Survival or starvation death?

By M L Satyan

Bengaluru, May 22, 2020: The Delhi edition of the Hindu newspaper carried the headline in its first page on May 19: “India’s virus tally crosses 1 lakh; fatality count mounts to 3,157.” The Table in the same report mentioned the list of 15 countries with more than 1,000 average cases a day between May 11 and 17.

I also watched an interesting video titled Something is Fishy in the social media. The message goes like this: “Not a single leader in China had tested positive for the deadly coronavirus.

The virus has ruined many economies around the world. Many countries had to close their borders in an attempt to contain and control the spread of the deadly virus. Millions have been infected with the disease and millions have lost their lives. Countless people have been locked in their homes and many countries have placed their citizens on lockdown.

The coronavirus originated from the city of Wuhan in China and has now reached every corner of the world. But the virus did not reach China’s capital Beijing and the economic capital Shanghai located in close proximity to Wuhan.”

The message continues: “Today the world’s major economic and political centres are closed. But Beijing and Shanghai are open. There were only a few cases but the virus had no real effect on these two cities. Beijing is the city where all the leaders of China live, including their military leaders. There was no lockdown in Beijing.

Shanghai is the economic capital of China where all the rich people of China live and run major industries. There was no lockdown here. The virus from Wuhan reached all over the world but did not affect Beijing and Shanghai. There was a drastic fall in the share market in other countries. But there was a minimum effect on China’s share market.

This leaves one to speculate that this virus was a biochemical weapon of China that it used to gain economic supremacy. China has now put this virus under control, may be, they also have the antidote/vaccine that they are not sharing with the world”.

Professor Michael Levitt of Stanford University Medical School is a scientist. Regarding Covid-19 pandemic he said, “There is no doubt in my mind that the damage done by lockdown will exceed any saving of lives by a huge factor. The lockdown in other words, is killing and will kill more people than the virus. And that’s just talking about the damage in terms of death. The damage in terms of life is beyond belief. There are tens and millions of people who are out of work. It is a very big crisis in the world created by experts”.

He further said, “Remember that the experts have destroyed the lives of hundreds of millions of people – not the virus! The human tragedy today is the lockdown and not the virus. The death rate is low in India while compared to other developed countries. Yet there is national lockdown. Do you know how many people are on the verge of starvation? Is the misery on earth today overwhelmingly caused by lockdown or the coronavirus? This is the ultimate question”.

Dr. K R Anthony, a Public Health Consultant said, “Lockdown was to be used as a last resort only when the spread of the virus is significant. Sadly, India used it as the first resort. Even after the 4th lockdown there is a steady increase. Soon India will be the second highest in the world”.

Listen to the heart-melting stories: While an alcoholic husband was beating his wife demanding money she said, “The Supreme Court has permitted the liquor shops to open without bothering about the subsequent domestic violence on women. Ask the Supreme Court to give permission to open ‘red light areas’ where women can sell their bodies and give the money to their husbands. What men need is their selfish enjoyment. What the government needs is money. Who is bothered about the dignity of women?”

A 15-year-old girl, walking on the national highway in north India with a bag on her head, spoke to the media: “My family did not migrate to city in search of luxury and comforts. We wanted to work and earn our daily food. Today there is no transport to go back to our village. Instead of begging from the government we decided to walk. We face lot of problems. We will continue walking even if we die on the way. You should not project us in a bad manner. Tell the country that we decided to die with self-respect. Today the country is wealthy but we are forced to live in poverty and die of starvation.”

The important lesson that we learn is: Lockdown has caused irreparable damages to the lives of the middle, lower-middle class people and those living below poverty line. It has also damaged the social, economic, religious and political systems to a very great extent.

For the vast majority of the people (above mentioned categories) there are only two options left. One is: Survival by hook or crook, facing all types of hardships. The second is: Starvation death at any time. There is no middle path. Shall we survive or die? The choice is ours.