advertisement
Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam, Puneet Bhatia
Camera: Athar Rather
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… yahan Kumbh Mele ko Coronavirus se special protection mili hui hai kya?!
Take a look at these pictures – do you see a mask! See a mask here? No! And let’s not even talk about social distancing.
Over 35 Lakh people took part in the Shahi Snan (holy dip) at Haridwar on 12 April and a similar number on 14th April. There will be another Shahi Snan on 27th April. One crore Indians defying COVID protocols willfully – putting themselves, their families and friends in danger of contracting the disease!
We’re talking about a virus that has killed 30 lakh people across the world, that’s affecting MORE people than it did a year ago – over 1.5 lakh cases and over 500-600 deaths daily in India.
Let’s consider in one big bucket are India’s people and if they get COVID, they enter the chhota container, which is India’s hospitals. If there’s no overflow, it means people are getting cured and exiting easily.
BUT, if the healthcare system can’t handle the sudden surge of patients, the water overflows and this overflowing water stands for hospitals failing to cope with the shortage of:
and more COVID deaths!
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat himself assured that there will be no “rok-tok” (restriction) on devotees and he is sure “faith in God will defeat the fear of the virus”.
There are pictures of Rawat taking part in the Mela, without a mask over his face.
On the day of the shahi snan, Haridwar’s top cop Sanjay Gunjyal gave up – saying there could be a “stampede-like situation” if police tried to ensure social distancing at the Kumbh.
CCTV cameras were to supposed to use artificial intelligence to capture photos of faces without masks. Did they work? Were devotees bothered about them? No! And of course all criticism have to be in hushed tones, because how can we even hint that the Kumbh could be a super-spreader event?
In fact when media quoted a Central government official saying that the Kumbh Mela could be a super-spreader event, the Union Health Ministry called it FAKE NEWS!
But if that is Fake News,
The government that allows 35 lakh people to attend the Kumbh Mela in a day, is in court saying that only 20 Muslims should be allowed to pray at the Nizamuddin Dargah at any given time! Not surprisingly, the government is being called out on social media for double standards. But sensibly, the Delhi High Court rejected the government’s request saying if you don’t limit numbers at other religious gatherings, you can’t do it here either.
For devotees to reach Haridwar for the three Shahi Snans, the government organised 25 special trains. But last year, lakhs of migrant workers got no trains for 40 days, and walked home. Here, 25 trains to attend a possible super-spreader event.
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… If we have to genuinely tackle this second surge of COVID-19, if we truly want to save lives, if we really don’t want our economy to nosedive yet again, we can’t cite faith and give events like the Kumbh Mela, a free pass.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Published: 14 Apr 2021,10:23 PM IST