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Clueless captain
FRONTLINE
|May 22, 2020
As the nation longs for relief from the pandemic and the economic misery caused by an ill-planned lockdown, the government prefers symbolism over substance, exposing its lack of meaningful leadership.
STAGING EXTRAVAGANT, DRAMATIC spectacles to camouflage the confusion and paralysis in terms of policy formulation and practical governance has been the central characteristic of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-National Democratic Alliance government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis right from the early stages of the pandemic in India. True to form, the run-up to the third phase of the lockdown from May 4 through May 17 was also marked by yet another diversionary extravaganza. This time it was by deploying Indian Air Force flights to conduct flypasts across India and shower flower petals on select hospitals and facilities, ostensibly to show the nation’s gratitude to the thousands of health care workers battling the pandemic. The “celestial flower show” was accompanied by illumination of Indian Navy ships in harbours and band performances by the Indian Army in hospitals and other venues.
Similar theatrics preceded earlier phases of the lockdowns too, on March 24 and April 14. Lockdown 1.0 came in with the “sound show” of March 22, when the Prime Minister exhorted the people to clap their hands or ring bells or bang utensils from their houses as a symbolic gesture to show their appreciation for the corona warriors. Then came the “light show”, by which people were asked to switch off lights at home at 9 p.m. on April 9 and light a candle or a lamp or flash a mobile phone standing at their doorsteps or balconies. Each of these performances was accompanied by self-aggrandizing manoeuvres of the BJP and its associates in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-led Sangh Parivar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were the principal players in this “patting one’s own back” exercise.
DEATH ON THE TRACKS
Esta historia es de la edición May 22, 2020 de FRONTLINE.
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