Bridging sectarian schism

PM Modi’s message about attaching ‘primacy to unity and brotherhood’, even as we all battle the Covid-19 pandemic that affects everyone equally, is as welcome as it is overdue. The Prime Minister is right when he says that the disease ‘does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or border before striking’, and on stressing the need to be together during this trying period.

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It is an unfortunate fact that a large number of infections were traced back to a particular gathering. The spread of the virus is also tied to the dispersal of individuals who caught the disease there. All this has been given a communal colour. What to talk of individuals, even government agencies have been identifying those affected by the pandemic by their religious tags. The absence of clear instructions that would bar the discussion of the religious persuasion of the afflicted, which is often done when there are riots, etc., has led to right-wing vitriol, even from legislators of the ruling party, and commentators who spout the same line. A tremendous strain on the social fabric of this country, and the rest of the world, has been caused by the disruption attributable to the pandemic. This includes the lockdown and the economic consequences that have arisen due to it, the hardship caused to the public at large, and the lack of adequate provision to redress the needs of the poor. This is a time for the healing touch, not to further divide the people of this nation.

Internationally, India’s rightful image as a secular state has suffered because of the ill-advised utterances of some right-wing activists. International organisations and some countries took exception to the treatment of minorities. Indeed, even India’s traditional friends in the Islamic world found it necessary to be critical. Now that the Prime Minister has sent a clear message, government agencies should follow it. The first step would be to desist from sending out bulletins that identify patients by faith, and not to allow such identification, or any discrimination against any community. We must fight this invisible enemy together.