When  COVID-19 is at its peak, the nation is also in the midst of the worst blame game never witnessed before.  

The Delhi High Court and Madras High Court, hearing separate cases on 29^th April, questioned the Centre’s actions during the second wave of the pandemic. The Centre was blamed for the short supply of oxygen to Delhi, and the lack of planned and informed action in Tamil Nadu by the courts. On 1 May, the Delhi High Court warned the concerned officials of the central government of contempt proceedings for failure to supply the allocated  490 metric tonnes of oxygen per day.  “Water has gone above the head. Enough is enough…We cannot shut our eyes to people dying in Delhi ”, the court bluntly said and instructed the Centre to arrange for tankers also.

From the angle of politics, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Centre had completely failed to understand and tackle the pandemic right from the beginning despite repeated warnings and accused the government of controlling the truth by manipulating the data — a clear political attack.

The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court even questioned the Centre what it was doing for the past 12 to 14 months without anticipating the second wave of COVID-19 and getting prepared to face it. The hectic measures taken when the wave is at its peak were belittled as “ad hocism”.  

The Election Commission of India has been singled out as the main culprit for the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry by the Madras High Court by its failure to enforce pandemic protocols during election campaigns. It blamed the ECI in very strong terms that the Commission “should be put on murder charges”.

It is reported in the press that the court remarked that, “You (ECI) are the only institution responsible for the situation that we are in today. You have been singularly lacking any kind of exercise of authority”, referring particularly to lack of action against political parties holding rallies despite court orders. The Commission replied that it was the responsibility of the State Disaster Management Authority under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and not of the ECI to enforce COVID-19  instructions.

The remark of the high court is indeed very harsh and difficult to digest particularly in the context of the manner and style of electioneering went on in the country. The responsibility of parties and leaders is no less than that of any official authority. Those having ambitions to govern the State also have to set an example for others.

The Madras High Court, however, put the blame by oral observation and did not include this in its final order. The Commission did not fail to point out that the second wave of the pandemic hit the State two weeks after polling.

The CEC appealed to the Supreme Court against the scathing remarks on the performance of the poll body as “uncalled for, blatantly disparaging and derogatory”. It questioned whether it was justified in the least for an independent constitutional authority to make allegations against another which would effectively tarnish the image of the latter. The petition asked whether the high court was justified in making the ECI fully responsible for the surge in cases. The apex court, however, asked the EC to take the court’s observations in the right spirit. 

The State Election Commission in West Bengal provided guidelines for the COVID-safe campaign.  The EC directed the district machinery vested with election work, responsible for enforcement of laws including the Disaster Management Act to implement and monitor implementation of  COVID norms during the campaign and take appropriate action in case of any violation.

Despite a rapid surge in the number of COVID cases, political rallies of Prime Minister Modi,  Home Minister  Amit Shah, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attracted vast crowds evidently oblivious to the onslaught of a deadly epidemic. In response to the deteriorating pandemic crisis and severe criticism from many quarters of flagrant violation of COVID rules by leaders themselves,   several parties including the BJP, TMC, Left Front, and the Congress cancelled rallies in West Bengal. It was on 19th April, when West Bengal reported nearly 20,000 cases and over 50  deaths that the BJP put a limit of 500 people to attend rallies and cancelled roadshows where keeping social distancing was impossible. The State reported about 800 cases when the first phase of voting took place, and the number increased nearly six times by the fourth phase of polling.

Large social gatherings and religious festivals have also been blamed as super-spreaders of the virus, but not at the right time to stop them without any hesitation. There seems to be a common practice in the country to allow events to take place and blame the organisers later.  Commercial interests and social enjoyment derived from crowd gathering override invisible health interests.   Who can take the blame? 

Thus, the Kumbh Mela went on with usual enthusiasm and religious fervour at Haridwar and other holy places en route the Ganga and temple festivals in many States as if life is normal.  COVID norms became irrelevant while social-religious events became one’s life mission.

Worse still is the question raised by some — why not religious gatherings when political gatherings are allowed? Evidently, breaking COVID protocol is going on with competitive spirit and as an assertion of equal rights. Thrown to the wind is the life and livelihood of people. What flourishes is the pandemic and chaos and tension among people? Should not people organising social events and festivals accept the blame for the second wave?

At the same time, people cannot pretend to be meek victims of the faults of others. Their cooperation in adhering to COVID norms is practically nil. Information machinery has been doing a good job of conveying pandemic related developments, the precautions to be taken, the risk of non-compliance with regulations, etc. Lockdown is not seen as a method of cutting the speed of the disease, but as an official restriction enforced on their freedom and can be defied if possible. Wanton disregard for rules and regulations normally seen in traffic regulations is openly seen everywhere. When things go out of control, they are the first to blame others particularly the agencies working day and night.

Pandemics are not routine occurrences to have ready solutions on hand. The whole world is learning about the Coronavirus which is revealing several characteristics one by one. We can only be prepared by remaining alert that the virus will not vanish, but will assume different forms.

A concept in epidemiology attributes the spread of disease to “interaction of the agent, host, and environment”. Every individual may be a recipient and carrier of the virus and therefore, must be coaxed or forced to adopt appropriate COVID-19 behaviour.

The blame game is a universal phenomenon and is going on at various levels within and between nations. Centre, States, private sector, health personnel, patients and their kin blame one another.  It is like lighting cigarettes when the house is on fire. India is facing a crisis of confidence fanned by political rivalry. Unity is the need of the hour.—INFA