The dead deserve questions.
“Trump couldn’t handle covid properly, PM Modi saved India” said BJP Chief JP Nadda at a poll rally in November, 2020. Multiple Union Cabinet ministers published columns in various newspapers, proclaiming that the pandemic had been vanquished and only one man deserved credit for this victory- Modi. Union Home Minister shah wrote “Nothing is impossible when there is courage and determination to do something, having a Prime Minister like Shri Narendra Modi” Ravishankar Prasad also wrote: “the most challenging moment emerged in the form of COVID19 where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed exemplary courage, compassion and commitment.”
Modi saved India. Not state governments, not people, not bureaucrats, not health workers, not global co-operation, not the scientific community, but- Modi.
The blame if at all was dumped on Tablighi Jamaat- which was eventually held innocent by more than a dozen courts. The Bombay High Court even went to the extent of saying that this sect was made a scapegoat for the failures of others.
Cut to 2021. Undisputable facts- there is a shortage of oxygen, medicines, hospital beds vaccines, ambulances, testing kits and as a consequence of this shortage, there is also a shortage of funeral pyres. A comparison of the queues outside crematoriums and the number of infections released by the government tells us the number of infections and deaths are being suppressed.
There is no sign of the Tablighi Jamaat. Who is responsible for this state of affairs? The answer has rapidly changed. China is to blame. People are to blame. Opposition is to blame. The latest viral Whatsapp forward argues that since every state has corona patients either all political parties ought to be blamed or no political party should be blamed. All political parties however are not a part of union government. All political parties were not allowed to decide the vaccination policy. State governments, until recently did not have the power to order vaccines. They were at the mercy of the central government. They still are at the central governments mercy as far as oxygen allocation is concerned. “People” who are sought to be blamed did not have the power to order vaccines either. They were at the mercy of a bizarre vaccine for 45+ rule until at Dr. Manomhan Singh’s urging, it was decided to dump that rule.
We are told- look at the total number of people we have vaccinated, don’t look at the % of the population vaccinated (the latter is less than 2%). Alright. The natural question therefore is- did the government only plan to vaccinate the people vaccinated thus far? If not, why are we out of vaccines?
Why did the Prime Minister ask for public donations to a fund which his government argues is exempt from RTI, the details of which are yet to be completely disclosed, instead of saying- listen, donate the money to the state you live in? Why is the money still being withheld?
The Indian Premier League, a cricket tournament continues to be played. With ambulances and doctors at standby. The players and staff are tested daily. I am certain that heavens forbid a player needs oxygen right then there will be no shortage. There is one thing about sports though. After every single match the captain is asked questions. Only the captain gets to decide the batting/bowling order, the captain decides who to pick and who to leave out. If the match is lost because of bad field settings, team selection, bad decision at toss-things only in the captain’s control, the captain is blamed. You get the drift.
There was only one solution to the pandemic-vaccines. We don’t have vaccines. Millions are dying. Millions are sick. Millions having to burn their lives savings. Millions living in fear about whether they or their loved ones will be next.
Is anyone responsible? Does the sign hanging outside India say- either the opposition is at fault or no one is?
There is a very famous scene from the 1975 movie Deewaar. Amitabh’s character Vijay when asked to sign a confession of sorts by Shashi Kapoor’s character Ravi says- Pehle us aadmi ka sign le ke aao jisne mere haath pe ye likh diya”.( First get a signature from/seek accountability from the person who wrote this on my arm). Every hindi movie buff knows this dialogue.
The response of Nirupa Rao-who plays his mother isn’t remembered by as many people. She asks, among other things, -“jis aadmi ne tere haath pe ye likh diya ke tera baap chor hai, wo tera kaun tha? Par tu to mera apna beta tha…”
China is not our country. We did not elect random strangers on the streets/election rallies/kumbh melas who are being reckless and spreading corona, we did not appoint them as our Prime Minister and we did not give them the power to buy vaccines. They should have done better but they don’t owe India anything.
Narendra Damordas Modi is our Prime Minister. We put him there. We gave him power. Does he owe us anything? Does he owe Indians who died gasping for breath anything? We owe it to each other to ask.