If the situation is as bad as the NCOC says it is, and it does seem so, why delay the lockdown it says may have to be imposed if there is a continued rise in cases? That the situation is dire should be plain. The country’s number of new cases is about 5000 a day, and the number of daily deaths is also mounting. The positivity rate has also hit unbelievable levels. The death rate has not matched it yet, as it will probably do in coming days. It is almost as if the only thing holding back the government is the Prime Minister’s insistence that a lockdown would be economically disastrous.
There is a definite sense of satisfaction conveyed at the mounting cases in India, which seems as unfortunate as it is misplaced. However, there were odd echoes in India’s approach. One reason why cases are mounting is the Modi government’s belief that it had anything to do with the comparatively light hand laid upon the country by the first wave of the pandemic. This led it to open up too soon, and wink at violations of social distancing and to ignore failures to wear a mask. There was also the belief that the country had been saved by prayer, and the allowing of such superspreader events as the Kumbh Mela. Both the self-adulation and the belief in the power of prayer are present here, the latter being symbolized by the complete freedom to taraveeh congregations.
If a strict lockdown is indeed imposed, then those congregations will pose a dilemma. There will also be the problem of Eid shopping, which was such a headache last year, and by which shopkeepers set such great store (and of which they convince the PM too).After having faced off the TLP protests, would the government like to take on the same forces on the prayer issue? There are more vaccines coming in, but not enough seem to have been delivered to make a difference. There should be no false pride in saving people’s lives.
