It’s become impossible to pretend that all is well with our nation and that in time of a crisis we stand united to defeat the enemy however strong. The enemy this time is invisible—a deadly virus that kills people in numbers larger than many wars. Call it plague or pestilence, revenge of nature or wrath of gods, it has struck terror in our hearts—masks have slipped and the fear has triggered diverse responses. What the pandemic has exposed are the dangerous faultlines in our society.
The affluent and well-provided-for Indians are grumbling about the unbearable inconvenience of life without maids and servants, inability to replenish the supply of preferred single malt or wine, deteriorating quality of chicken, fish and other meats delivered at doorstep totally oblivious of the plight of (for them) the subhuman species that served them in normal times.
Many were greatly relieved when the mass exodus of migrant labour and daily-wage earners started in the aftermath of the sudden lockdown. The underfed and unwashed residents of slums and shanties were seen as fertile breeding ground of the deadly microbe.
Little did the self-centred creatures realise that these were the people who ensured our survival in the city. The delivery boys, vegetable vendors, garbage collectors, security guards, plumbers, electricians, drivers and many more. We talk of the refugee crises in distant lands, problems posed by stateless individuals and families but seldom pause to ponder the magnitude of internal displacement in our own country.
These migrants in the cities, metros and mini metros may not have been rendered homeless by submersion of their villages by waters of a large dam or a civil war but they are no less displaced and most live from day to day as refugees. Covid-19 held little terror for them. They were more worried about starving to death in a heartless urban jungle.
Hundreds of thousands hit the road on a long march homewards, in some cases hundreds of kilometres away only to be detained mid way at interstate borders and exposed to inhuman indignities like toxic chemical spraying. The lucky few who managed it all the way against all odds were not prepared for the cold reception. They were isolated as carriers of a killer disease and shunned by their families. Vacillating policies of the state governments added to their travails.
This is the first faultline that was exposed between the rich and the poor; the divide between the cities with some facilities for education, medical care and opportunities for employment and the countryside that lacks all these and where life always hangs by a slender thread for the poor and socially discriminated. The emigration to the cities is the desperate leap of faith.
The second faultline is even more dangerous though not as starkly glaring. This is the failure of the judiciary to ensure that the rule of law isn’t flouted. The super rich billionaires like the Wadhawan family accused of serious white collar crimes continue to misbehave in a manner that is a brazen demonstration of their belief that they are above the law. A high-ranking cop who claims to be a family friend gave them permits to fly out of the quarantine cage from one luxurious guest house in Khandala to a more salubrious farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar.
The entourage transported in five limousines comprised, besides the family members, an Italian body guard, drivers and domestic help. The family friend has been suspended but one is reasonably sure that he will be reinstated after an inquiry and the Wadhawans are not going to be parked in uncomfortable cramped quarters anytime in near future. Money may not buy you everything but it can buy a lot of things. Even during war and plagues.
When this story was breaking one was painfully reminded of the CJI asking a lawyer pleading on behalf of migrant/daily wage earners, “Why do they need wages? Isn’t government providing food to them? We aren’t inclined to interfere with government’s work at this stage.” One is tempted to ask at what stage will the courts show inclination to not interfere but examine the ground realities of relief provided and suggest any modifications if need be?
The international system is unravelling fast. The USA under Donald Trump has never shied of prioritising American interest. All nations do that. The change this president has brought is to brazenly threaten friends and foes alike to yield to the US whatever it demands whenever. Medicines, masks, testing kits, vaccines in progress.
The rich and the powerful behave like their Ugly Indian distant cousins. The mounting statistics of fatalities have exploded the myth of a multi-racial nation treating everyone equally. Most of the dead belong to the Black American, Hispanic and other immigrant communities.
The poor everywhere live in ghettos in unhygienic conditions and in times of an epidemic die first. The rich and the powerful can temporarily flee to safer havens. But only temporarily. As a poignant line from Kabir has it ‘Panjmahal se le chala, aisa kaal karal!’ Death spares no one snatching its victims from even the fifth floor of a palace.
(The author is a former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University an can be contacted at pushpeshpant@gmail.com)