“They breed like rabbits”… “If there are really shortages how come Gandhi is still alive?” The British soldier needs his rations ! 1943 – 3 Million Indians died due to hunger in the Bengal famine. The statements above are the words of Winston Churchill, the much celebrated Nobel Laureate PM of Britain. The man who is counted amongst the greatest war time leaders …
The Covid War – Wave 2
At a time when the country is at war with an unseen virus that has caught the entire world by surprise, we have a set of people using every opportunity to curse PM Modi. Yes, he could have postponed the Bengal elections, and he need not have allowed the Kumbh mela to go on, and many other decisions could have been different. But, here is the best Prime Minister ever in the history of India having to deal with disproportionate levels of hatred !
The best wartime PM of UK who let 3 million Indians die of starvation is feted as a great leader and we don’t want to support a PM who has helped navigate the country through this crisis. Why do we love to hate this man so much ??? The alternatives are non-existent. I shudder to think where India would have been during this pandemic, if it was still ruled by the “family” or one of the other utterly corrupt politicians.
What has the Central Govt done during wave 2 ? Here is an excellent and exhaustive thread by Sreevidya Balasubramaniam – Hard facts on India’s battle with Chinese Virus.
Some hard facts on India's battle with Chinese Virus. This will disappoint @narendramodi haters. I will dismantle their narrative. 138 Cr people. That is 196 countries in the world from Morocco to Holy See. Indian PM = 196 Prime Ministers of the world. Let that sink in first. ~ Announced locked down early on, received severe criticism quoting economic impact ~ Provided guidance and funding for Oxygen plants to set up in states a year ago ~ In August last year, MoH provided guidelines and asked states to develop their own protocols for arrivals ~ Since 4 Dec 20, started sending states estimates (District wise) of future requirements of bed capacities ~ Created an online tool for states to record needs ~ Since 27 Feb 21, MoH sent warnings to states asking to reinforce Covid behaviours and 'deal firmly with violations' ~ On 22 Dec 20, MoH issued the SOP for Surveillance & response for the new SARS Cov-2 variant ~ This warning and SOP was extended on 31 Jan Hey, warning was all over the place. Centre was practically screaming to states. Many obvious states ignored all of the above. ~ Most with cumulative deaths above 10k were non-BJP ruled states with Maharashtra leading the table (MH, Punjab, WB, Delhi, Chattisgarh (😠), TN, KA, UP) ~ Maharashtra's deaths is 5 times that of UP. But UP population is double of Maharashtra Let that too sink in. ~ Of the 8462 MT Oxygen forecast, Centre allocated 8410 MT to high burden states. But Delhi and UP provided revised estimates (130% and 100%) respectively, which caused the sudden shortage Despite plans, warnings and allocations, how did oxygen shortage occur at this scale? ~ Sudden Oxygen shortage in hospitals looks sinister. If not, then why did some obvious state heads object to Oxygen auditing in hospitals? ~ What is unearthed by @Tejasvi_Surya is that a national nexus? Imagine Congress was in power. Blackmarket rules and people die in crores ~ Global tender placed immediately for 50,000 MT for the next few months ~ First huge consignment has already arrived from UK for Oxygen plants and ventilators ~ DRDO drug cleared urgently (think why DRDO is developing drugs and what that means to this pandemic = biowar) ~ Policies, laws, ramping up of infrastructure and transport, all done on war foot basis following the shortage ~ Around 3400 MT liquid oxygen transported across 220 tankers and 54 'Oxygen Express' trains across the country since 19 April of which 1,427 tonnes went to Delhi ~ When vaccine was ready in record time, instead of lauding, the irresponsible politicians, media and vested interests debated whether Covaxin should be trusted or not. But India exported millions of vaccine to poor countries. It's now paying off. World is coming to help India. ~ India entered a tough negotiation process with the Big Pharma and the developed world on patent norms so that vaccine production across the world can ramp up. SA and Costa Rica followed India' lead and soon Biden made a U-Turn on their export stance. Not a small achievement. ~ I have written in detail about the Big Pharma and Chinese game behind the opposition's relentless attack on the centre during such a national disaster ~ Since the first wave Centre asked states to decide on lockdowns locally. Why is congress asking the centre to lock down now? ~ UP has implemented a proactive testing programme which covered 97300+ villages. No media will talk about this ~ Everyday, about 400,000 + positive cases emerge. However, about 3,97,000+ is recovered per day. This means about 3000 cases remain addition in any given day. ~ Of the deaths, 70% are due to comorbidity per the Ministry of Health ~ India has the highest recovery rate. Compared to last year when we had no PPE, no vaccine, no ventilators, India is in a much better place today ~ Yet, the vicious campaign is run by the vested interests ~ Indian media feasted like vultures on the sudden shortage of oxygen although the rate of death per million is one of the best in the world, and our recovery, the best ~ Did you know that an Indian Biotech start up made a breakthrough in early cancer detection during this time? Now for perspective. ~ India accounts for 1/8th of deaths globally of tobacco use. The number for 2017 is 11 lakh deaths. This is over 5 times the death from Covid in 15 months. Between 2014 and 2017, the incremental user number dropped by half. After @narendramodi took over. ~ India accounts for 1/5th of deaths globally from alcohol use. The number for 2017 is 580,499 deaths. This is over double the number of deaths from Covid in 15 months. Between 2014 and 2017, the incremental user number dropped by a third. Yet, there are about 17 cr active smokers in the country, and millions of alcoholics. In 2012, 33% of all road accidents were caused by drunken drivers ~ Drug use data is in addition ~ Social evils like these spread faster than Covid catching young Indians from 10 years on. There is a crystal clear trend difference between pre and post Modi era in substance use thanks to the measures taken by the govt. Now, let's come back to the issue in hand. Why so much of sensationalism and scaremongering by the media and the opposition? This euphoria is toxic. It's from the same toolkit. From the same template. You may read my pinned tweet for more of my views on this. Goal - for some, TRP, adverts, for some others, money. I agree with one point they raised. We could have postponed elections, restricted Kumbh. BJP did suggest online campaign which the opposition did not agree to. It was either BJP makes wins, or be blamed by their own supporters. ECI must have stalled elections. However, the people who must make much introspection is public. Why did we become complacent? We went back to normalcy, crowds in bars, restaurants, beaches, public places, movies as if everything was normal. Did the govt ask you to? When did the govt say not to wear masks? In developed countries, mask is ordered and withdrawn based on the situation. But India stuck to the protocols all the way through. But the public kept asking for normalcy. Economic 'analysts' gave hundreds of reports on impending doom of the economy due to lockdown. Chorus requests - opposition, media, public - to get back to normalcy. Centre still kept the SOPs, preps. Yet, when wave 2 hit, all of the above people turned against the centre who still did the best any govt could do. Modi did what 196 Prime Ministers needed to do. So, this persecution is unfair. BJP as always loses the battle of narratives.
355,257 Recoveries
In the last two days, India has reported more recoveries than new cases. The same is being reflected in our condo complex’s data too – we have had no new cases (🖖🏿Fingers crossed) for the past two days.
This post is not to rant about the colonial past of India nor is it about dissing Winston Churchill. This is to make some of us think. This is to help us get some perspective. We are in a war like situation. Feel free to hate Mr. Modi, but stop being rude, nasty and forever in a negative frame of mind on social media/whatsapp groups etc.
Your hatred is your choice, just as my support to Modiji is my choice. If your choice is right, so is mine. If you disagree and wish to pour out your bile, find some other space to do it, not on my blog post please.
Looking forward to another record day of recoveries.
As always closing the blog post with my prayer for the whole world during these times –
ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः। सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः। सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु। मा कश्चित् दुःख भाग्भवेत्॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
May all beings be happy, May all beings be healthy, May everyone experience auspicious events and May no one witness sadness. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
Yes completely agree with you.