By Sushil Kutty
In the United States trains are running on a reduced schedule. Ferries have stopped. The subway and bus lines are operating only on Saturdays. Commuter rail has cut service. And in some media, Trump has found redemption. Mainly because he spoke of the US facing a tough time. Even admitted that things could go way wrong and the economy could tank! This is a new Trump, they wrote and spoke. Tamed, his braggadocio gone?
Will our man in his desi White House attempt to seek redemption? Should he? This is not a trait that Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares with POTUS Donald Trump, who happens to be famously off the cuff and genuinely spontaneous. Narendra Modi is by far unreadable; answering questions and clearing the air are not his strengths. Or, maybe they are!
The Modi Government is proceeding as if there is no great economic cost attached to the coronavirus pandemic; that India is not a playing ground for Covid-19. The problem, however, is India refuses to go for all out community surveillance/testing, which alone will reveal the extent of the spread of the virus. India is stuck in stage 2 — random testing — and several of the coronavirus positive who went on the lam are yet to be traced. Where and how many they have come in contact with is too scary to visualize. If and when India breaks into stage 3, i.e., community testing, the numbers are bound to explode. That’s when the Modi government will have to face the people.
Meanwhile, the number of corona-positive cases in the country is climbing and the government is only now identifying private entities to help stem and still the numbers. It is also only now that the Centre has decided to involve private sector labs for coronavirus testing.
One rumour doing the rounds was that the government was loathe to involve the private sector because it did not want “we the people” to be fleeced! If that was so, the irony is not lost. For, this is the same government which wants to privatize Air India, LIC and the Indian Railways! All in the belief that privatizing is key to development and welfare.
Then again, was the reluctance because the Modi Government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular, wants to best China and South Korea; the United States and Brazil or any number of countries in halting the run of the coronavirus, and be hailed? But let’s not give credence to rumours, especially the sort that plague coronavirus. Let there be no rumour-virus spreading panic. More so, because nothing communal can be engineered out of the coronavirus, Covid-19 pandemic.
The northeast Delhi riots are history and if the “godi media” is to be believed, the only remaining fragment of the riots still throwing a challenge to Modi and his government, and to coronavirus, is Shaheen Bagh! Significantly, so far nobody from Shaheen Bagh has been reported corona-positive. The Shaheen dadis and their daughters and granddaughters are refusing to vacate the road, their bastion for nearly three months, coronavirus or no coronavirus! Doesn’t matter if Arnab Goswami and Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar are frustrated!!
The United States, meanwhile, is mostly indoors. Bars have been ordered closed. Malls and supermarkets are running on empty shelves. Toilet paper rolls have disappeared in binge-buying. So have grocery. The Yankees are stocking up as if a second civil war is in the offing, the enemy this time, Covid-19.
The good news, stress the anti-Trump media, is that Trump has become “less combative and more sober” and “no longer in denial about the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis in the United States.” Of course, traces of the “braggadocio” is still there but at least, he has come off the high horse and has begun accepting that Covid-19 is a clear and present threat.
Can the same be said about Narendra Modi? To reiterate, no! Of course, he will hug no more because any attempt will be resisted. The coronavirus has put a stop to all touching and everything from now on is touch and go! That said, Modi will have to be more open with his countrymen. The Government defends itself with talk that India has succeeded in “preempting” the virus. Other reports, however, say as many as 70,000 suspect Indians are under community surveillance and from now on, the number of coronavirus positive cases will only rise.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi should bare his thoughts about the coronavirus in his Man Ki Baat, and that at the first available Sunday. It’s time he does a Trump. Donald Trump’s is not a difficult act to follow. All it needs is a little honesty and acceptance of reality. John Hopkins’ worldwide tracker’s latest numbers placed the number of confirmed cases in the US at 1,701 and 40 deaths. March 18, the numbers jumped to 4,661 confirmed cases and 85 deaths. The death rate is showing a decline as testing increased and “more cases were uncovered”. Modi should take the hint and do a Trump: Make a clean breast! (IPA Service)
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