Dear Prime Minister / Government,
When the present government in your leadership was elected for the first time in 2014, I was a young, optimist 17-year-old school student.
I too like the millions of others in the country was disillusioned by the idea of Modi’s India. I was fed up of all the news of various scams, corruption charges of the Manmohan Singh led UPA government and wanted a change in the system. Your party was promising us a 5 trillion economy, doing away with all the useless laws which came in the way of effective governance, an honest bureaucracy and tax reforms which would enable foreign direct investment and generation of employment for the youth. I too was waiting for my ‘Acche Din’ to arrive.
In the next 6 years of your government, the deteriorating condition of the economy, rampant unemployment, subjugation of the media, rise of communalism and hatred, constant silencing of honest journalists through money and muscle, rise of fake news, woman hating narrative of the state etc. disappointed the citizen in me.
I was disturbed by the silencing and demonization of intellectuals and student leaders. But, through all this what remained constant was the support you were getting from your followers. Mostly consisting of upper class, heterosexual Savarna people; this group of was not ready to see the folly of your government. Courtesy them, you won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with an even greater majority.
Right now, even the staunch supports of your government are finding it difficult to defend you and your abilities to tackle the pandemic. A lot of them had to themselves go through the difficulties of lack of oxygen, unavailability of hospital beds and witness our crumbling health infrastructure. Even they are appalled by your casual approach to this crisis.
In 2020 during the first wave of COVID, the media very smartly did not even mention the negative impacts of ‘Namaste Trump’ when a lot of foreign journalists came to the country and shifted the blame on the Tablighi Jamaat. Despite the migrant labourer crisis, you were hailed for containing the virus faster and better than a lot of first world countries. You were patting your backs for exporting vaccines, PPE kits and medicines to other countries.
But right now, the floating bodies in Ganges in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, people dying due to lack of oxygen, shortage of medicines and vaccines, the sufferings of people have even made your supporters embarrassed. One of the biggest crimes according to me that your government did during the second wave were the organization of elections. There were huge public gatherings and rallies. You should have either cancelled the elections or conducted small campaigns which would have encouraged the other parties as well. The organization of the Kumbh in the middle of the pandemic was the last straw. There were no regards for social distancing and safety taken into consideration. You actually were asking people to attend it. Because of these two events the COVID crisis has now penetrated in the rural areas of the country which virtually has no medical infrastructure of any kind.
The people that are still supporting your actions in lack of favourable data and statistics are resorting to name calling and hurling abuses. They are quoting unscientific facts and spreading fake news. This includes various powerful people of the country and sadly some of your politicians as well. This is an insult not just to the doctors and frontline workers who are working day and night but also to the people who have lost their loved ones to this disease.
After October of 2020, the COVID cases in the country had reduced to a large extent. In January and February there were really less cases. This time should have been taken by you to make the medical infrastructural elements like hospital beds, ventilators, medical staff, oxygen supply, drugs and other supplies stronger. But you did not do this. As a result of this, a country like ours which was exporting vaccines and PPE kits to others is forced to rely on the help of other countries. Pakistan, which you and your sponsored media had made into an irreconcilable enemy, helped us with oxygen.
The PM-CARES fund was set up in 2020 in the beginning of the pandemic, when there already was a Prime Minister National Relief Fund. On top of that no disclosure has been made about how the money was spent and where. The PM-CARES is not even in the ambit of the RTI. When the whole country is suffering, we are also spending the money of the people in projects like the Central Vista instead of using it to tackle the crisis.
You people have been more bothered with your ‘negative’ image that has been doing rounds in the international media and silencing those people than actually working hard towards fixing the situation. All of us are aware how many states have time and again stopped taking COVID tests in fear of more data on people testing positive. Your government have even gone to the extent of hiding the real death tolls and building walls around crematoriums to hide the burning pyres.
What you should be doing right now is provide free vaccines to all the people of the country at a faster rate than what we are doing right now. The third wave is very much a possibility and a vaccinated population will have a lower chance of getting infected and putting a strain on the already ill-equipped medical infrastructure. You should ensure a steady supply of oxygen and medicines and increase the number of COVID tests in all the parts of the country; rural and urban. Unnecessary expenses such as the Central vista project should be halted for the time being. The death tolls should not be manipulated. According to me it’s an insult to the dead.
Apart from these tangible steps you should also come and talk to the people through Press Conferences and face the difficult questions. Respect, empathy and support is what the people of the country are craving for right now. It is not just a test of your administrative skills but also on how you handle the crisis emotionally.
She is a postgraduate in History from the University of Delhi and want to get a doctorate in the subject ultimately. She works in a publishing company currently.
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