Faizah Gilani
Reports and images coming out of India as it fights Covid-19 have been extremely disturbing. Upsetting images of Covid patients begging for help as they struggle to breathe, and children carrying dead bodies of a parent, have been difficult to digest.
India is grappling a variant that has been described by WHO (World Health Organisation) as a “problem for the world.” It is more contagious and spreads like wildfire. The dire situation led to UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelling his visit to the country, and eventually placing India on the red list.
The international media has given a great deal of coverage to the awful situation within India and has done a far better job at highlighting Narendra Modi’s failures, something that the Indian media has failed at. In recent times, most of India’s media has been a mouthpiece for the government, unable to hold the government to account and failing to ask the tough questions.
India’s media has to share burden of blame for the country’s Covid tragedy. By being too soft in its approach, it has failed in its duty to push the government, and the international media is doing the Indian media’s job instead. India’s media has not pinned its government down over why it asked Twitter to censor posts that were critical of its handling of the pandemic. The social media platform complied, silencing legitimate criticism by concerned and frustrated individuals experiencing the nightmare of Covid-19.
For a country that prides itself in being the world’s largest democracy, India is raising serious questions on its democratic values. Censorship is an attack on freedom of speech, an important component of any democratic society.
The Indian government in recent times has also projected an image internationally of an emerging superpower. Many world leaders have shown a keen interest in tapping into its huge market, cozying up to Narendra Modi for trade. But the pandemic has left the government deeply exposed and has proven that perception and reality are vastly different.
Of course, even the wealthiest of countries have struggled with handling Covid-19, proving to be a huge challenge for leadership across the globe. But the pandemic is a huge setback for Narendra Modi that saw India as a member of the big boys’ club.
But ground reality is that India’s lack of basic healthcare, heart-breaking roadside deaths and lack of oxygen supplies have shred India’s self- reliant image to pieces. And now the government finds itself in a position where it has to rely on supplies and aid from other countries, including Bhutan.
Modi’s far-right government has been flexing its muscles in certain areas, such as Kashmir, but the virus and the new variant has exposed its weakness and incompetency. Shockingly, India’s Covid-19 task force did not meet for months, according to a couple of its own members. Also, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assured the Indian public that the virus had reached its end. But we now know that this was far from reality.
In April, the government said that there would be no new cases of Covid-19 by May 16th, but how this conclusion was reached, no one knows. According to the BBC, the Prime Minister did not consult with scientists before taking the decision of lockdown. When lockdowns were put in place, time was not used effectively to work on the crisis at hand, defeating the purpose of a lockdown.
The government failed to stockpile PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Rather than putting together an effective strategy to tackle the crisis, the government played the nationalism card. People were encouraged to beat the virus by beating utensils, clapping, and lighting candles. Modi and his government downplayed the virus and led people into a false sense of security. And now people are losing their lives.
In another example of how nationalist politics is played in times of crisis, BJP’s Subramanian Swamy recently tweeted, “India will survive corona virus pandemic as it did Islamic invaders and British imperialists.” Swamy’s tweet clearly maintains focus on a Hindutva ideology that his government is driven by. It also alienates the Muslim minority and by using the term ‘Islamic invaders’ Swamy reaffirms the idea that Muslims are the enemy.
Instead of accepting responsibility for its failures and worrying about the horrific death toll, the national government has shown more concern over PR and its image abroad. It has been reported that external affairs minister S Jaishankar told instructed Indian diplomats to “counter the one-sided narrative” of the international media’s scathing coverage.
It is unbelievable that image building has been given priority over the plight of the people. It is disturbing but should not come as a surprise. Narendra Modi is from the crop of leaders such as Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and America’s former President Donald Trump, both of whom downplayed the severity of the virus, leading to catastrophe. What these leaders have in common is narcissism, egoism, and reliance on a cult – like fanbase.
Modi’s narcissism can only explain why he is going ahead with a $1.8 billion Parliamentary revamp, which includes a new home for the Prime Minister. The timing of it all, when the country is in the midst of deadly pandemic, has left many flabbergasted. It is rather callous of India’s Prime Minister to be spending so much money when hospitals are overwhelmed with doctors overstretched, and with people dying on the streets due to lack of oxygen supplies.
The pandemic has not only exposed Modi’s incompetence, it serves as an ugly reminder that the poor are always affected the most. They are facing the wrath of this deadly virus, with wealthy individuals leaving the country before India was placed on the red list. But sadly, for the underprivileged, there is no escape, and they are left in the hands of a government that has shown little empathy for its people.
One would hope that come general election time, the people of India will remember its government’s mishandling of the pandemic and vote it out of office. But Narendra Modi continues to enjoy a cult like following and has a solid fanbase. Time will tell whether Modi pays the ultimate price for his incompetence. But every family that has lost a loved one deserved better. India’s covid chaos could have been avoided if the government had taken it seriously. By prematurely declaring victory over the pandemic and failing to act on time, the government’s reckless behavior means that it has blood on its hands.
The writer has studied History and Politics at Queen Mary, University of London. And Near and Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS, University of London.
