media for failing to present the correct picture. Listening Post digs deep into how the media across the world is reporting on any subject. Right now, the second wave has ‘brought India to its knees’. This is particularly important, as the violence against Asian Americans has increased in the US. This programme showed in details clippings of the PM – “Modi’s said India’s handling of the virus is an example for other governments follow. A country that has produced more vaccines than any other…” The programme also highlighted the elections that were allowed in some key states. People were seen standing cheek-by-jowl at Modi’s rallies, where he too is seen not wearing a mask. But have our media held power to account? This is the question that the media needs to ask itself. The anchor elaborated how the Indian media had failed to demand accountability from the PM and showed a clip of him saying he had not seen such large crowds in any other rallies! Irony died a million deaths, as this was flashed globally.
What we saw instead was a paranoid government which asked social media administrators, especially Twitter to pull down tweets where people had been critical of the government.
Such is the situation in the country, that people or their kin having the virus have taken to Twitter to seek help. That has been a quick response, which even real-time news and government agencies in most cities failed to show. Even hospitals took to Twitter, as some Hospital staff flagged oxygen shortages and cries for help were answered. But UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a crackdown on these hospitals. “Shut up, or face the consequences,” seems to be the current official stance.
Foreign media leads the way
The way international news agencies and foreign media have picked up the lead is the lesson new journalists need to learn. They were the first to highlight the harrowing scenes at the hospitals, where people have no beds, some sharing beds and many sleeping on the floor. The lack of oxygen and ventilators, leading to fatalities, was picked up by leading international media.
However, on this side of the ocean, what seemed criminal was the under-reporting of the deaths and the extent of the pandemic spread in India. Few in the Indian media have reported how in Agra, Covid patients were denied oxygen, ambulances, hospital beds and even dignity in death. Relatives of patients who died shared how they ran from one crematorium to another struggling to get space for last rites but were turned away. On the other hand, it has been persistently highlighted that the haves had hoarded oxygen cylinders and Remdesivir injections. While the poor and afflicted are simply dying for lack of oxygen since there is a huge shortage in the hospitals. The umpteenth glaring instance of India’s stark unequal distribution of resources and inequality. In fact, in this one week, there has been a steep cumulative increase of 89 per cent of Covid-19 patients in India.
Blame game
How did India reach this pathetic stage? One is the infection itself, which is a covariant, double mutant which is a fast spreader. The fact is, little is known about this mutant, but from what we are seeing this time, the virus spreading fast. This double mutant was found in 60% of cases in Maharashtra, which was initially being made to look like the epicentre. After the Kumbh Mela, on April 27 itself, there was an 1,800% increase in the number of Covid cases in Uttarakhand. So far, this disease was seen to affect older people, but in this second tsunami, more younger people are getting hospitalised, a phenomenon stated by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He said 65% of patients are under the age of 45. The Guardian was among the first to write an editorial comparing Modi to the US ex-President, Donald Trump, who would not give up poll canvassing, even as the pandemic raged. India held elections in five states till April and the editorial also highlighted the ‘unmasked’ Modi campaigning. Meanwhile, The Australian, the largest circulating daily in Australia wrote the “Arrogance, hyper-nationalism and bureaucratic incompetence have combined to create a crisis of epic proportions in India, with its crowd-loving PM basking while citizens suffocate…” The Indian envoy was immediately summoned to write an official rejoinder and call it ‘slander’, of course causing more embarrassment to the country. But if only the rulers cared.
Now finally, on the home turf, people are resisting the arm-twisting tactics implemented by the Central government to silence them. The Indian Medical Association president, Dr. Navjyot Dahiya, called the PM the ‘super spreader’ and blamed him for irresponsibly organising political rallies. Across the political spectrum, Modi has been criticised for not owning up to the failure of the government to tackle the Covid crisis, ignoring the health disaster and praising the crowds attending his rallies. Even as our rulers try to censor the tweets and posts against them saying it is a system failure, many celebrities ran to the defence of the government. At one time they called for collective calm and worse still, the BJP government tried to deflect the blame on the states for the current situation. Sadly, the fact is the government of every political party is to be blamed for a blooming zero public health policy. The thrust on defence and other sectors while ignoring basic core issues like public health and primary education is going to cost our nation a lot. And as usual, the public is going to have to pay heavily. But it is time the public woke up. The very fact that there is NO trust in the government agencies and so many citizens are helping, the public needs to face the harsh truth, the government they have voted for has let them down.
Meanwhile, foreign countries have to come forward to help India. After the skirmishes and near war-like situation at our borders, India after 16 years will be taking aid from China.
All the while they have asked Indians to ban Chinese products, how you like that?
Neeta Kolhatkar is a senior journalist with over 30 years of work experience across different media platforms. She is currently a freelancer and media consultant.
(Views Expressed Are Personal)
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