Grave insult

Exactly a month ago, millions of Indians had clapped, clanged utensils and blown conch shells in response to the Prime Minister’s call for expressing gratitude to healthcare workers and other essential service providers. It was a noble gesture aimed at boosting the morale of the people who were braving the Covid-19 storm on the frontline. However, a series of condemnable incidents in the past few weeks has shown that this public display of solidarity with the ‘corona warriors’ was mere tokenism. Members of the medical fraternity, who have been risking their lives to contain the spread of the pandemic, have been subjected to all kinds of indignities: threats and insults, physical assault, harassment by landlords and neighbours. The latest outrage is the violence that occurred after a Chennai neurosurgeon died of Covid-19. A mob comprising local residents attacked the ambulance in which the body was kept, chased away sanitation officials and undertakers and prevented burial at two cemeteries. The doctor was eventually interred at a cemetery by a colleague — in the dead of night — with the help of two hospital ward boys.

The incident has again underscored the misconception that the contagion may spread if the victim is buried or cremated in the neighbourhood. Earlier this month, the cremation of an Andhra Pradesh doctor, another Covid-19 fatality, had been delayed after local residents raised an objection. Such unsavoury episodes indicate that the authorities have largely failed on two counts: spreading awareness about the WHO guidelines on the ‘safe management’ of bodies; and countering misinformation and fake news that are no less lethal than the virus itself.

The intervention of the Madras High Court, which has taken suo motu notice of the Chennai case and issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu Government and the state DGP, can help curb such incidents. Though police personnel, like the medical staff, are working under extremely tough conditions, it’s apparent that their laxity emboldened the miscreants in this instance. The erring cops should be brought to book along with the troublemakers. Unless doctors and their teams get the respect and support they richly deserve, India’s victory over coronavirus, as and when that happens, will be merely pyrrhic.

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