COVID-19: A Secular Threat

Is an individual above the nation?

It wouldn't be an exagerration to say that COVID-19 virus is

probably the biggest shock that the world has had in the 21st
century. Governments are losing sleep, economies are crashing,
medical facilities of countries are being tested and people are
dying. India, already in peril, has had a pole position because the
virus has arrived to India slightly late than other countries.
Regardless of whatever measures our government takes, in the
end it boils down to the people of the country to cooperate &
mitigate the crisis. India is a country with the 2nd largest
population in the world(not very far behind from China), so we
could expect scores of deaths due to this unmerciful virus. The
commonsense should serve us enough to guess that this virus is
indeed a very secular threat and it knows no religion, no country,
no power but is a plain callous executioner. Despite, many
addresses from the Prime Minister of India advising the people to
neither gather at places nor leave homes, its scary & baffling to
see people ignoring the guidelines stubbornly. Jama Masjid of
Delhi, saw worshippers offering Namaz 5 times a day even in
such dangerous times. Upon interrogating, they said right to
worship is their fundamental right & a matter of their faith &
nobody should intervene in this. The centre of Anti-CAA protests,
Shaheen Bagh, till 23rd March, saw extreme stubborness from
protestors who opined that they would be unaffected by the virus,
because God is looking after them. A lot of religious Islamic
leaders have time & again in public gatherings reiterated that their
God will shield them from the virus & so there's no reason to stop
protests or gatherings.No religion is spared from worshippers
going out to religious places to worship & pray for their safety
even in these paramount times. All this for the sake of pleasing
gods & going to heaven? If yes, then why are you rushing towards
death? Why make the heaven you are already living in, a hell, to
get to a heaven that you don't even know? Even during Janata
Curfew, at 5 pm, a lot of people gathered ironically to celebrate
the curfew by embracing each other & coming on roads. Even big
leaders, like Smt. Vasundhara Raje & Dushyant Singh were seen
partying in such grave times but they couldn't escape the threat.
Kanika Kapoor, a famous singer, recently returned from London,
partied obliviously without getting herself tested after her foreign
visit. Her tests later confirmed that she was infected by Covid-19
which definitely has put all other attendees in an infection scare.
BJP Leader, Shivraj Chouhan recently took oath in a political
gathering in Madhya Pradesh as its Chief Minister. There are
other innumerable cases all over the country where they are not
taking any guidelines seriously which puts the whole nation under
danger & testing times for the future. If this continues the way its
going, India could well be the next China & Italy or even worse. Its
a big wonder to me, whether these people think themselves,their
faith or their power to be above the nation & above the safety of
all humans? With such people in charge of their own minds & own
sanity, apocalypse is inevitable. The world needs more
responsible minds to save it from crippling. Don't feed your ego,
rather kill it. Be a saviour because each one of us is a link to the
chain of national safety. Stay safe & stay at home.

- Apratim Tripathi