COVID-19 is the biggest global crisis post World War – 2. World war-2 caused 70-80 million casualties, devastated cities across the world, put the complete world economy on hold, and left a more divided world than ever, which led to a cold war for decades to follow. With around two hundred thousand deaths till now, the data associated with COVID-19 doesn’t seem as gloomy, yet we know that this Virus has the potential. The travel bans, closed industries, locked markets, deserted streets, rising toll of dead, crowded hospitals do fit in the description of war minus the violence. Thanks to the pervasive interdependence among countries due to globalization, the global economic crisis to follow can impact the world in a way that no war has ever done so far.
Nevertheless, the real positivity among all the positive COVID-19 cases, for a change this war is not among the humans but between a virus and the humans, where every single human being is a foot soldier in himself. The onus of defeating this virus lies on the entire humanity, the weapon of choice being isolation, social distancing, and a complete lock down. The civilians inside their homes, like back in world war-2, don’t need to worry about the bombs and missiles coming from the skies, or the invasion from the other side. They can just sit back at their homes, practice restraint, and stop the casualties get out of hand by not becoming a part of it. Such easy way to win a war and yet it has proved so difficult till now. Leave aside the developing nations, even the world powers like USA, Italy, Spain, UK, France have been bleeding badly because of Corona. The demographics of these countries were much better than the other parts of the world, and the Quality of Life Indicators showed better preparedness against such pandemic, yet the damage is incredible with thousands of deaths and with no cure in sight it is bound to increase further. However, the bigger reason other than the lack of preparedness to deal with this virus was the lethargic enforcement of social distancing at the early stages. People didn’t realize the gravity of situation and authorities played a soft hand, which blew up the whole situation out of proportion. Donald Trump even now thinks that the people protesting the lockdown are right in their own way.
In a country like India, which has a population density of 464 people per square kilometer compared to USA’s 94, the magnitude of the catastrophe could have been incomprehensible in the absence of a strict compliance to the lock down. And without the police force, I firmly doubt that the lock down could have been half the success in India as it has been till now.
Nowadays the whatsapp is flooded with videos of Indian policemen beating up people violating the lockdown. In such videos, violators could be seen riding bikes or strolling as if on any sunny Sunday afternoon from last year before the police ambushing them. Afterwards, it’s hard to separate the screams from the apologies. Big debates have ensued between Social media warriors with people slinging insults and hitting below the belts of the ‘other side’, like always. Although, with all the prejudices for police, people tend to forget that a policeman standing outside in the heat and dust is also risking his life in the name of his duty because he is equally prone to that virus. A few millions are being trusted to maintain the law and order in a country with a self-implicated virtual house arrest of 1.3 billion, thus the wanderers who can’t stay inside deserve some strictness.
We have seen the stubbornness of Tabhlighi Jamaat people, who didn’t just flout all the lock down rules but when quarantined, behaved in unacceptable ways, like roaming naked in the hospital galleries, spitting at the medical staff and what not. Needless to say it is impossible to deal with imbeciles without some strictness. Again, it was ironic to see that in response to PMs appeal to light a candle or clap in solidarity with the Corona fighters, people displayed naivety of epic proportions by taking out processions and resorting to sloganeering against Corona as if this virus is some corrupt office bearer. We can laugh at it and discard it as a foolishness of few, but then all it takes to spread the infection is a single touch. And yet, we have seen the police, always infamous for its tactics, practicing restraint while enforcing lockdown and controlling such fools. There have been some unpleasant cases but considering the area and the population of this country, it is negligible.
However, the most unfortunate and disappointing part that has come to the light in past few days, is the violent retaliations of people against the Corona warriors. In Patiala, hand of an ASI was chopped off when he tried to stop a bunch of hooligans. Doctors and Policemen were chased off by crowds in many parts of the country, their only mistake being trying to help people. News of attack on policeman have poured in from West Bengal, UP, Punjab, Maharashtra, and many other parts of the country. The scenes of injured policemen running for their lives are big question marks over not just our safety and security but on our sanity as a society. Such irrational behavior really makes me wonder, have some people completely lost it?
I have never been a big fan of Indian police myself. Recently, I had to drive to the IGI airport during the lockdown period under special circumstances. After watching all those videos of police beating up the violators, I was sceptic to drive even with all the permissions in place. Anyway, the drive was unavoidable and thus I started the next morning from my residence in Gurgaon. I came across six barricaded checkpoints manned by tens of policemen and nobody bothered me unnecessarily. However, it was such a pity to watch them sweat beneath the blazing sun, checking with every motorist. When I offered to show the papers at a couple of checkpoints, they waved their hands trying to avoid any contact with the papers, asking me to put them back. They were equally scared of any physical contact and yet they were standing outside. Already, many of them have lost their lives to this virus while performing their duties. Yet, somehow, they are just a subject of humiliation, disgust, and fear for most of us.
India has crossed the mark of twenty thousand COVID-19 positive cases and there have been more than six hundred deaths. All this, when India was among the most proactive nations to enforce the lock down at a very early stage. The lockdown has stopped the exponential spread of this virus, however, the situation can still get out of control. Everybody is supposed to play a role in order to put a united front against this virus. Government is supposed to make policies, Doctors are supposed to provide treatment, Police is supposed to enforce the lockdown, and Commoners are supposed to stay indoors. But, nobody accounted for idiots who are bigger threats than this virus. If a lion comes out of the cage and kills everyone around, it’s not the mistake of the lion but the person who knowingly opened the gate of that cage. We can’t fight idiots so let the police do it’s job. Just do your bit, stay indoors and don’t support idiots.