- How hypocritical our political leaders could be can be gauged by the fact that all those safety and health guidelines to keep the virus at bay viz. wearing of a mask, maintaining six feet of social distancing, and frequent hand-washing has been conveniently ignored. The ongoing assembly elections in West Bengal as also many by-elections conducted in various states demonstrates duplicity of the political class who does not care one cent while undertaking political rallies addressing lakhs of people congregating without a mask or social distancing amid raging pandemic’s second wave across the country.
PC: Akash Chandrashekhar Gulankar
- Reports emerging in some of the leading newspapers about the millions massing for the ongoing Kumbh Mela sends shudders down the spine for the sheer number of humanity present on the occasion portends definite disaster for the entire nation as the people head back home. It is extremely incongruous to comprehend when the same political class on camera issuing statements by berating the people for failing to follow the safety and health guidelines extolling the virtues of wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. No wonder, the political leaders, irrespective of party affiliation, are being lampooned for their duplicity.
- In hindsight, the long-drawn-out eight-phase elections being undertaken in West Bengal appears to be a sure shot recipe for disaster as the confirmed infection rates keep heading north where none of the health norms are put to practice. Can anybody in their right senses defend the actions of the elected representatives who are supposed to set the tone by leading from the front? What optics are being presented to the general public when the leaders go about their campaigning so nonchalantly in election-bound states in a business as usual manner? What message is being communicated when the standard operating procedures are discarded with such gay abandon?
PC: Robert Roy Britt
- It has been argued consistently against the disastrous moves like night curfews, semi-lockdowns, and lockdowns severely affecting the common people and gaining very little traction in terms of curbing the virus from spreading its dreaded tentacles. What do few state governments do when the infection rates are rising alarmingly? Nothing but imposing night curfews and restrictions on movements of people which are counterproductive measures that help little in the fight against the pandemic. Why do the government authorities fail to learn from earlier experiences and repeat the mistakes so blindly?
- Besides aggressively ensuring the vaccination drive reaches out to every single eligible beneficiary, there is no other way or means than ensuring the masking of people out on whatever errands as also diligently observing social distancing to keep the virus at bay. Adding few more vaccine candidates by the government is a wise move but requires to be complemented by scaling up vaccination production as well. People will not accept nor toe the line of blunt instruments like lockdowns that are only going to further exacerbate their suffering manifolds. The authorities are to realize this fact sooner than later.
