COVID-19 has so far killed over 3 million people worldwide. Despite the human tragedy and economic cataclysm, India and the world will recover. What will not recover, however, is the absolute death of public faith in “public expertise” and “public intellectuals”, given the obnoxious and blatantly hypocritical COVID commentary.
Consider this: when Rahul Gandhi announced that he was suspending his campaigning for the final phases of the ongoing election in Bengal, the usual suspects held him up to be a paragon of virtue, going on to suggest the BJP was irresponsible. Conveniently ignored was the fact that local West Bengal leaders, like president of Bengal Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, were carrying on with their rallies. Of course, these same “public intellectuals” never opened their mouths when the BJP had at the outset, much earlier on, suggested to the Election Commission that public rallies should not be held and only virtual campaigning should take place. To note, that particular suggestion was shot down by the same “secular” parties lauded by said “public experts”.
Similarly (justifiably), criticising the Kumbh Mela does not make you a bigot—despite the disaggregated nature of the Sadhu collectives attending it. But everyone naming and shaming the Tablighi Jamaat super-spreader event was deemed a communal bigot, despite the evasion and lying being coordinated right from the top of the Tablighi Jamaat leadership in India, which subsequently went into hiding.
What is particularly hilarious in all of this is, these same “conscience keepers” now outraging over the ongoing election campaigning were at the forefront of egging on the farm protests. Pizza-making and foot massage machines at the protest venues were hailed as “human interest stories” and the huddling of protestors was glossed over. Not one of these “truth speakers” ever cared pointing out that these protests were a veritable super-spreader event.
This is not to say the central government or the BJP is blameless. Indeed, any nuanced commentary would point out that mistakes abound on both sides. Yet, while one can expect politicians to trade one-sided commentary, the reason people read or listen to “public intellectuals” is because you are expected to call out all public failings not just the ones that suit you.
Not Unique to India
This isn’t unique to India. Even at the start of this pandemic, when socialist Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand imposed a total lockdown it was hailed by these liberals, but Narendra Modi’s India doing the same was passed off as some kind of genocide in action. Donald Trump refusing to shut down businesses was roundly criticised as atrocious policy making, but socialist Sweden’s mass infection (and hence rapid acquired immunity) strategy was hailed as pioneering and visionary. A family friend of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and head of the US’ Covid-19 efforts, “Doctor” Anthony Fauci’s early pronouncements warning people against wearing masks was ignored, but Trump’s resistance to masks made him a hate figure.
All the while where Trump was blamed, the same liberal media going after him completely ignored the deliberate falsification of information by their beloved Cuomo. What’s worse, when it emerged he had knowingly herded elderly people in old age homes with other COVID affectees, the media conveniently downplayed what was in effect an act of mass murder—either through commission or omission.
Unfair, Biased Assessments
But let’s return to India. The same Indian commentariat that was hailing Joe Biden’s victory over an allegedly “incompetent” and “anti-globalist” Trump, have now zipped completely shut given Biden’s own anti-globalist and anti-humanitarian export controls on raw materials required for the Novavax vaccine. Indeed, those mocking Modi for his friendship with Trump, are now unable to demonstrate how their great love for Biden and the Democrats has yielded health benefits for India.
Today Maharashtra accounts for 30 per cent of all COVID cases, and Delhi, yet another opposition-ruled state, is rapidly catching up given these are the two economic hubs. One is absolutely accurate in pointing out that the states should be running their own vaccination policies determining their own criteria. However, what they equally fail to point out is that these same states—Delhi or Maharashtra—failed in their own internal and public assessments to predict the second wave.
Maharashtra had, for its part, shut down the big COVID centres it had put up, precisely because its own state doctors’ prognostication was that COVID was in its terminal phase. It is absolutely accurate to point out that the central government’s Stalinist price and distribution controls on vaccines have caused inexcusable shortages. The same people pointing this out would equally ignore their beloved “doctor” Fauci’s testimony to Senator Paul Rand that vaccines only assured immunity against the initial strain of the virus and not the current virulent variants. They will equally not point out that the same opposition state governments they love so much shared the exact same assessments as the central government, grew just as lax, and at no point during the entire year-long nightmare, ever provided an alternate assessment or made alternate arrangements. This despite most of the health decisions being devolved back to state governments, following the third phase of unlocking.
Let us be clear, the central government hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory, but the state governments if anything have proven to be just as bad or significantly worse. Irrespective of that, the only people to have permanently lost credibility are India’s self-referential, personal access and personal favour-driven “public commentariat”.
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