Covid-19: Chronology Which Led To “The Blame Game” Of A Pandemic In India.
We live in this country together in the name of secularism, but we are divided by the term “religion”.
The pandemic has created a lot of chaos in the country. People are being tested positive and are dying. One thing that prevails amidst this all is “religion”. People are being killed, tortured and looked down upon on the basis of their religion or caste. In times like these, when we all must come together and fight the greater evil, we are just getting divided.
The main propaganda for the virus is running along the lines of “communalism” where as if we all get divided right now, none would benefit. This isn’t an issue where we look at someone’s religion, rather it’s the time when we look at the persons symptoms. After all, we are humans before and then a Hindu or a Muslim or a Sikh.
The norm is social distancing not being followed quite efficiently here. Videos surface daily where the police is giving punishments to those who are roaming in the streets. These punishments will be fruitful only when they stay behind the doors of their houses now. A lot of shade is being thrown at the Muslim community for spreading the virus. Physical, verbal and psychological warfare is being waged against Muslims. There have been reports of meetings in gated communities discussing the prohibition on Muslims being allowed in. Elsewhere, gangs of youth have been manning the entry points of villages to prevent the entry of Muslims. Muslim vendors have also been asked to stop selling on the streets. Since it is difficult for many to differentiate between and other Muslims, all Muslims are now seen as potential carriers of this virus and are therefore shunned and hated. A new term, “corona jihad”, has been coined to describe this conspiracy.
Here is the chronology of events that took place which hasn’t been publicised much unlike the first incident.
Less knowledge acts like a monster for our mind, it corrupts our thought processes.
Since the Tablighi Jamaat incident took place between March 13-15th, the government is openly blaming them for the spread of the virus. There is no clear indication from them, but the down right meaning is igniting fire in the minds of nationalists which is leading to various ill practices. Police have been criticised for allowing the event to continue after the government had banned gatherings of more than 200 people. It is the duty of the police to ensure the right things are followed and there is no promotion of the wrong ones. Where was the police in this case?
An official from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu Nationalist Party suggested shooting them. Indian Muslims faced discrimination and attacks well before COVD-19. Now a hashtag, #coronajihad, is trending.
But if we look at the situation without any bias and with an open mind, we will realise a few loopholes in this whole theory.
On March 13th, a statement was issued in the country which stated that covid-19 is not a health scare. The disease which had killed thousands of people was not declared as a very vital disease in India. By March 13, Covid-19 had killed plenty of Chinese, people from Europe and many more places like the USA.
The Jamaat incident took place on: March 13-15th.
Siddhi Vinayak Temple of Mumbai was operational till 16th March and a very famous temple of Ujjain was also operational till then. These temples have a daily visit of a large number of people which means that no “social distancing” measures were followed. Why was this done? God wasn’t running away, right?
Shirdis Sai Baba mandir was also operational till March 17th which also has a lot of devotees coming in every day. If Jamaat is being blamed, why not all these temples too and rather, not just the temples, the entire religion as in the case of Jamaat.
Vaishno Devi Temple, the best for curbing all our issues, the one which solves them, this temple was also open till March 18. Were the people coming to these temples given any vaccines so that they don’t spread the virus? Why isn’t the religion blamed in this scenario and is being blamed in the primary one? All these dates have been brought up by a reputed news channel.
“The swearing-in ceremony of Madhya Pradesh’s new CM, Shivraj Singh Chauhan by several BJP leaders took place as late as March 23rd. Karnataka’s chief minister was reported to have attended a wedding on the 15th of March where more than a thousand people were present.” Said a very reputed person.
It is often realised that when the members of the ruling party breach any rules, the authorities turn a blind eye, but its spokespersons on TV and trolls on social media hold every Muslim in the country accountable for any failing by any Muslim. If this anti-Muslim hate propaganda is not contained fast, we may soon face nothing short of “pandemic apartheid” – at least in some pockets of Indian society.
At the same time, the Muslim community should ensure its actions do not offer anyone an opportunity to accuse Muslims for the spread of the epidemic in India.
The issue isn’t about any religion, it is about thinking straight up with clear facts. We must not communalise the disease.
On March 19, the PM gave his first speech about Covid-19 and since then the number of cases have been increasing. There has been no indication from his part of blaming any religion so why are we doing it?
How can we blame someone else for the spread of this virus when our own slate isn’t clean?
After looking at the chronology of the events, we can clearly say that Covid-19 is not a disease which is spread by any religion. It is down right spread by being irresponsible and not caring about others around you.
WHO has given out a statement with regards to the issue pertaining in India. It basically states that India must not communalise the issue and prevent it from spreading.
A PIL was filed in the Madras High Court which directed the Centre as well as the State government to respond to a public interest litigation petition which sought to restrain media houses which “communalise” the spread of COVID-19 by using terms such as “Corona Jihad”, “Corona terrorism”, “Islamic Insurrection” and “Corona bombs”.
The CM of delhi said, “Some people are, even during such a difficult time, trying to spread hatred between Hindus and Muslims. I have seen videos and other messages on social media which are provocative. This is against the laws of nature. Such people can never be forgiven,”
“The government is testing the Tablighi Jamaat people (who attended the Nizamuddin markaz event in New Delhi, a coronavirus hotspot),” he added, “but this does not mean that you should kill the livelihood of others. I have the same right as you to sell milk here, it is a government dairy.” Said a farmer from Punjab who is being avoided by everyone on the basis of his religion.
Its high time that the nation of 1.3 billion realises that by communalising the issue, we wont actually get anything. We must protect ourselves on our own from any threats that we feel might lead to the vicious circle of this virus.
Our race is with this virus and not with any religion.
