It is a self-inflicted national catastrophe. The success in tackling the pandemic now depends upon getting rid off from the non-performing assets, whether they in the cabinet or in the administration
India has fortunately escaped from the uncontrolled Chinese rocket, Long March 5-B, which finally crashed in the Indian Ocean on May 9, 2021. The population escaped, but another uncontrolled man-made virus is ready to engulf the entire country and even her neighbourhood. The entire South Asian region depends upon India for medical facilities. She must fight and win against the new strain, because India has already generated confidence in the region by successfully tackling the first wave of the coronavirus in 2020.
The new strain, which is being falsely called, an Indian variant, that too without any scientific validation, is considered yet another effort to camouflage the on- going ‘biological war’. Interestingly, as usual, the Indian social media is crowded with various treatments, which included use of cow urine and some Ayurvedic medicines. The social media may be called a group of unprofessional, but the so-called experts too have caused much more confusion. The Indian government is rightly being blamed for its failure to frame a comprehensive policy to tackle the pandemic, but its institutions engaged in the task like the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to have failed to live up to the challenge. The focus appears to be more on the publicity than to trigger off research by engaging virologists.
This ‘policy paralysis’ or deliberate sabotage has caused much apprehension in India’s neighborhood. The countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and many other nations, which do not have adequate number scientists were hopeful that India would help them to fight the new Coronavirus variant. The new variant is spreading like a wild fire. These nations became more and more optimistic following the success of the Indian vaccines, but their hopes have just vanished with the thousands of people succumbing to this deadly virus in India. The government and its cronies in the ICMR, instead of being able to tackle this biological aggression with scientific solutions are found in indulging in unnecessary excuses and rhetoric. It is also quite intriguing that why Indian scientists want to exonerate the ‘known mischief of China, in spreading these man-made viruses’. It needs an enquiry why did the scientists try to fool the political bosses’ by spreading unsubstantiated information.
The latest example of the ICMR’s irresponsible behavior is that instead of explaining all the four variants of the Coronavirus, related to respiratory systems, HIV, and the two variants related to the immunity systems it has branded the new virus as an Indian variant. If they were convinced, the ICMR should have shared its research with the scientists worldwide. However, without adequate research or support of scientific validation, its claim causes apprehensions and to the most of scientists it is intriguing.
There is an excellent definition of the ‘Big Lie’ believed to be used by the Nazi chief Joseph Goebbels that if you keep it repeating, people will eventually come to believe it; however, it needs to be a little amended that in the contemporary world, those who unleash big lies themselves start believing in the falsehood propagated by them. The ICMR, perhaps, is the latest example of this falsehood, which has caused much more harm than the help it was expected to give to the people of the country, as well as to the neighboring nations. The ICMR by not sharing its so-called research is in fact trying to save the Chinese in this on-going ‘biological war’ causing countrywide genocide. There are apprehensions that over ten lakh people might succumb to this virus in next two months.
It appears that either ICMR scientists suffer from a Narcissistic personality disorder or have become victims of their own lies. There are few takers to its statements, perhaps, only ICMR believes what it is talking about. The symptoms of a person suffering this disorder include an excessive need for admiration, disregard for others’ feelings, an inability to handle any criticism and a sense of entitlement.
The ICMR’s announcement that there would soon be the ‘third wave’ engulfing the nation, but it did not reveal that all the four variants are actually man made and they are already being spread. Does the third wave would have another variant? The ICMR is yet to offer an adequate convincing information, but on its advice the government as well as opposition leaders, have started parroting that India would soon be facing the much more dangerous ‘third wave’ of Coronavirus infection that too of an Indian origin! A number of ICMR scientists have been to the Wuhan facility of China, and they are quite aware of the fact that the Coronavirus is ‘man-made’. The ICMR’s views echoed in the Indian media too, which has ‘amused’ many scientists worldwide; according to them, ICMR has wrongly advised the government about the possibility of a new attack of different variety of strain of the Coronavirus under the pretext of the ‘new wave’. The latest message or warning from the ICMR is that the third wave of the Coronavirus might storm the country, but again it is not sharing the truth that it is another version of the Coronavirus from Wuhan, not an Indian strain.
It appears that the most of the ICMR scientists do not have adequate time for research, but being the nodal agency, the government and the people are being forced to ‘trust’ them. The ICMR got yet another supporter in Randeep Guleria, director of the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), who has also joined the group of the people who indulge in talking big that too without adequate content and medical strategy. It also appeared quite funny, when Guleria, who is not known for any research on virology, pontificates about the possible treatment of the virus. It is really sad that those who manipulate high positions in the institutions like AIIMS, or even become a part of the WHO’s high-profile groups, indulge in the unnecessary rhetoric. This field of high-pitch talking should be reserved only for the politicians, especially belonging to the ruling party. It is high time that people like Guleria and his peers in the ICMR to be engaged in non-scientific publications for popular reading. He has already co-authored a book on Covid-19, ‘Till We Win’, a popular publication, but having little scientific value.
A Warning from Lancet
The Lancet, one of the highly respected medical journals, which has about two centuries of its publication history, in its May eight issue has bemoaned,” Yet before the second wave of cases of Covid-19 began to mount in early March, Indian Minister of Health, Harsh Vardhan, declared that India was in the “endgame” of the epidemic. The impression from the government was that India had beaten Covid-19 after several months of low case counts, despite repeated warnings of the dangers of a new Coronavirus aggression”. It further quoted ICMR that it falsely suggested that India had reached herd immunity, though an ICMR survey pointed out in January this year that “only 21% of the population had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2”. There is also a warning from the Washington-based, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that India will see a staggering 10 lakh deaths from Covid-19 by August 1, 2021. The prediction of the death toll is a timely warning for the Indian administration. Most of us agree that it is a “self-inflicted national catastrophe”. The success in tackling the pandemic now depends upon the getting rid off from the non-performing assets, whether they in the cabinet or in the administration. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is able to assert, he would not only be serving his own country, but the entire region.
tehelkaletters@gmail.com
