Published in the Indian Express The climate of fear and the lockdown are in a self-perpetuating cycle. Both need to end now. Seven weeks ago India imposed the world’s largest and most stringent lockdown. The lockdown - sudden, all-pervasive, coercive, destructive - was imposed unilaterally by the Prime Minister but was facilitated by remarkable political consensus. This consensus was driven by three things: the alarming experience in developed countries with tens of thousands dead and an overwhelmed public health infrastructure struggling to keep up; worse doomsday scenarios being painted for India (mortality estimates of “couple of million” were casually thrown about); and governments across the world imposing some form of “lockdown”. While there were few dissenting voices from the medical community, the point of dissent was practicability of the lockdown - most argued that India needs herd immunity - without disputing the severity of the virus or its projected fatalities. Consequently, all public figures – politicians, media, civil society – either backed the lockdown or remained silent.
Politics of Lockdown
Politics of Lockdown
Politics of Lockdown
Published in the Indian Express The climate of fear and the lockdown are in a self-perpetuating cycle. Both need to end now. Seven weeks ago India imposed the world’s largest and most stringent lockdown. The lockdown - sudden, all-pervasive, coercive, destructive - was imposed unilaterally by the Prime Minister but was facilitated by remarkable political consensus. This consensus was driven by three things: the alarming experience in developed countries with tens of thousands dead and an overwhelmed public health infrastructure struggling to keep up; worse doomsday scenarios being painted for India (mortality estimates of “couple of million” were casually thrown about); and governments across the world imposing some form of “lockdown”. While there were few dissenting voices from the medical community, the point of dissent was practicability of the lockdown - most argued that India needs herd immunity - without disputing the severity of the virus or its projected fatalities. Consequently, all public figures – politicians, media, civil society – either backed the lockdown or remained silent.